Boulevard “Double-Wide India Pale Ale”

I admit up front–I don’t care for India Pale Ales.  I find them too bitter for my taste.  And the second in the Boulevard Brewing Company’s[*1] Smokestack Series of ales doesn’t disappoint there, with an IBU of 55, it’s quite bitter to my palate.  But it shares a lushness with the previous entry, the Sixth Glass ale, and has a sweetness which is unusual in an India Pale Ale.

Boulevard’s web site[*2] warns that this one is “not for the pedestrian palate.”  I’d have to agree there–if your tastes run to Bud or Miller or Coors or any of the mass-market American beers, you probably won’t care for the Double-Wide.  If however you’re a bit adventurous in your beer consumption, and don’t shy away from sampling microbrews or obscure foreign beers, you’ll find this one interesting at least, and possibly more.