471 Small Batch IPA from Breckenridge Brewery

By Don

Thanksgiving 2012.

My family and I traveled back to Ohio to spend Thanksgiving with my In-laws.

On the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving, a bunch of us went out for a drink to a place called the Burntwood Tavern in Rocky River, Ohio.

I stepped up to the bar and checked out their beer list.  Nothing was really catching my eye.  Since we were in the Cleveland area, I was going to get something from Great Lakes Brewing, but only saw Dortmunder Gold and I wanted something a little more "hearty" for the chilly Thanksgiving Eve.

Dogfish 60 Minute IPA was on tap so I ordered that.

The bartender came back with a small sampling-size beer mug.  I said, "What's this?"  He said, "You like IPAs, right?"  I told him that I did and he said, "Then try this.  It's 471 Small Batch from Breckenridge."

I took a sip and changed my order.

471 Small Batch is a limited edition ale that, according to the Breckenridge website, their Brewmaster created to "separate the weak from the strong."

It pours to a wonderful amber color with a minimal head that dissipated quickly, but left a thin layer of foam on top and left good lacing along the sides of the glass.

Lift the glass to your nose and you'll get two nostrils-full of that signature "fruity" IPA aroma.

The taste doesn't disappoint either.  It gives you an initial hop kick followed by the sweet, hoppy taste and the final bitter bite in the back of the throat like a good IPA should.

471 Small Batch clocks in at 70 on the Bitterness Unit scale and is 9.2% ABV.

It's well carbonated, but smooth.

This is definitely more of a sipping beer than a gulping beer.  I tried one with a linguini and clam sauce dinner and it paired nicely.  After dinner, I had a couple of Ginger Snap cookies and they were a nice compliment as well.

More good stuff from Breckenridge, Colorado!

Cheers!