Beer Blotter: Seattle based. World focused.

Captain.

Enjoyed on 4/9/2011

Brewery: Captain Lawrence Brewing Company

Location: Pleasantville, NY

Beer: Captain’s Reserve Imperial IPA

Web: http://www.captainlawrencebrewing.com/

Presentation: 16.9 oz. Brown Glass Bottle, Capped.

Vintage: 2011

Style: American Style Double India Pale Ale

Barrel: N/A

ABV: 9.0%

IBU: 80

Hops: Columbus, Chinook, Cascade

Malt: Domestic Pale Malt, English Pale Malt, English Crystal Malt

Commercial Description:

This beer is a salute to the ingenuity and creativity of the American craft brewers. A uniquely American style of beer, the Double or Imperial IPA, has become the calling card of many craft brewers who aren’t afraid to push the limits of what hops can add to a beer. This beer is big and hoppy – not for the faint of heart! Be prepared to experience sensory overload as you savor this Imperial IPA.

Beer Advocate: A- (4.12)

Rate Beer: 99 (3.81)

Timperial’s Notes:

Background.

When I first began doing a beer trade with a friend back East my mind reeled at the possibility of again having the beers that I “grew up on”.  Then I began to think of all of the breweries that have popped up in the North Atlantic since my move out West.  Of those, Captain Lawrence is probably the one I’m most excited about.  This is my very first experience with their beer and I’m absolutely ecstatic.  Thank you Michael!

Appearance.

Capn’ IPA looks wildly appetizing in the glass.  It pours a translucent, soft orange/dark amber hue with a big, white, highly rocky crown built on larger than average bubbles.  Though I can barely make out the shadows of my fingers on the opposite side of the glass, there are no chunks or floaters visible.  The head slowly melts down the sides of the glass and leaves a respectable caking of silt.

Odor.

Initially, while the head was still bulbous, huge wafts of orange and pineapple pummeled the senses.  A bit of balance comes with patient calm and the malts cling to the inner recesses.  I seem to find vanilla cream notes coming from either the malt alone or its binding with the fruity hops.  Orange creamsicle – Holy Shit!  The caramel malt is incredibly well proportioned here and I’m honestly stupefied by the simplicity of the grain bill.  The depth of bakery desert, glazed breads…all things flour confection… is striking indeed.

Sugars are clearly high and thus, so am I…on this beer.

Mouthfeel.

The thick, murky appearance seems to be more than just an illusion.  The viscosity is ample and a jostle in the mouth brings enough carbonation to life to sufficiently entice the pleasure sensors.  I couldn’t ask for much more.

Flavor.

It seems as though all elements of this beer, all sides of the story, are presented at the very onset of the flavor.  Instantly, there is powerful balance.  I stagger.  Malty elements, hop flavor and bitterness seem to crush down on me with equal weight.  The truest beauty of it is the way in which the bitterness is displayed for you with only enough skin revealed to peak interest, and then the mighty blinds of the sweet tooth quickly shelter the profanity.  This is my kind of tease.

The hop character is stratified in bitter citrus, pine and wood.  It’s like a mad scientist performing acupuncture on a grapefruit with the sharp needles of a thriving Bristlecone.  The balance is profound but at no point does the hop constitution completely relegate it’s stance.  Exhales prompt pineapple thoughts, which only add to an already overly busy complexity.  Worthy of a perfect score.

I find an utterly fantastic caramel, datey, almost barleywine like malt backing here.  It’s so deep in flavor that I sense an aging ensued.  This may be a case where distribution channels failed and freshness waned.  If I’m right, this may be a matter of give and take from a scoring standpoint.  I find perfection in the malt profile (actually, I’d give more than a perfect score if I could) but a slight fumble in aroma.  A sample hot off the press may see a reversal in scoring.

Booze shows up to the party with warming but is never less than welcome.  It somehow, almost makes the whole experience that much better.

Aftertaste.

When the beer is cold, pineapple hop attributes linger and mingle.  That fades a bit with warmth, where sweet malty flavors take over the fold.  Again, a datey or figgy effect is felt which warms me thoroughly.  It only becomes dry minutes later when dehydration so rudely reminds you of its inevitability.  Fucking pleasure right now!

Summary.

Jesus, is this really happening again.  How am I so lucky?

I seriously didn’t plan this out.  A perfect score last Monday and now a very near perfect score today.  I fully understand that most people reading this are likely from the West, where this beer is very much not available.  All I can say is, get your trading shoes on and make a new friend in the Northeast pronto.

Color/Head/Retention [maximum of 1.00 point possible]: 0.99

Odor [maximum of 2.00 points possible]: 1.99

Carbonation/Mouthfeel [maximum of 1.00 point possible]: 1.00

Hop Flavor [maximum of 3.00 points possible]: 3.00

Malt Flavor/Balance [maximum of 2.00 points possible]: 2.00

Finish/Aftertaste [maximum of 1.00 point possible]: 1.00

Total [maximum of 10.00 points possible]: 9.98

Perfection.

