New brewery alert! New for me anyway, as I’m not sure how long Akademia Brewing of Athens, Georgia has been around. Akademia adopts a theme of Athens namesake (Athens, Greece) and the pursuit of scholarly endeavors. Not surprising, that, given that Athens is home to the University of Georgia, which dates to 1785. Of course, Akademia has it’s work cut out for it being in the same town as one of the biggest names in Georgia brewing: Terrapin Beer Company. 

The first Akademia beer I tried was IQ IPA at Taco Mac. There were a couple of reasons I chose this one tonight, first and foremost because they are new to me. Second reason, though, was the price. We’ll get into how that factored into the equation shortly.

Akademia says about IQ IPA on their website:

Citra and Simcoe hops give this IPA a burst of tropical citrus flavor. The dry hopping with Hallertau Blanc and Citra gives it hints of melon, lemongrass and grapefruit. Athens is a town with fantastic IPAs and we hope you enjoy our addition to this illustrious company.

IQ IPA has an alcohol content of 6% by volume with 45 IBUs. It appears to be draft only offering. OK, now for the price: I paid just $3.58 for a 23-ounce mug. You heard that right. The pint price was $4.25, a deal indeed, and the 23-ounce Chancellor mug price was $6.08. Chancellors get a $2.50 rebate in the form of “reward dollars” to be used on a future visit, so, $3.58.

My IQ IPA arrived bright orange amber in color with a thick fluffy white head and melon and mango in the nose. Taking a sip I got medium caramel malt, melon fruit, and a rather grassy herbal hop bitterness.

The bad news is that the bitter finish did not work for me with the juicy melon fruit notes. The beer seemed out of balance with the fruit and hops conflicting, especially as the beer lingered on the plate after a pull. Still and all, it wasn’t terrible, just not as good as it could be methinks.

Not a beer I would buy on a regular basis, but in deference to the bargain price, it is a beer I would certainly try again to see if the beer (or I) was having a bad day.

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled, canned

(D)=Draft

(G)=Growler



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