01 Mar Sigma Dick Jones DIPA

Sigma Dick Jones DIPA

Sigma Brewing Company

EADO, Second Ward, Houston
Hazy DIPA
ABV: 8.2%
IBUs: ?
Packaging: Draft, 4 Pack 16oz cans delivered by Hop Drop

He’s a cyborg, you idiot.

He recorded every word you said.

His memory’s admissible as evidence.

We’re gonna have to kill him.

…

Your move creep…

Long before Kurtwood Smith was Red Foreman in that 70’s show, he was Clarence Boddiker. And who’d he work for?

Dick Jones.

If none of the stuff above means anything to you, then maybe you’ve never seen it, but that’s ok because you came for the beer, and we did too.

Back in 1987 there was no such thing as a hazy IPA, and 80’s babies were watching Robocop while their folks happily drank clear beer.

Brilliantly clear IPAs still have a place in fridge shelves, tap walls, and in the hearts of craft beer drinkers, but there’s a new sheriff in town, and that’s the hazy IPA. For the uninitiated, these beers are juice-like in appearance and tropical in aroma and flavor, but what many don’t know is that it’s not solely because of the hops.

The yeast isn’t quite the star of a hazy IPA, but it’s not playing the background either; It’s more like the director – calling the shots scene by scene and letting the other stars know when to start and finish their acts.

You see, a big part of hazy IPAs is something called biotransformation. While the jury’s still out on this budding science, essentially, it describes the effect that yeast has on hops when they’re added during active fermentation.

Matt from Sigma wanted to help explain, “Biotransformation. That’s what most of our hazies are at their core – an experiment in biotransformation. Adding hops earlier in the fermentation process allows the yeast to manipulate some of their flavors and aromas, and hopefully pull some exciting things out them in the process. We’ve been experimenting with what this does to different strains of hops using our house hazy yeast and have been pretty pleased with some of the results.”

Since it’s such a new science, it’s not quite as scientific as it sounds. Instead, each hazy IPA you try is really just a successful gamble on a drinkable chemistry project.

The trend of hazy IPAs has proven to be more than just a trend, but the complaint amongst the nerdiest of beer nerds, is they’re growing tired of the weekly hype over a beer that’s basically the same as the last one. That’s where Sigma likes to shine.

Matt elaborates, “Our goal has always been to try to keep things tasting new and different, and we think that how the hops and yeast play together is a crucial component of that.” Spirit Journey and Nude Tayne have been terrific examples of the differentiation, and have even received some national recognition.

At the end of the day, good beer speaks for itself. No amount of beer writers, haters, or other external factors can undo a well-brewed beer, and Sigma Dick Jones is just that.

The Sigma Dick Jones cans feature portraits of the evil villain in Robocop, but the vileness ends right there.

Crack. Hiss. Blub. Blub. Blub blub blub blublublublublub, and all the sudden my office is smelling like straight citrus. The opaque yellow-orange color is topped with a dense, tight, white head made of millions of teeny bubbles. The juice-like appearance is perfect to set the scene for all of the tropical notes that follow.

Waves of pineapple, peaches, and mango bust out of the glass like Robocop throwing Clarence Boddiker around, and it’s just as enjoyable to smell as it is to watch.

Each sip of Dick Jones tastes as good as it smells. The tropical fruit flavors tsunami through my palette leaving a dry wreckage of earthy citrus, hop-spice, and a longing for another sip with no hop burn.

It’s hard to imagine a real beer connoisseur that can’t appreciate beer of this caliber, but it’s even harder to imagine that we have it at weekly releases and even delivered to our homes daily thanks to Hop Drop. You can get some cans delivered straight to your door. Use code “BEERCHRONICLE” for 10% off your beer delivery.