Brew Review – Stegosaurus Pants by Due South Brewing @duesouthbrewing

​Preface – Due South’s brand marketing manager Doug Fairall and I spent a weirdly long time discussing potential puns with which to write about when discussing today’s beer. Pretty much every pun was absolutely horrible and dinosaur related; get this beer before it’s extinct, things like that. 

But there were so many other puns to use. So many other ones. And as much as I don’t particularly enjoy using puns when I write, I had a really good one that popped in my brain as I drove  away. Doug, I hope you enjoy. 

Stegosaurus Pants is dropping today!

Today being IPA day, a day devoted to all things dangerously close to battery acid. As you can assume, pretty much every brewery on social media is going nuts with special releases, deals, etc. 

Due South in Boynton Beach is part of that, celebrating with five IPAs on draft, including their Category series. But this is also the day they officially tap a brand new New England-style IPA, Stegosaurus Pants (IPA, 6.4% ABV). 

It was interesting to finally try a New England IPA, although I don’t see why they are commanding unrestrained fervor as much as they are. For Stegosaurus, it’s just a really good IPA from a brewery that tends to make good IPAs. 

Since it is an IPA, most beer snobs  are going to immediately ask what the hops are that were used. The hops aren’t nearly as interesting as the application. Due South’s newly minted brewmaster Joel Kodner was there on hand to describe how absolutely no hops were used until flameout, at which time they threw copious amounts of Citra and Mosaic into the tank. Just a touch of El Dorado came a bit later, to throw a slight melony feel to the bigger citric flavors coming from the other hops.   

Flaked oats were used to help give the beer the signature milky, hazy quality that a lot of people are rushing out to get. I’m not completely enthused with the image as much as I am with aroma and flavor. The aroma definitely belies the hops, with a big citrus punch accentuated ever so slightly with a piney quality buried deep beneath. 

Flavor is great in that there’s a lot of hoppy citrus, but not necessarily a ton of alpha acid-laced bitterness. It’s not a simple beginner’s beer to drink, but there’s a lot of complex flavors to decipher and an assertive – not aggressive – hop profile as well. The melon character is there, quiet and hidden, but still evident on the back end. 

Don’t ask me how long the beer will be around. It’s already become a favorite of the Due South brewing team, and there probably won’t be a ton left after this weekend. I am sure the puns will be around longer. 

Right, Doug?

Drink Florida Craft,

Dave

@floridabeerblog 

floridabeerblog@gmail.com