Those Brits are SO Refined

Aside from maybe Benny Hill, the typical British person is well-educated, well-spoken, and just an all-around better person than the typical American- or so I heard a lady in the store tell another customer yesterday. Is she right, I wondered; could I be the only one who falls asleep watching BBC America? Are soccer hooligans actually just drunk American college students? Is blood pudding the most disgusting thing ever? The British connection to today's beer post is Left Hand's newest offering, 400 Pound Monkey. It is a British-style IPA, which means a more, well, refined style of IPA. If you think of an American IPA, you think of a brash, loudmouth jock, like that American figure skater guy with the ruffly outfits who holds a teddy bear while waiting for his scores. Or maybe there is a better example out there, I don't know. But while American IPAs are over the top in bitterness, British IPAs tend to be keep a balance between the malts and hops. And the Left Hand version falls very much into the British category, with the main hop used in the beer being the Boadicea variety. Boadicea hops are largely bred in Suffolk and were cultivated with much trial and error by the UK Hops Research Institute, among others. I bet that lady in the store would love this beer. She could sip it out of her Waterford crystal goblet. She could dip her english muffin in it. You could too- don't be afraid of the style. Sometimes we Americans could use a little refining. And teddy bears.