Smuttynose IPA

Where Spotted: AB Liquors, 1803 Columbia Road NW

Price: $9.59/six-pack

india summer: This is an IPA for the summer: a shining golden pour, faint watermelon sweetness, and a mountain of grapefruit hops. It swallows with an über-dry finish, like a wheat field is sprouting on your tongue. If richer IPAs are big, slobbery kisses, Smuttynose is a hard peck on the lips that leaves your mouth agape and wanting more.

Dark Beer: I discovered this beer in an informal blind tasting, when a panel of friends and I mistook it for Stone IPA. That’s the beauty of blind tastings: You can find new favorites among the old and familiar. To try it with your friends, just put each beer in a paper bag and reveal their identities when you’ve tried them all—no need for actual blindfolds, dark rooms, or eye-gouging.

twitter.com/beerspotter