Beers Breweries Reviews

A Study in Subtlety: Ingenious Brewing Beer Reviews

If you haven’t heard of Ingenious Brewing yet, they are one of the leaders in Houston for big flavors in beer. They are known for their juicy NEIPAs, their fruit bomb sours, and their decadent pastry stouts. I swung by their brewery and tap room on 59, just north of the beltway a couple weeks ago and picked up three cans that I thought were going to blow me away with in your face flavors.

The three beers in question were Fruit Madness: Elf’s Blood, Special Drop #4, and Almost Apple Brandy Jacks. All three were delicious, and defied my expectation of what these styles can achieve. 

Elf’s Blood Imperial Sour from Ingenious Brewing Co.

First up was the Fruit Madness: Elf’s Blood.

This is an imperial sour with raspberry, white chocolate, macadamia nuts, and sugar cookies. I went into this expecting a cloyingly sweet “beer” with almost a fruit smoothie flavor and a creamy mouthfeel from the white chocolate. In the best world, my hope was the acidity of the raspberry would tone down the sweetness from the sugar cookies. I was so happy to be proven wrong. It poured a beautiful fuschia with a quickly dissipating light pink head. The first sniff gave me a lot of raspberry with a hint of the sugar cookie that slowly gave way to the white chocolate as it warmed up. The first sip reinforced my expectations, being all white chocolate and macadamia nut, but as the beer washed across my palate, the acidity of the raspberry cleaned that sweetness off, making room for the crisp, clean sugar of the sugar cookie. That is then followed by the base acidity of the imperial sour and a little more of the macadamia nut. This cleansing acidity combined with the effervescent mouth feel made a beautiful beer drinking experience, leading you always into the next sip. It truly drank like a high end restaurant dessert. The only real disappointment of the beer was that I didn’t have it all to myself because I shared it with my wife, and it is 9% abv but drinks like it is 6%. Going into this beer, this was a style I had yet to have that I would consider well done. This sets a high bar now going forward.

Special Drop #4 from Ingenious Brewing Co.

The second of the beers I had was the Special Drop #4.

Hop Drop is a series they have of NEIPAs of varying hop and malt builds. This iteration showcases a new product the brewers at Ingenious are using. It is a new souring agent you pitch alongside your normal yeast strain. It produces lactic acid, and dies at 3.5%, making it a great option for breweries that want to play in souring, but don’t want the headache of traditional mixed culture yeasts. This is a long way of saying it is a sour Double NEIPA, clocking in at 8% abv. My expectations for this are that grassy hop flavor you get from dry hopping kettle sours paired with the creamy mouthfeel of a hazy DIPA. I poured it into my glass, and it looks exactly like I expected: a hay colored beer I can’t see through with a thick white head. Notes of lemon peel, mango, and a bit of breadiness greeted my nose, to be followed by some peach as it warmed up more. On the first sip, I got peach and lemon with a touch of acidity. As the beer warmed up the peach came out more, overwhelming the acidity. This was all backed up by a very creamy mouthfeel. Overall I do wish there was more of the sour side, but the beer was a delicious departure from the typical hazy IPA and makes me excited to try more beers using this new product.

Almost Apple Brandy Jacks from Ingenious Brewing Co.

The final beer was the Almost Apple Brandy Jacks, a blend of russian imperial stouts.

Part was aged in apple brandy barrels, and part was conditioned on Vietnameese cinnamon and the breakfast cereal Apple Jacks. CLocking in at 11% abv, this was the biggest of the three. I expected a booze forward beer and was hoping for an apple pie like quality from the apple jacks and cinnamon. The pour was pure darkness with an espresso crema colored head and a slightly boozy aroma. There was a little apple sweetness that grew as it warmed up. On the palate, it was a nice full bodied stout with a little grainy sweetness on the back end from the cereal. I was slightly disappointed by the lack of cinnamon, but the mouthfeel was exactly what I hope for from a big stout like this. It was viscous enough to represent the abv without being syrupy. Overall, a very drinkable stout with just a hint of the cereal and barrel to make it different from its competitors.

Sadly for everyone involved, Ingenious is now out of the Elf’s Blood, but I know I’m going to be keeping my eyes out for more like it from them. As for the other two, they were released last Wednesday, January 20, and are currently available out of their tap room. The Almost Apple Brandy Jacks is also going to be part of a virtual beer fest being put on by Hop Culture that celebrates breakfast and beer. Check out the festival and see what other beers are included here. 

Cheers, and happy drinking!

a-study-in-subtlety-ingenious-brewing-beer-reviews

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Josh is a Houstonian, born and raised. He loves all styles, from crispy pilsners to leathery wild ales. Follow him on Instagram at @AManandHisPint.

Related Articles

  • Brookshire’s Best Kept Secret: Baa Baa Brewhouse

    Brookshire’s Best Kept Secret: Baa Baa Brewhouse

    Nestled out in the quiet town of Brookshire, in an otherwise unassuming commercial space along the highway sits what is Baa Baa Brewhouse, one of the most interesting breweries in the Houston area, if not the state of Texas.  Well known for many years for their amazing hazy IPAs and fruited sours, the location attracts

  • Now is the perfect time to celebrate Houston Beer

    Now is the perfect time to celebrate Houston Beer

    Hold up…is it actually Houston Craft Beer Month? Didn’t we switch that to March? Well, that depends on who you ask. But you know what? Let’s celebrate anyway! Back in 2021, the fine folks at Houston Beer Guide had a brilliant idea: let’s dedicate an entire month to celebrating the incredible craft beer scene right

  • Beers under 5.2% to Cool You Down This Summer In Houston

    Beers under 5.2% to Cool You Down This Summer In Houston

    June in Houston! Anyone who has spent any time in our incredible city during the summer months knows that it is hot outside now and getting hotter! Although, that does not mean we have any reason to slow down when it comes to enjoying Houston’s local beer scene. It has already been a great year

  • Saint Arnold: 30 Years of Great Beer and Community Impact

    Saint Arnold: 30 Years of Great Beer and Community Impact

    The story has been well documented since June of 1994, when Rice graduates Kevin Bartol and Brock Wagner officially shipped the first kegs of Saint Arnold Amber into the world. Houston’s first microbrewery opened with little, if any, fanfare. Of course, this story would not be so well chronicled if Saint Arnold had, like many

  • Headed out West to meet Downtown Dusty

    Headed out West to meet Downtown Dusty

    Katy residents are fortunate to have a mayor who not only supports but savors craft beer. William “Dusty” Thiele and No Label Brewing Co. have collaborated on an Amber Lager to honor his contributions to the city they proudly represent. Dubbed “Downtown Dusty,” this amber lager is currently a seasonal offering, but I’m making a

POST YOUR COMMENTS

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Name *

Email *

Website