Today is National Whipped Cream Day, which falls on the birthday of Reddi-wip founder Aaron “Bunny” Lapin. The fake holiday celebrates the ice cream topper, and its contribution to milkshakes. While whipped cream existed long before Lapin, it wasn’t until 1946 and the invention of the aerosol canister that the treat took off as many know it to be today. In honor of National Whipped Cream Day, Peaks and Pints presents a flight of milkshake IPAs that we call Craft Beer Crosscut 1.5.19: A Flight of Whipped Cream IPAs. Made with milk sugar and lactose to give it a creamy, milkshake-like mouthfeel and appearance, milkshake IPAs also typically includes the kinds of sweet treats you would find in a milkshake: strawberries, peaches, chocolate, vanilla, mangoes and the like. Most milkshake IPAs are spinoffs on the popular New England-style IPAs, which have tropical flavors and low bitterness.
Craft Beer Crosscut 1.5.19: A Flight of Whipped Cream IPAs
Decadent Blueberry Creamsicle
8.6% ABV, 55 IBU
Decadent Ales Blueberry Creamsicle is an all Mosaic dry-hopped double IPA brewed with blueberries and Madagascar vanilla beans and a propriety blend of Turbinado (typically used to make simple syrup for cocktails) and Muscovado (a darker, more molasses-like sugar). Taste brings fresh grass, pine, citrus, zest, butterscotch, floral hops, peach tea, white grapefruit juice, orange peel, orange pulp, pronounced blackberry and berry pie upfront, with vanilla on the mid-palate and a finish of blackberry, blueberry and black cherry.
Omnipollo Shploing!!
7% ABV
Omnipollo’s Shploing!! is the first canned offering from the Swedish brewery, and it calls it a mango s’more India pale ale brewed with a variety of adjuncts, including marshmallow fluff. This 7 percent alcohol by volume beer pours like hazy lemonade from the can with a mango-orange creamsicle glow in the light and was topped with barely any head. Exceedingly aromatic, Shploing!! smacks of sweet mango, vanilla, canned Mandarin oranges, brown butter and crackers.
Decadent Ales Wild Berry Smoothie
7.3% ABV, 60 IBU
Decadent Ales Wild Berry Smoothie is all Citra double dry-hopped IPA with raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries and vanilla bean added. It smacks of sugary fruit milkshake in the nose with peach gummy rings and lollipops, Brach’s jam-filled strawberry hard candies and sweet-tart pineapple brightness. Its flavor has a tart citrus and springtime strawberry undercurrent overlaid with a thick veneer of peach gummy candy, pineapple tang, juicy mango and pine bitterness.
RiverBend Hawaiian Crunk IPA
7% ABV, 65 IBU
“Milkshake PA” was first coined by Swedish brewery Omnipollo, and Riverbend Brewing has fully committed to the sub-genre, producing four different varieties. There’s something for almost every palate in the lineup, but Hawaiian Crunk brewed with passionfruit, orange, guava (POG) is a standout, offering a creamy, fruity package without the hop bitterness getting in the way. It has a creamy vanilla base with pineapple and guava leading the way. Taste is mildly bitter, moderately sweet, and very juicy with a dry finish.
RiverBend Man-Go Fluff Yourself Milkshake IPA
7% ABV, 65 IBU
Yup, another milkshake IPA from Riverbend Brewing in bend, Oregon — this time a mango milkshake IPA with mango and vanilla on the nose and a moderately bitter, moderately sweet with tropical milkshake experience. The relatively high bitterness keeps the sweetness in check.