Enjoyed on 4/2/2011

Brewery: Firestone Walker Brewing Company

Location: Paso Robles, CA

Beer: Double Jack Double IPA

Web: http://www.firestonebeer.com/

Presentation: 22 oz. Brown Glass Bottle, Capped.

Vintage: 2011

Style: American Style Double India Pale Ale

Barrel: N/A

ABV: 9.5%

IBU: N/A

Hops: 4+lbs/BBL: Bittering—Warrior, Columbus; Late Kettle—Cascade, Centennial; Dry Hops—Amarillo, Cascade, Centennial, Simcoe

Malt: Premium Two-Row (Metcalf & Kendall varieties), Munich, Simpson’s Light Crystal

Commercial Description:

Double Jack IPA is our first ever Imperial IPA. It features a big malty middle to cloak the high alcohol and mouth puckering hop bitterness. Huge tangerine, grapefruit and juicy fruit aroma blossom over the herbal blue basil and malt earthiness of this aggressive beer. Best enjoyed in moderation.

Beer Advocate: A- (4.22)

Rate Beer: 100 (3.98)

Timperial’s Notes:

Background.

The Firestone Walker Proprietors Reserve Series was for a long time the stuff of legend for Washington beer geeks like myself.  Now, we are amongst the lucky ones.  It’s surprisingly easy, if you know where to look, to find Double Jack in bottles and on tap in Seattle.  I vow to never forget the days when this beer was rare and to always cherish my time with it.

Appearance.

DJ pours an attractive tangerine like color with a calm, slowly rising head of white bubbles.  The fluid is hazy but there are no visible floaters.  The carbonation, as judged strictly by the rising bubbles from the base of the glass, appears above average.  The head quickly recedes, contradicting the breathy bubbling, but is still a sight to see post recession.  The slimy trails on the inner wall of the glass are thick and heavily slathered.

The only thing that I can complain about here is the lack of head on the pour.  But, all of the things that I know of that create a nice head seem to be present.  The carbonation is rising, it’s cold, it clearly has plenty of sugar to bind together (based on the lacing)… Maybe my glass is at fault – not impossible.

Odor.

A swift pass by of the nose about the top of the glass reveals all the glory of the world famous California IPA.  It gives me the chills.  Glorious, glorious hops in their purest form.

This beer is dry hopped with Amarillo, Cascade, Centennial, and Simcoe.  That’s a dream team line-up of aroma hops.  Most notably, it’s a copious swathing of various different lupulin characteristics, each quite heavy-handed in alpha percentage.  This makes it difficult to pinpoint any one resounding odor.

The suggestion of pine and citrus will pose nods, but the unmistakable sweetness lends thoughts of mandarins and satsumas.   Just as I type that though, the earth pushed through and I’m back to damp forest.  It’s a journey and we’re going deep.

That sweetness truly is profound… and it’s from the malt, obviously.  I’d like to call it “slightly leaning toward balanced”, but I think that sugar in my nose is posing delusions.  It feels more as though they actually added sweet citrus juice to the brew.  I know that’s not the case but…  As it warms, much more biscuity malt scents arise and balance becomes a bit more than a pipe dream.

Mouthfeel.

This is simply unbeatable.  The entire mouth is shiny with glaze and the flavors linger.  It’s a pleasure to whip about, across the tongue and along the cheeks.  The terminal gravity of this beer must be high.  I think I’d float in it.  It’s the Great Salt Lake of beers.  Perfect score of coarse.

Flavor.

The bitterness and sweetness of this beer creates the perfect yin and yang.  If there was ever a beer that could exist as complete, perfect circle – this is it.  The first few moments that the beer in on my tongue, I taste nothing but sugar and bitterness.  As I allow the beer to fill my cheeks and strike the sides of my palate, it opens up.  The hops sizzle and surge their mighty prowess upon me.

Again, the hop profile has much depth.  Bitter citrus and an herbal, almost minty dynamic play the forefront.  Earthy pine and flowers mix as well.  It’s just so much god damn flavor and the complexity, for a highly hopped beer is devastating.  I’m on my knees.

The malt characters of the beer come as a deep set backbone.  Clearly, as I’ve already said, the sweetness is huge, but the malts do partake with slightly more definition.  I find most of this in the aftertaste, so I’ll concede to the next section.

It’s worth noting that the intensity of flavor masks the booze for a good while.  Only in near room temperature situations does the 9.5% show itself.

Aftertaste.

Much would be lost here if there was a dryness found after the swallow, but there will be no usage of “dry” at any point in this review.  The aftertaste is nearly as profound as the actual taste.  This is mainly due to the viscosity.  The malts really shine here, but they do not dominate.

Biscuit and caramel and fruitcake all could describe this.  A bitterness lingers as well, but is forced out by sugar and baked foodstuffs.  Even the satsumas join the fray.  This beer is a celebration to the very end.

