PRIDE OF CENTRALIA: DICK’S BOTTLEWORKS IPA

I picked this 22-ounce bottle up at BOTTLEWORKS in Seattle several weeks ago, mostly on a tip from Beer Retard Chris Devlin, who educated me that this one was going fast. DICK’S BOTTLEWORKS IPA was made especially for the store by DICK’S BREWING of Centralia, WA, to mark their 10th anniversary - or so I figured. The more I look this up online, the more I’m wondering just how old the thing really was. There are reviews of it dating back to mid-2008, and if there’s one bit of orthodoxy I’m willing to break with, it’s the whole “aging” beer hoo-hah, especially with a somewhat freshness-dependent beer like an India Pale Ale. Looking at the graphics on this thing, which appear to have been created with Corel Draw in 1994, it might be even older.

Let’s get into it, shall we? This is a dark orange (never mind the photo - the iPhone doesn't have a flash!), exceptionally flavor-packed big IPA, though it’s paradoxically not incredibly hoppy, except in the aftertaste. On the tongue, it’s smooth. It’s 8.5% ABV, and is malty and very thick. If there’s a key flavor, it’s pine, and lots of it. In the hops vs. malts showdown this one definitely puts the malts on top. I daresay I enjoyed it. I wonder what it would have tasted like had it been made last month, as opposed to last year. Anyone have a perspective on this one, or did I buy the last bottle in Washington State? 7/10.