Warrior IPA enters the Siouxland marketplace with a fresh hop beer brewed with 100% Colorado-grown hops. My only fault with the beer is that I think the hop profile gets a little too jiggy in the finish.

Brewed by Left Hand Brewing Co. in Longmont, Colo., Warrior pours a deep golden orange with a tall, light tan head that left lots of lacing in the glass.

Its aroma is of  citrus and floral hops with an almost equal amount of caramel malt notes.

Warrior’s initial flavor is a short blast of sweet caramel malt at the tip of the tongue. The malt flavors are then overrun by strong floral and piney hop flavors at mid-tongue. However, as much as the hops overtake the malt, apparent malt flavors remain to provide a pleasant backbone for the bitterness.

Hop flavors start to get a little jiggy, turning slightly vegetal at the sides of the tongue. Those rather strong flavors increase and continue into the back of the throat.

Finish is medium in length and keys on floral and astringent hop flavors, supported by caramel malt sweetness. At the very end of Warrior’s finish, the hop flavors turn slightly soapy.

Warrior is listed at 6.6% alcohol by volume and 60 IBUs. Thankfully, the beer’s caramel malt flavors are able to support its hop profile. Because without the level of malt it has, Warrior’s finish would be akin to an astringent hop bomb.

I consider the beer to be full flavored and medium bodied.

Warrior IPA was purchased at the HyVee Wine and Spirits in South Sioux City, Nebr.

-Tim Hynds

News today to make both malt fans and hopheads happy:

New at the South Sioux City HyVee Wine and Spirits is Left Hand Brewing Co’s. Warrior IPA. Brewed with fresh hops, it is available in 22 oz bombers.

The 2009 vintage of Goose Island Beer Co’s Bourbon County Brand Stout is now in stock at Miller Liquor in North Sioux City, SD. Available in 4-packs (but also being sold at Miller’s as singles), the beer is sporting a new style label.

As always, Sioux Brew encourages you to support all local retailers who are making an effort to stock quality beers.

-Tim Hynds

From a press release -

(LONGMONT, CO) – Left Hand Brewing Company’s seasonal Warrior IPA disregards your notions about what an IPA should be. Bold, vibrant and beautifully aromatic, Warrior IPA is brewed only once a year using fresh flower Colorado-grown Cascade hops flown in from Rising Sun Farms in Paonia, as well as varieties from the brewery’s own hop fields.

True to the brewery’s philosophy, a strong malt foundation complements the bright floral hoppiness, allowing for a well-balanced assault on your palate.

Warrior IPA is a full-bodied, bronzed beauty that swings at you with 60 IBU’s and 6.6% ABV. Respect her and she will respect you.

Available in 22 oz bombers and kegs for the fall season. Distributed throughout Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Kansas, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan (western only), Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, Illinois, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New York, Alaska, Alabama (draft only), Florida, Tennessee (Nashville only), Georgia, North Carolina, and select European countries.

About Left Hand Brewing Company
Celebrating sixteen years of brewing a well-balanced portfolio of craft beers, Left Hand Brewing Company is located at 1265 Boston Avenue in Longmont, Colorado. The brewery has received 16 medals at the Great American Beer Festival and 8 medals at the World Beer Cup, and its beers are now available in 26 states.