Riff DIPA

Beer’d Riff DIPA
32 ounce growlette, 8.8% ABV

Purchased at the brewery, Stonington

RIFF“Riff,” huh? Is Aaren at Beer’d just trolling me now?

Like, “Let’s call a beer ‘Riff’ and see what kind of riff that clown Steve can do with it.” I see right through you, Aaren Simoncini. I know your game. I know you used to be an accountant who now brews some of the best beer in the northeast. I know you’re reading this right now. I see you in your little hat and black t-shirt and shorts, smelling like spent grain and sweat.

Oh! What’s that noise outside your window? Just the wind?

OR WAS IT MEEEEEE? Or a squirrel?

It’s okay, man, it’s all good. You know I love you. Put the phone down… Not that it matters, as what’s that? You have no cell service all the sudden? Oh darn. How’d that happen I wonder.

I’m not gonna hurt you, man. I don’t know what I’d do without Beer’d in my life. Without your incredible array of DIPAs, man. There’s almost one available every weekend! Only one other brewery in Connecticut currently brews DIPAs as good as yours, and they only do one (soon to be two – Locust Reign from NEBCO coming soon OMGOMGOMG!), so I’ll take care of you.

Good care of you.

(Note: I did not even weave Aaren’s wife Precious into the above because it would have been just too creepy with her name being Precious and all. You’re welcome.)

Beer’d Says:

Tropical fruit notes like pineapple, passion fruit, and mango married with pine and grapefruit pith. Featuring Simcoe hops.

This is great beer. Straight up. No riffs needed.

It got me thinking… We, as in we who review beer for whatever ridiculous ego-driven reason, seem to do this thing where we may pick on a brewer or a brewery for having a “signature” flavor profile or style or whatever. I’ve been guilty of it.

MotherfuckinRiffPutting it out there, Relic in Plainvile gets the rap that many of their beers are to similar. DuVig in Branford are too married to the session style. Overshores is purely Belgian. Heck, I’m sure some numpty will have an issue with OEC being too sour/saison-centric.

But I’ve never heard anyone, especially not me, ding Beer’d at all for releasing new DIPA upon new DIPA with minor tweaks to each batch. The Riff here is a Simcoe bomb. Another one might be a Citra or Mosaic blast in your face. Some may be more pine, some may be more citrus, but really, Beer’d’s not doing anything other breweries sometimes get knocked for.

Is it because the quality of these DIPAs (and IPAs and APAs) are so gosh-darn good that we don’t notice? I honestly don’t know and like I said, I’m guilty too.

But I DO NOT want Aaren to stop. Never, dude, never. It’s not like you have a successful children’s television franchise with a big purple dinosaur and a couple of his dinosaur friends teaching kids good values and you get antsy.

Antsy in that even though your show is hugely successful, you can’t stop doing the same thing over and over and keep adding what is essentially the same thing – new doofy saccharine-sweet dinosaurs – and calling it new every time, right?

No, because Beer’d is super good and super cool and I don’t care if all they ever do is different DIPAs for the rest of my life.

But orange dinosaurs? Nah.

Overall Rating: A
Rating vs. Similar style: A

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