Asheville Brewing Co.
Asheville, NC
A crisp, citrusy Indian Pale Ale with a light color, Shiva will destroy all your preconceptions of an IPA. A transcendentally simple malt bill accents a generous helping of Columbus hops, lending an intense floral aroma with hints of grapefruit and a pleasant bittering quality.
ABV: 6.0
ABW: 4.78
COLOR: 3.7
BITTERNESS: 69.3
ORIGINAL GRAVITY: n/a
AVAILABLE: NC
Yellowish gold, with subtle haze. Beautiful, giant head leaves a curtain as it dissipate, like fissures on the moon. More malty than hoppy in the nose. Pleasant but not a classic IPA. More humulus on the tongue, like a spicy French kiss, yet malty and satisfying. We enjoyed it with onions, mint, garlic, and parsley, lamb meatballs and mango relish.
Some beers have it. Some don’t. Shiva does. I want to almost call it “umami” beer. There are elements of flavors that combine to make this beer express a deliciousness in and of itself. I think certain hop, malt and fermentation compounds combine to create more than the sum of the parts. This has it. White dense head. No high alcohol impact. Moderate and sessionable drinkability, but with significant flavor impact. This is not over the top hophead beer. Quite remarkable.
Founder of Merchant du Vin and the Pike Brewing Co., Finkel is a pioneer in the marketing of craft beers in America.
Author of the New Complete Joy of Homebrewing, founder of the Great American Beer Festival and a Beer Examiner at www.examiner.com, Papazian is a leading voice in beer and brewing.
