Full confession: I love all you can eat buffets. Golden Corral, pizza buffets, random Chinese joints with questionable health inspection grades… I love them all. I wish I didn’t. I wish I was the kind of guy that could be happy with one of those trendy small plate places, where you get some roasted almonds and a couple of sprigs of arugula and call it a day. But that’s not me. I know I’m not supposed to love restaurants where you can literally eat as much as you want, what with the obesity epidemic and diabetes, not to mention the environmental implications of eating enough to sustain four grown men…I mean there are a lot of reasons not to practice the “all you can eat” philosophy. But I can’t help it. You know what’s better than a plate of orange chicken? Another plate of orange chicken. My gluttony is a constant source of shame for my wife. Sigh.
Gluttony can be a dangerous thing when you’re talking about beer. Nobody wants to be the guy who’s passed out in the back of the canoe because he drank all of the beer in the cooler. Trust me. In the world of beer, more is rarely better. Unless of course, you’re talking about the beautiful sub-style of beer known as “the double IPA,” which is exactly what it sounds like: an IPA with more booze and usually, a more robust hop profile. Take your standard IPA and jack it up like Barry Bonds during the home run race. Yeah. It’s awesome. Cosmik Debris is a killer example of the style. Creature Comforts, out of Athens, Georgia, nails the balancing act here, creating an almost jammy beer with a hellaciously fresh nose (like being inside one of those Irish Spring soap commercials from the ‘80s). You’ll find double IPAs that will knock you off your ass with 10% ABV or above, but Cosmik Debris comes in at a more reasonable 8%. It’s a limited release spring seasonal for Creature Comforts, but if you can’t find it, grab their Tropicalia, their flagship IPA, which is arguably one of the best in the country.
But you should look for the double IPA. Because in this case, more is better.
