Big Ditch Brewing’s vaunted Lock IPA Series is set to grow by one with the introduction of the fourth installment, Dibble, named after Lockport canal engineer Orringh “Orange” Dibble, who invented a horse drawn crane for removing debris out of the Erie Canal during its excavation. The new beer will be released on April 21 (12pm) in 4-packs of 16oz. cans for $13.99.

Following in the footsteps of Packet, Fip and 363, Dibble is brewed with Hallertau Blanc, Amarillo and Simcoe hops and features bright orange and grapefruit aroma and flavor, with just a hint of bitterness, and a slight earthy and floral finish.

“Like all of the Lock IPA series, Dibble has excellent hop flavor and aroma with muted bitterness which makes it very drinkable, but it’s also unique and different from all the other beers in the series too,” Big Ditch President Matt Kahn says. “This beer uses London Ale III as the yeast strain, which contributes some earth and floral notes to the typical citrus profile. I find this beer extremely balanced, with the overriding character being orange marmalade and spice.”

This is the scaled up version of Innovation Series: Dave’s New England-style IPA, a beer from the mind of Big Ditch’s Dave O’Connor, 3rd shift Lead Brewer extraordinaire. This beer was one of the true standouts at the Buffalo Niagara Brewers Invitational this past February at New York Beer Project. It featured a nice soft finish with a hit of melon.

“This beer is the culmination of several years worth of development; a beer our 3rd shift lead brewer Dave O’ Connor made at home and gave to his fellow brewers in winter of 2016,” Kahn adds. “We thought it was like drinking fresh grapefruit juice at the time. It took several pilot batches at our brewery to dial it in a bit better before making it to production scale.”

In addition to Dibble, Big Ditch will also have a fresh batch of Deep Cut Double IPA cans on sale (4-packs of 16oz. cans are $14.99) and a new pilot beer, Innovation Series: Berry Sour 1.0, which is brewed with oats and lactose, co-fermented with Big Ditch’s house ale strain and house lacto strain and dry hopped with Mosaic hops. It features strong blueberry and strawberry flavors, but still tastes like a nice sour beer. There will be limited quantities available of this beer (no growler fills).

For more information, please visit https://www.facebook.com/events/2193814064273063.

Brian Campbell is a co-founder/Brand Manager of the BNBA’s enthusiast arm, Buffalo Beer League, and writes the weekly Buffalo Beer Buzz column. If you have beer news that should be included in the Beer Buzz, Brian can be reached at buffalobeerleague@aol.com, on Twitter (@buffbeerleague), Instagram (@buffalobeerleague), Facebook (@thebuffalobeerleague) and www.buffalobeerleague.com.