Beer ReviewsIPA/India Pale AleWashington

Elysian Savant IPA

Elysian Savant IPA
(Label from elysianbrewing.com)

Please note, all of this post was written prior to AB-InBev’s purchase of Elysian Brewing. While the beers still may good, I can not give money to a company that is actively undermining the craft beer industry world-wide. If you’d like to read more about AB-InBev’s malfeasance, please click on this link to a post I did that lists a very small percentage of the unethical acts they perpetrate.

This was the first beer in the Elysian Brewing‘s new Manic IPA Series.  The Manic IPA series is a rotating special IPA series.  Since Elysian Brewing finished their recent expansion, the explosion of exciting new beers from this brewery has seemed limitless.  Not only has the quality of the beer (already great) increased, but the availability of their special releases has become much more wide spread.

The Idiot Sauvin IPA features the hot new hop out of New Zealand: the Nelson Sauvin.  I’ve seen this hop crop up in many beers lately, but the Idiot Sauvin has to be the best use so far.  Unfortunately for some folks, the Nelson Sauvin doesn’t taste good.  There are a decent percentage of people who are geneticallywired so that when they drink a beer featuring the Nelson Sauvin hop, they taste garlic or onion instead of the tropical passion fruit and soft citrus that makes this hop varietal so special.  Fortunately, I’m not one of those people.

Appearance: Light amber with orange highlights. Nice off white head.  The beer is strikingly bright when you shine light through it.

Aroma: Hop aromas of mango, passion fruit, with touches of soft citrus.  It’s like a lovely fresh made tropical fruit salad.  There’s also a light undercurrent of caramel malt aroma.

Taste: The malt backbone is solid and provides a slightly earthy counterbalance to the beautiful hopping.  The hop finish is lingering and pleasant while slightly mouth-watering.

Overall Impression: Drink this now!  It’s already largely gone from the market.  If you have a bottle, drink it.  You’ll start to lose the delicate nature of the hopping if you hold onto it too much longer.  If you see one on the shelf at your store, snap it up!  This has probably been my favorite IPA release of the year.

Availability: Limited and vanishing quickly.

6.3% ABV

Note: Originally called “Idiot Sauvin” in its first year, but now called Savant IPA.

13 thoughts on “Elysian Savant IPA

  1. Hmmm. I smelled and tasted citrus and hop’s less legal cousin in mine. So much so, I was convinced there were also Columbus hops in it. Same thing, to a lesser extent, with New Belgium’s Dig (which I think included Nelson Sauvin). Gasp! I may have a form of the genetic defect! At least it isn’t onions and garlic…and at least I don’t have that genetic cilantro thing.

  2. I had this on draft a while back and sadly have not returned to it. I too am luckily not one of the “garlic” people. I’ll definitely be picking some of this again the next time I cross its path.

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