Boulevard Berwery’s “Single Wide IPA”

Boulevard is a classic Midwestern craft brewery. Unlike many of the other ‘premiere’ Midwestern microbreweries; Goose Island, Schlafly, etc, Boulevard spends a considerable amount of effort identifying with the Midwest, humorously accenting various aspects of Midwestern living, and honoring those who buy their brew.  One example is their wheat beer, which features a farmer walking in his fields at dusk – carrying a bundle of freshly harvested wheat.  They avoid the outdated factory style beer of the Millers and Anhueser Busches, yet remain true to a Midwestern, craft identity.

The Boulevard Single Wide India Pale Ale (IPA) is delightful.  5.7% Alcohol by Volume with 59 IBU’s – it has the classic smell and taste of an IPA.  The head is slightly white and lingers on to the end of the pint around the rim of the glass.  The nose is slightly grapefruity and has a tinge of grain – as if a nearby farmer is loading corn via auger into his truck and the specks of corn are floating by like snow.  The single wide also has a slight (and I mean very slight) skunkiness on the mid palate, almost a bit like fuel.  Let’s call it a sharpness that doesn’t subtract from the overall taste.  Just a little something extra that prevents the brew from being flawless but that adds to its overall charm.

Cascade hops are involved in the brewing of this beer.  And, while I will save my cascade hops rant for another time, we should suffice to say that it is a common hop used in most craft beers.  The upside is that cascade is a vibrant, wonderful variety but the downside is that it causes a sort of commonality of many beers brewed today – it standardizes taste.  That’s one of the main setbacks of Midwestern beers.  They don’t have the vast varieties and amount of hops that the western breweries have at their doorstep, so it’s harder to compete in the realm of hops.  But, we do keep up very well in terms of grains and overall brewing prowess.

This IPS is what I imagine an IPA might have tasted like to a soldier of the British Empire.   The Single Wide is not overly hoppy but hops are the predominant taste.  It has a slight skunkiness which adds to its character and a very bitter, lingering aftertaste.  When I’m gardening this summer, I will often grab a Single Wide precisely because I can drink a bit, then set the brew on a fence post near my tomato plants and enjoy the hoppy bitterness on the after palate in between sips while I’m weeding.  It doesn’t have the bitterness of Sierra Nevada’s IPA, nor the complexity hop wise of a Rogue IPA, nor will it blow you away like Victory’s Hop devil.  But, it will delight you.  And, if you are itching for even more hops, you can always reach for Boulevard’s DOUBLE WIDE IPA, which I have reviewed previously…

HTNL rating of 7.99

Cheers!