St. Florian’s IPA Intro:
Today I’m reviewing St. Florian’s IPA. Who was St. Florian, you might ask?
St. Florian’s IPA
Here’s the story from the side of the bottle:
Named in honor of the patron saint of firefighters, who legend has it, used water set aside for the next day’s brew to extinguish a catastrophic fire – What a hero! Let’s drink to St. Florian and the hero in all of us!
St. Florian’s Brewery, named for the Patron Saint of Firefighters, is a new brewery based in Windsor, CA. We recently had a chance to visit their 15-barrel brew house and we were quite impressed by the setup. After tasting their IPA, I expect good things to come.
Truly a family business, Amy and her husband Aron Levin are doing it all themselves. From what I understand, Amy handles the business / marketing side of things while Aron is the Brewmaster.
An important note to the St. Florian’s Brewery story is that they donate 5% of their profits to fire-related and community-based organizations. I love that giving back to the community is brewed into their business model. All the more reason to support your local brewery. As a bumper sticker once said, “Think Globally, Drink Locally!”
Beer Review
The Beer: St. Florian’s IPA, 7.3% ABV
The Brewery: St. Florian’s Brewery
Source: BeerCraft in Rohnert Park
Serving Notes: 22oz bottle poured into a 9 oz shaker-style pint glass
St. Florian’s IPA
Blurry photo, but nice Amber color
Appearance: Dark end of the spectrum for a pale; could be described as amber. Nice thick head with an off-white color.
Smell: Sweet, Citrus, and slightly piney. Reminds me a little of oranges.
Taste: The first thing I notice are the strong bitter and slightly citrus hop flavors. These are met with enough sweetness from the malt to make the bitterness very palatable. After the first few sips, and letting the beer warm up a few degrees, the bitter is less noticeable and the citrus aftertaste becomes much more pronounced.
Mouthfeel: Medium level of carbonation, slightly heavier mouthfeel than your average IPA.
Overall: Very good beer for those that like a bigger, hoppier, and (in particular) maltier IPA.
Right out of the fridge the bitterness may be overwhelming for some. I urge you (as I do with many beer styles) to allow it to warm up between 40-45 degrees Fahrenheit. This lets some of the subtler flavors shine through the higher IBU / ABV beers. In particular, the citrus flavors were barely noticeable at first but became very prominent in the towards the end.
The color is on the darker end of the spectrum for the IPA style; arguably more Amber than Pale. However, the maltiness seems appropriate (even necessary) to balance out the 7.3% ABV and relatively high IBUs (not sure the exact IBUs).
Overall I really enjoyed this beer and look forward to trying St. Florian’s Brown Ale and their Cali Common.
