Seek Out Foothills Brewing’s Jade IPA Tonight at Blue 5

** This is a post I originally wrote back in February, unsure of when this beer would show up in Roanoke. According to Blue 5’s information, the downtown restaurant will be putting this beer on draft tonight, so I figured I’d repost! Cheers, and enjoy!

If this is what it was going to take, then so be it. Since early 2011, Winston Salem’s Foothills Brewing had been brewing a brewery only IPA called Jade to fond reviews, and since then, those who aren’t lucky enough to live around the corner from the brewery – but had been fortunate enough to get a taste at some point – had been begging for it to be distributed. Bright of citrus and “tropical fruit notes” as the brewery website states, Jade IPA has been making quite the name for itself over the last couple years, inserting its quickly made reputation into discussions about the best IPAs in the region. So in December, when the offer came across the brewery’s Facebook page – get us to fifteen thousand “likes”, and we’ll bottle Jade – fans of both the beer and the brewery alike responded. Of course, the offer was likely not much more than a footnote in Jade’s history. The planning around brewing a beer that was formerly brewery only for more widespread distribution takes some time, and certainly can’t revolve around the sudden reaching of a social media milestone. Thankfully for all of Jade’s fans, the beer was likely coming anyway. Yes, Foothills did reach fifteen thousand likes. But more importantly, Jade is being bottled and is already being distributed in its home state of North Carolina. A small keg of it recently kicked at Blacksburg’s 622 North Restaurant. And soon, it’ll be reaching Roanoke.

The beer itself: I had the pleasure of trying Jade about this time last year at the brewery, after hearing quite a bit about it from friends, and the beer certainly didn’t fall short of expectation. The beer gets its name and much of its aroma and tasting notes from use of the New Zealand Pacific Jade hop variety, which is said to impart those tropical citrus mentioned above, as well as a slight black peppery flavor. On the brewery website, it is also noted that the beer is dry hopped with both Cascade and Citra hops, which helps add additional fruit (pineapple is often mentioned) as well as pine like aromas. The beer sets itself apart, to me, with an almost lime like, quick tartness, then squeezes in that equally fast moving peppery taste, before finishing fairly dry. To me, Jade wraps all this in a slightly sweet, barely there coating, and then delivers it to you with just enough body and a crisp carbonation. Many have mentioned a pleasantly and refreshingly dry finish. If you’re like me, and love juicier IPAs, Jade is very spot on, and excels at being very “drinkable” even at just north of 7%, all without being overly sweet.

Again, it should start making appearances soon in Roanoke in bottle form and on tap soon, so if you haven’t had a chance to try this out in North Carolina or at the brewery, be on the lookout for this one.