It’s opening day at the Braves new home at SunTrust Park. And the ballpark and The Battery, the adjacent restaurant and retail complex, are big news. But some the biggest, most unlikely buzz has been about a new beer from Terrapin, dubbed Chopsecutioner.
Despite what you may have heard or read, Chopsecutioner is not aged on baseball bats. It is aged on wood chips from baseball bats with some additions of wood spirals.
And it is not “a whopping 7.3 percent alcohol level.” It is in fact a lower alcohol, ballpark-friendly version of Terrapin’s best-selling Hopsecutioner IPA, brewed with pretty much the same hop profile, and an alcohol by volume of 5%.
Beer Pick
Chopsecutioner Bat Wood Aged IPA
Terrapin Beer Co., Athens and Atlanta
Available on draft at the Terrapin Taproom at The Battery and SunTrust Park.
Profile
This new take on Terrapin’s best-selling Hopsecutioner IPA is aged on Mizuno wood baseball bat chips with wood spirals added. The hop profile is much the same as the original. But the alcohol by volume has been reduced from 7.3 to 5%, making it a ballpark-friendly sipper perfect for hopheads visiting the Terrapin Taproom at The Battery and SunTrust Park.
The result is all the things you’ve learned to love about classic American IPA, with citrus and pine aromas, and a malty center that displays the bold presence of a panoply of Warrior, Chinook, Centennial, Simcoe, Amarillo and Cascade hops. But to my palate, Chopsecutioner is smoother, with a more pleasant finish, and subtle, humidor-like notes of fresh wood.
Pair with
If you’re at the Terrapin Taproom, Chopsecutioner would do well with the smoked brisket or pork from Fox Bros. BBQ. But pairing it with the barbecue nachos, exclusive to the Taproom, or the famous Frito Pie could be a new favorite.
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