Marauder IPA

Cavalry Marauder IPA
Six pack, $?, 5% ABV

Purchased at I forget

maraudTo maraud: to roam about and raid in search of plunder

I love a definition that requires a lot of people, or kids, to go and look up another word like plunder. Maraud is a funny word; we often hear “marauding” and “marauded” and even “marauder,” but rarely do we hear the transitive verb form.

Maraud.

Just keep saying it over and over a few times and it becomes one of those stupid words you suddenly hate. Seriously. Go ahead, I’m not going anywhere.

Cavalry Brewing closed a couple months ago (May 2014), but the brewery is not ripe for marauding. A new outfit, Black Hog Brewing, moved in and immediately set up shop. No plundering – it was all very professional and legal.

Since I’m writing these six Cavalry reviews post mortem, I feel as though I’m marauding and plundering them a bit. Mostly because most of the reviews are negative. And that just feels mean.

With the 2012 through 201? Connecticut craft brewery explosion, one of the hot conversation topics revolves around how long it will last and which breweries will and won’t survive. We all have our own ideas and frankly, if Cavalry hadn’t closed up shop, they would have been on my hit list anyway.

Why? A few reasons: most of their beer kinda sucked, their distribution was weak, their “all English all the time” ethos doesn’t play well in this decade, and the quality control was often severely lacking.

Cavalry Says:

Grainy maltiness with aromas of figs and lemon grass from the use of traditional English yeast and hops. This beer has earthy flavors which are rounded out nicely by a smooth bitter finish.

BenderNot for the weak or fainthearted. Marauder IPA is a tribute to all rangers past and present that have been arriving at the cutting edge of battle since 1776. This beer is dedicated to the members of the 75th Ranger Regiment that have sacrificed their lives for our country. Have one for the airborne ranger in the sky. Rangers lead the way!

Not for the weak or fainthearted? Really? Well, sure, I guess if you lose patience with overly carbonated non-IPA IPA’s, then they have a point. But I’m pretty sure that wasn’t the point.

Look, I get it. This was an “English IPA,” which means more malt and more sweetness and less hoppiness and less bitterness. Fine. Relic Brewing did (does?) an English Imperial IPA called Shipwright that was more malty and sweeter and less hoppy than what we’ve become used to here in New England as of late.

But Shipwright was delicious and unique. The Marauder was just off and bubbly and overly sweet and had zero hop characteristics, both in aroma and taste. It marauded my senses and plundered my ability to enjoy beer for a few hours.

But then I read the label ode to Army Rangers and feel guilty. I was supposed to enjoy this beer and toast to all the dead Ranger angels. But since there is no such thing as angels and while I have the utmost respect for our fallen Army Rangers, they are dead and can’t haunt me for not toasting them.

But if they were actually angels, they’d be pissed that this crappy beer was made in tribute to them.

Overall Rating: D
Rating vs. Similar style: F

Cavalry is closed. Stop looking for a website.
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