Brewery – Rhinegeist
Beer – Knowledge
Style – Imperial IPA
ABV – 8.5%
IBUs – 98

Intense & refined, Knowledge delivers notes of resinous pine, dank sap, pithy grapefruit, & ripe pineapple. Chewy hops, a zesty punch; this erudite Imperial India Pale Ale sharpens perceptive depths in the studious night.

Rhinegeist got a lot of IPA fans pretty pumped up with the news that they’d be adding a new IPA to their year round lineup (And there are a LOT of IPA drinkers in Cincinnati).  The point is that this beer got what seems to be the entire city buzzing with excitement.  After trying the beer, I’m happy to report that the excitement isn’t without merit (but we’ll get to my thoughts in a minute).

This beer is the result of a ton of experimentation from Rhinegeist.  All over Cincinnati you’ve probably seen tap handles of the series of Experimental DIPAs that the brewery has been playing around with for a while now.  This beer is a result of that experimentation.  They put process into great terms on their blog here “The creative act of coming up with new recipes and experimenting to see how different techniques and ingredients represent themselves in the final beer is one of hue most compelling things we do,” says co-founder Bryant Goulding “There is a degree of alchemy – yeast does its work behind stainless steel walls – and raw ingredients simply do not taste exactly like the final product, so we must brew with them to find out how certain ingredients will express themselves.

They go on to talk about how the Experimental DIPA series was designed as a “brewed essay on the expression of hops”.  They used a ton of different varieties in ways they hadn’t tried before.  When the hop dust all settled, there was one IPA that stood above the others, Experimental DIPA #4.

The beer uses four hops for very different, distinct roles:

• Columbus is a high oil content hop with aggressive tones of black pepper and licorice.
• Centennial is one of the most citrus forward hops grown.  They use it for its bright and pungent lime zest character.
• Chinook is known for grapefruit notes and spice.  Rhinegeist’s come from Champoux Farms in Yakima, who’s Chinook favors a ruby red grapefruit character, rather than a pithy one.
• Simcoe brings passionfruit, berry, dankiness and earthiness to the party.  It provides a dank structure to the beer.

Before we get on to my tasting notes, I also have to give a shout out to my new favorite can design from Rhinegeist.  This matte black can is beautiful and looks amazing sitting on a shelf, or in a beer fridge.  LOVE it.

My Thoughts On Rhinegeist Knowledge

In the glass, Knowledge is a really great looking beer, light yellow orange colored with a thick, sticky white head on top.

Aromas change as the glass warms, hitting on light citrus and fruitiness with a touch of grassiness when its cold, to a heavy spice and pine aroma as it warms up.

The flavor is a changing journey too as the glass warms up.  It’s a light, refreshing IPA when cold, with lots of berry and fruit notes.  The warming beer starts to get dankier and dankier as it progresses, with that thick, sticky pine hoppiness really starting to take a more prominent role.

This beer is really great – I won’t say it’s my favorite DIPA from Rhiengeist that I’ve ever tried – but it’s certainly a damn good beer, and being year round lifts it to another category.