REVIEW: Elevator Three Frogs

Today's beer comes thanks to my dear friend Alex. He was driving through Columbus and came back with a sixer of this bad boy from Elevator Brewing. If you've been reading the blog for a while you might remember that Elevator was responsible for one of my favorites from the Cincinnati Winter Beerfest, their Espresso Doppelbock on cask. So remembering that I was pretty pumped to try Three Frogs. I fear, however, that I may have made a mistake with this one.

Three Frogs pours a hazed over ruddy golden amber. Almost a copper like color with vibrant golden highlights. A finger of sturdy white head leaves wonderful lacing on the way down.

I was greeted by huge citrusy aromas as soon as I cracked the bottle open. Hoppy notes of tangerine, mango, and grapefruit. There are also some hints at the caramel malt.

Three Frogs is creamy and smooth with a great punchy bitterness that hits right at the start and continues all the way through the sip and lingers long after. The caramel and toffee malt flavors mingle really nicely with sweet fruity hop flavors of tart grapefruit and sweet nectarine. This beer was very very tasty but I think it could've been better. And I think I'm at fault as to why it isn't.

Alex and I had a couple of these beers a while ago when he got it. It was outstanding. Huge delicious juicy fresh fruit hop flavors all over the place. It was great. There were big fruity flavors here, but they were nothing compared to what was there when I had this beer fresh. I fear I have done a grave disservice in letting it languish in the refrigerator for so long.

Let this be a warning to all of you. There are many beers that age really well. Imperial stouts, barleywines, big sour ales, etc. can all age and mature and after a year or more you'll end up with something different and interesting. Fresh flavors will fall back and other flavors will come to the forefront. IPAs on the other hand, for the most part, do not age well. IPAs are all about the hops. and as time passes the alpha acids in the hops that give a beer it's flavor and bitterness begin to break down. IPAs need to be drank fresh. Hell, Stone just released a beer that they're only going to sell for just over a month and then it gets pulled from the shelves.

So, moral of the story here: Don't let your IPAs sit in the fridge for too long. Drink them fresh. Respect the beer. I'll have to make it a point to try this beer again and make sure it's fresh. When I do, I'll be sure to update this post and give you all my thoughts.

HD