Saturday Night Musings…

Derek wanted to talk about his favorite hops and the importance of having friends at your local beverage center while enjoying a glass of Wrench IPA.

Citra and Mosaic are my favorite hops. Galaxy is a close second but Citra and Mosaic are by far my favorite hops. I would say that the best Citra only beer that I’ve had is In the Steep by Outer Range. The best Mosaic only beer is Yellow Rose by Lone Pint in Magnolia TX. Although, a close second would be Adaptation 10.3 by Roughtail brewery in OK, which is their Mosaic, single hop variant.

But this Citra and Mosaic combination here, Industrial Arts, Wrench, is straight up tropical juice. Tropical, hop soda, is what I would call it. Wrench, is on my top 10 list, possibly in my top 5! And we’re gonna start getting cans of it regularly. This is why it’s a good idea to have friends at your local beer distributer or beverage center. I didn’t buy enough cans last weekend when Westmere had cans of Wrench IPA available, so I waited all week for them to tap a keg. When they finally tapped a keg it was a Friday evening. So I called down and I’m like, “Hey, I can’t get away from work right now and I know you guys just tapped the keg of Wrench.” We knew the keg was gonna go fast so they set aside crowlers for me. They filled four 32oz crowlers and stuck them in the fridge for me for when I got down there. Of course I got down there and the keg was still going so I grabbed a couple more and ended up with six crowlers total. The extra two I grabbed to give to a couple friends. I share the wealth! You know, I’m like Johnny Appleseed! Anyway, this crowler is actually bursting it’s so full, it’s actually above the fill line. But that’s what I’m talking about. They do a fantastic job with their pours at Westmere. They are really the only place I go to. They are 15 minutes away and there are closer stores. But even their beer knowledge alone is worth the extra 10 minute drive rather than going to the beverage center near my home. Eventually I’m hoping they get Torque Wrench. It’s the Imperial version of this beer. Torque Wrench is Citra and Mosaic hops but just amped up, it’s like 8% instead of 6.8%.