Saint Florian IPA

I may be from Tacoma, WA and a Big Beer Dork, but I don't get much opportunity to drink Pacific Northwest Beer. I get Deschutes, Widmer, and a lot of the bigger, well known beers but the smaller, local beers I have no idea about. It is not because I don't seek out the beers. It is just because I left the area and when I did live there I was still drinking not the tastiest of beers.



I got Saint Florian in the mail from my sister, so I guess my family really does know what I want. I have never had anything from this brewery before, but I would love to check it out once I go back home for whatever reason. Saint Florian India Pale Ale is actually a beer with a cause. Which makes you feel that much better as you are drinking it.

Saint Florian, the Patron Saint of Firefighters, is now a Northwest IPA. A portion of Saint Florian’s proceeds will go to a Washington State Council of Firefighters Benevolent Fund. Silver City Brewery has a long standing partnership & tradition of working with our local Firefighters. The Benevolent Fund supports firefighters and their families as well as the general public, in their time of need.

This beer has the classic citrus and piney flavors of a West Coast IPA but it is not over powered or over bittered. Very well balanced and it has a very nice malty body and mouthfeel. I like that a lot. The flavors of the beer build on and come together with each other. I am sure it mellowed out a bit but I would love to try this fresh. I think the bottle is date stamped 100912. I got this in the mail, so I can't really help that but it is still a very nice beer.

Though, there is something in this beer that I do not like. I wish I could pinpoint what exactly the taste is. I have had it in several other beers but in this one it is not so heavy and pronounced. At first I thought maybe it was the hop Nelson Sauvin. But in all the beers I have had, there is nothing that leads me to know for sure. Silver City list the ingredients for this IPA and Nelson Sauvin is not one of them. Maybe it is the yeast... Anyway though, this is still a damn fine IPA. I enjoyed it a lot more than many others I have had despite that flavor. This one goes in all the right directions. Even though it was not fresh. 4/5

Cheers!