A friend of mine brought this back from a trip to Boston not too long ago. I’d never heard of it, but when I was told it was an IPA, of course I was interested. When I looked into it a little more, I saw it was part of Magic Hat’s IPA On Tour series. Throughout the year the brewery creates four different IPAs to see what variations can be made and how IPAs can be tweaked. While I’ve known about Magic Hat for a while, this reaffirms that it’s my kind of brewery!
Encore is a hybrid of an American wheat beer and a traditional American IPA. It’s not uncommon for breweries to blend unique ingredients into American IPAs, but I wasn’t sure if I’d ever seen the components of a wheat ale used. My main concern was whether the wheat would add a creaminess and subtle sweetness to complement the hops, or give the IPA a stale, lingering wheat flavor. Luckily, the wheat is used masterfully and makes this IPA very complex. A slight fruity smell strikes you as you’re about to take a sip, reminding you that the IPA portion of this beer is the main focus. Meanwhile, the wheat adds a nice cloudiness to keep you cognizant of the other ingredients. Once you take a sip, everything really comes together. With a pretty light body, hops shine as the main flavor. There’s about as much hops as you’d find in a very flavorful IPA, and even some double IPAs, but the lightness of the beer makes it very easy to drink and not overpowering. While the flavor is there, it doesn’t deliver as much of a punch as you might expect from a beer hopped at this level. As the sip progresses, the wheat really starts to emerge. The initial burst of hops matures to a sweet citrusy flavor and combines with the wheat to give the sensation of a good, fruited wheat beer. The creaminess the wheat provides joins the citrus from the hops to yield a flavor reminiscent of a nice summer, fruit-flavored wheat beer.
The wheat also makes itself known in the finish. By the end of each sip you’re left with a sweet hoppy aftertaste you’d expect from a well-flavored IPA, but it’s diluted enough from the creaminess of the wheat to make it very manageable and smooth. It’s never too much and fades rather quickly, leaving your palate ready for the next sip. Each time is smooth from start to finish. The only thing holding it back is that, after a while, a slight aftertaste can accumulate. Aside from that, this beer is just about perfect.
This is a fantastic IPA. It’s a great example of what can be done with the style and how complex it can be. IPAs are more than just hops hops hops. While those can be wonderful if done correctly, the inclusion of a seemingly common and unrelated ingredient can change how the beer is structured. I hope Magic Hat makes Encore again, and hopefully it will eventually be made year-round. Until then, if you see it, get it.
Overall 9/10
Color 6
Thickness 5
Hops/Malt 2.5
ABV 6.4%
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