One cannot live on dank hops alone. As much as we want hops constantly running through our veins, sometimes we just need to tone down the bitterness and enjoy some smooth flavor. 

Tone things down? We know it seems contradictory. 

Just take a look through popular culture and you'll find that we're all obsessed with keeping things on the up and up,if you know what we mean. After all, dogs never bark down the wrong tree, right? It's impossible to chalk something down. No self-respecting sports team ever got the crowd going by yelling, Let's get pumped down!. And Disney never made a movie called Down. Did they? Regardless, you can only take this up obsession so far. 

With that in mind, on this week's episode of Drinking Socially hosts Harrison Hickok and Jon Dispenza are getting down by drinking one down.

Hopped Down is a core badge that debuted in 2017 and requires you to drink beers that are perhaps a bit lower in ABV, but definitely lower in IBUs. As a friendly reminder or ICYMI: The acronym IBU stands for International Bittering Units and is simply a fancy measure of the bitterness of a beer.

To earn this badge, check-in to five beers with an IBU of 20 or less. NOTE: Not every beer has its IBU recorded on Untappd, so if you are trying to knock out this badge, make sure that the beer you check-in has its IBU displayed next to the ABV. 

Harrison and Jon are starting with a cheeky-named beer called Beer Flavored Beer from Divine Barrel Brewing. Actually part of a series that also features an Oatmeal Stout, Kölsch, Italian Pilsner, and Czech Pils, this American Lager clocks in at a steady 20 IBUs. 

Turn that frown upside down and put down the hops this week. C'mon, you can do it. Join Harrison and Jon as they get Hopped Down to earn this badge! Tune into this week's episode of Drinking Socially on YouTube or listen wherever you grab your favorite podcasts.

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