Beers

A look at Copperhead Brewery’s Feeding Frenzy IIPA

Apparently I should write about things I want to see happen more often. Since publishing “Who will be Houston’s Trillium or Tree House?” a handful of our area breweries have gone public with their intentions to attempt to brew a beer closely adhering to the style hallmarks — huge tropical fruit flavor thanks to obscene amounts of post-boil dry-hop additions during whirlpool, fermentation and/or under CO2 pressure of uber-popular citrusy hops like Citra, Galaxy, Mosaic, Nelson, Amarillo and El Dorado; super-soft, creamy and juicy body/mouthfeel as a result of the interplay of the water treatment, specialty grain bill and London Ale (1318) or English Ale (007) yeast strains; and minimal (but still present) lingering bitterness due in part to almost no kettle hop additions — of the supernova that is the Northeast-Style India Pale Ale (NEIPA), or at least their interpretation of such.

Baa Baa Brewhouse was among the first to respond, and I enjoyed their initial stab at it, which they are now tweaking in preparation for a more scaled-up release on March 4. Katy’s No Label then announced last week that they are taking a stab at a double dry-hopped New England-Style IPA; as did Spindletap (while also coining #HoustonHaze); it was mentioned in the comments of my Cow Jumped Over the Moon review that Sigma is also planning one (though I haven’t seen an official announcement anywhere yet); and there are a couple of forthcoming breweries with exciting plans whose beers I am very eager to try. In the midst of this flurry of activity, Conroe’s Copperhead Brewery also announced the release of their own double dry-hopped Double IPA, Feeding Frenzy, and were kind enough to invite me out to try it.

Brewed with copious amounts of Citra, alongside Comet, Amarillo and Apollo, Feeding Frenzy announces itself immediately with its huge tropical aroma. It’s a fairly deep orange in appearance, with Fawcett Maris Otter and flaked oats in the grain bill, and pleasantly hazy. Flavor-wise the citrus is robust and plentiful; there’s absolutely no mistaking this beer for anything but Citra-dominated. And it is deceptively, dangerously easy to down for the 8.0% ABV. In fact, it may well be the tastiest Houston-brewed DIPA I’ve had — I actually said the same thing last time I had a Copperhead DIPA almost a year ago, and it’s clear owner and brewmaster Seth Earnest knows his way around hops.

Of course, you’re probably wanting to know whether I thought it was a good representation of a NEIPA. And, my answer is that it’s actually not an NEIPA (nor did Seth say it was one). Granted, Feeding Frenzy was brewed utilizing many of the aforementioned NE-style techniques (and these days specifically calling out double dry-hopping is a signifier in the northeast in particular), but the beer was also fermented with Chico (or American Ale) yeast, which, while historically hailed for its clean character, doesn’t lend itself to the creamy/juicy/soft mouthfeel that is a critical component of the style. As such, Feeding Frenzy still finished decidedly West Coast for me, with a bit of a harsher bitterness than I’d want in an NE-style beer. Seth mentioned to me that for the next batch, which will be appropriately scaled up, he plans to pitch Conan yeast instead, which is best known as the strain that made Heady Topper the most sought-after beer in the world three years ago. I’ll be curious to see what Conan does to Feeding Frenzy, although in my experience, the yeast strain really needs to be either 1318 or 007 to nail the Northeast-style mouthfeel.

That all said, I want to reiterate: it was still a very good beer. And ultimately it doesn’t even matter what I think as the beer was an unequivocal success in their taproom this past weekend, prompting Copperhead to add a new batch to its brew schedule roughly every other month going forward. And there’s even more great news for fans of beer in cans (a.k.a. everyone): while the next batch of Feeding Frenzy will be available in 4-packs of 12-oz. bottles to-go directly from the brewery, Seth intends to start canning all of their hoppy beers in the not-too-distant future, with flagship Striker IPA first up to hit six-packs of 12-oz. cans, eventually followed by Feeding Frenzy later on down the line.

look-copperhead-brewerys-feeding-frenzy-iipa

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Larry Koestler is a native New Yorker, current resident of Houston and Northeast-Style IPA fiend. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram (@larry_koestler).

Related Articles

  • 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

  • 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

  • Stout Fest 2024 at Excalibur Brewing in Old Town Spring

    Stout Fest 2024 at Excalibur Brewing in Old Town Spring

    When is the right time to drink a stout? The answer is ‘right now’. If you’ve read any of my articles or ever had a conversation with me about beer you’ll know that I’m all about that stout life. When I heard Excalibur Brewing in Old Town Spring announced the 2nd annual Stout Fest 2024, you know

  • Free & Easy N/A Belgian White from Karbach Brewing

    Free & Easy N/A Belgian White from Karbach Brewing

    Before you assume I’m doing a “dry January”, correct yourself right now. Full disclosure, I didn’t purchase this beer either. Karbach was kind enough to ship a few cans to me so here we are. You guys remember the last time I went on the hunt for a good N/A beer right? It didn’t end

  • A Beer To Remember in 2023

    A Beer To Remember in 2023

    As we say goodbye to 2023, let’s take a moment to reflect and remember all the tasty #HoustonBeer we enjoyed this year. Many beers stood out but only one beer can be crowned the beer to remember this year. We asked our contributor team and they delivered with their comments on which beer was their

POST YOUR COMMENTS

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

Name *

Email *

Website