This month we reviewed Seven Saturdays, an American IPA from R&D Brewing in Raleigh. The brewery is the brainchild of brewer Ian VanGundy, who opened Lonerider in Raleigh as well as White Street in Wake Forest. His beers have won more than a dozen international and national medals, and he was among All About Beer magazine’s 30 under 30 in 2013.
I say we reviewed the beer, because I enjoyed Seven Saturdays with my wife, Katie Baker, who is also a cicerone. This month, we both weigh in to show the intricacies of individual palates and to highlight how descriptors about beer can be paired with the science of the beer.
She said
When I first smelled and tasted this beer, I was reminded of experiencing my first Jade IPA from Foothills. Jade was my first N.C. craft beer, so I have a distinct aroma connection to it. From there, I picked up on the brightness and bitterness of the beer. I’m a Double IPA fanatic, but this beer satisfied that need for the full body of a DIPA without an overwhelmingly high alcohol by volume (ABV) ratio. It comes in at 6.2 percent, and its flavor profile is the perfect complement to spring weather.
He said
Katie’s first smell and taste reminiscent of a past beer experience was most likely from the Citra hops. Citra adds the mango and lime to the aroma and offers the same fruit flavors with a hint of grassiness to the taste. The brightness she describes is the citrus and tropical fruit of the hops, and the bitterness results from the total amount of hops in the beer, which is a combination of Citra and Mosaic. Seven Saturdays can be described as a spring beer because of these approachable fruit flavors. There aren’t any piney or dank tastes, which are seen more in the summer through winter brews.
R&D Brewing
1323 Capital Blvd., Raleigh
rndbrewing.com
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