TheBEERSgoneBAD

I will pretty much try any beer that puts “hop” in the title of the brew.  Couple that with some aggressive or suggestive phrasing, such as riot, and that beer has gone from the shelf to my cart. Congratulations beer industry, you had me at hop.

Now, we drink a lot of hoppy IPA’s on the show, and we don’t take kindly to beers that try to pass themselves off as something they’re not, just ask our buddies down at Epic, so although putting “hop righteous hate crime IPA” on your bottle may help you sell beers, you better be able to back it up. Now, I want to be clear on this, there is nothing wrong with being a mildly hopped beer, just don’t claim you’re bursting with hop flavors and aromas when you are not.

Now, The High Water Brewing Hop Riot IPA, uses the phrasing “hop riot” in the title. Nothing wrong with that. I anticipate my first sip will take me to the streets of Los Angeles in the spring of the early nighties. I want to feel little hop buds throwing molotov cocktails against the roof of my mouth. I want flavor, I want aroma, I want destruction. Instead my first sip is met with the imagery of hop pellets are playing in the sprinklers on a warm summer day. I imagine little hop buds running down a slip-n-slide giggling and laughing. I had anticipated structure fires. Nothing wrong with a little fun, but I don’t want to go to an action movie only to find out half way through the opening credits that Die Hard 4 is pg-13. High Water Brewing made a delicious IPA at 7.3%, but definitely mislead me into believing this was an R rated beer.

Grab Hop Riot IPA for your next summer barbecue, not your next pre meditated act of rage. I’ll give it a 6.5.