Review of Great Lakes Brewing Commodore Perry IPA
Posted By Ken Saturday, 25 September 2010 17:32
Here's another selection from Great Lakes Brewing, as provided by our awesome friend in Ohio who happened to bring this along in addition to the Dortmunder Gold I reviewed a few weeks back. This one wasn't for me specifically, but was available to try during the unfortunate Colts loss in Week 1 of the NFL regular season. Being a fan of IPA (surprise, I know) I am always more than willing to jump on the chance to try any beer of this style. Read on and see what I thought of this one, and if it met my expectations of an IPA.
Ken's Review
Taste: B+ Commodore Perry was not quite what I expected. There is only a slight hint of this being an IPA, and in a blind taste it would be hard to make the guess that that is what you were drinking. It had a smoother balance than most IPAs, and was more dominate on the citrus side, with some slight caramel tones to it as well. Overall it isn't a bad IPA, but not one that I personally would run to in an IPA lineup.
Packaging: A- Packaging-wise, Commodore Perry gets a little higher mark because of the main photo in the label. There is an image of Commodore Perry on a boat, with a banner streamed across the bottom that says "Don't Give Up the Sip". Clever. Outside of this amusing play on a famous quote, not much to really talk about here.
Value: B- Great Lakes beers typically run in the $7.99 to $8.99 range for a sixer. While this is a decent price for what you get from it, unfortunately the competition in this price range is too strong to really give overly high marks. It is a fair price, but for my own personal liking I could name at least 5 others in this range I would take over it. Yes, this same exact grade and phrasing was copied from Dortmunder, mainly because it still applies here.
Drunkeness: B+ Commodore Perry IPA comes in at a 7.5%. This is a pretty typical level for this style of beer, and one that after a couple of these I was feeling pretty good. There definitely is a bit of a bang-for-your-buck element here, so Commodore Perry can't really be discounted in this area of the grading.
Overall: B+ I won't say Commodore Perry was a disappointment, but it definitely didn't overly excite me. I've had far too many better ones than this to say it would be anywhere near the top of my favorite IPA list, but it isn't one that I would go so far to say is terrible. It is a unique IPA in what it is taste-wise, but not one I would really go so far as to make the focal point of a night of drinking, or the sole choice.