Another entry in my occasional series of posts about variety 12-packs…

I remember a time when you couldn’t use Sam Adams and IPA in the same sentence. For the longest time, the line-up of brews from the Boston Beer Company did not include a signature IPA. As a long-time fan of the brewery and their flagship brew, Sam Adams Boston Lager, I always wondered why a brewery of their caliber didn’t produce a high-quality IPA, the most popular beer style in America. All that changed in 2014, with the introduction of Rebel IPA.

Now there’s a whole family of Rebel IPAs, which you can enjoy in the Samuel Adams Pack of Rebels cans, “a year-round variety pack created for any west coast IPA hop head.”

Beers:

• Rebel IPA, a West Coast-style IPA brewed with Cascade, Centennial, Simcoe, and Chinook hops, plus several experimental hop varieties (6.5 %, 45 IBU)
• Rebel Cascade IPA, this limited release brew is only available in the Rebel Variety Pack. It spotlights Cascade hops, “the signature hop found in American Pale Ales and IPAs early on in the Craft movement” (7.3%, 76 IBU)
• Rebel Grapefruit IPA, “brewed with real grapefruit for a big punch of citrus that amplifies the tropical fruit and citrus notes of one of the Sam Adams brewers’ favorite West Coast hops, Mosaic.” (6.3%, 52 IBU)
• Rebel Rouser IPA, a bold and piney Double IPA featuring Bravo and Galaxy hops (8.4%, 85 IBU)

The Boston Beer Company didn’t stop there. One of the newer additions to the Rebel family is Rebel Juiced IPA. This Tropical IPA is “swirling with ripe aromas of mango and tropical fruits…jam-packed with juicy, citrusy hops and mango juice.  It’s as if we took fresh hops and mangos and put them in a juicer.” (6.2%, 55 IBU)

Favorite Beer: Well, the Rebel Juiced IPA isn’t part of the mixed 12-pack, but of the Rebel beers I sampled, this Tropical IPA is my favorite. Rebel Grapefruit IPA was a close second, as I’m really on a citrus and tropical fruit IPA kick right now.

And oh by the way: Some time back, I filled my beer fridge with Rebels in the bottle…

…including the Rebel Rider IPA, a since-discontinued Session IPA (4.5%).

Where I found it: At the new Total Wine in Arlington, Virginia.

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