Summary.

I’m just going to go ahead and say it – in my opinion, this is the best Double IPA in the world.  I have had this beer many times before today and I had made that stance…probably around the first or second time I ever tried it.  This beer has everything that I look for in a big IPA.  It’s has a beautiful color, amazing retention, a flabbergasting scent, world-class body, intense sweetness, respectable balance, enough hops to cause them to go endangered as a species, and a long-lasting, not dry, pristine aftertaste.  If I didn’t rank this with a perfect score, my rating system would be flawed.  Get this beer at all costs!

Color/Head/Retention [maximum of 1.00 point possible]: 1.00

Odor [maximum of 2.00 points possible]: 2.00

Carbonation/Mouthfeel [maximum of 1.00 point possible]: 1.00

Hop Flavor [maximum of 3.00 points possible]: 3.00

Malt Flavor/Balance [maximum of 2.00 points possible]: 2.00

Finish/Aftertaste [maximum of 1.00 point possible]: 1.00

Total [maximum of 10.00 points possible]: 10.00

Yeah, going deep.

Enjoyed on 2/28/2011

Brewery: 7 Seas Brewing

Location: Gig Harbor, WA

Beer: Ballz Deep Double India Pale Ale

Web: http://www.7seasbrewing.com/

Presentation: 16 oz. – Can

Vintage: 2011

Style: American Style Double India Pale Ale

Barrel: N/A

ABV: 8.4%

IBU: 84

Hops: N/A

Malt: N/A

Commercial Description:

A mash tun packed mostly with Pale Ale Malt and several different varieties of Crystal malt provide a firm, slightly sweet malt flavor while copious amounts of resiny Yakima Valley hops go berserk on bitterness, flavor and aroma.

Beer Advocate: B- (3.45)

Rate Beer: 79 (3.37)

Timperial’s Notes:

Background.

Clearly, the canning trend is blowing up around the country.  It would take far too long for me to name them all, but I think we all know that when highly respected breweries such as Oskar Blues, New Belgium, Surley, Maui, Anderson Valley, and Big Sky are doing it, everyone wants a piece.  Not to mention the fact that it creates less waste, it easier to transport, and it is completely impenetrable to UV light.  I would be surprised if there was a brewery out there today that wouldn’t admit that they would love to can if they could.

To my knowledge, 7 Seas was the first WA brewery to can with any regularity, and they went straight for 16 ouncers.  Bad-ass fellas!  Bad-ass!  With any luck, the contents of said bad-ass pounder will be equally wicked.

Appearance.

This big Northwest IPA pours from the tall boy can (!) a clear, dark reddish amber color that is very much on the darker end of the SRM scale for IPAs.  The glugging pour that is inevitable from the opening in a can produced a surprisingly small head of just off-white bubbles.  The crown quickly subsided and left a few splotches of lace on the glass.

When held to the light, this brew is very clearly filtered and in the all too common way of the Northwest, very lightly carbonated.

Odor.

The nose is pretty subtle and by no means screams double IPA.  I find it to be quite fruity, both from the hops and the malt.  I get a sense that there might be some wheat in the mash, but that could just be a sensory connection with the banana notes that I perceive.

There is definitely a tropical fruit wafting off of this unique brew.  I pick up some papaya and pineapple and citrus rind, as well as a bit of plum and red grape that could come from the darker crystal and munich malts that I’d assume lend the reddish hue.

Grains are very prominent in the nose as well and come across with a fruitiness that prompts Belgian thoughts.  I always revert to thought of Special B when I sense this attribute, which is really just a Euro crystal malt.

Mouthfeel.

The mouthfeel is very smooth and full.  Overall the body is impressive and seems to benefit from the minimal carbonation.  With that being said, I think there is enough depth in body to withstand quite a bit more effervescence and not lose points.  I strongly feel that more carbonation would assist the drinker in perceiving the flavor nuances here.  I feel the bubbles really awaken the taste buds.  I would make this suggestion to any lightly carbonated beer.

Flavor.

Am I drinking an IPA?  Yes, it’s pretty bitter but this is a much more malt forward beer that I expected.  I’d call it more of an Imperial Red.  There is little to no hop flavor to this beer.  There is a fruitiness, no doubt, which could be from the hops, but for me it comes across as being a product of a specialty grain heavy mash with a slightly higher than normal fermentation temperature for an IPA.

I hesitate to use the word “estery” because it’s not a wine-like fruitiness.  It’s more of a barleywine like experience.  In fact, this could easily turn into a barleywine with a fairly minimal increase to the grain bill.  This is a very well brewed beer in my opinion, it’s just not a double IPA.

Aftertaste.

The finish is super dried out by the bitterness and what I would imagine is a fairly low final gravity.  The corners of my mouth and the bottom of my tongue are actually being constricted by the dryness, which is distracting.  Once I get past that I find that the malty depth lingers for some time and is, again, very barleywine like and pleasant.

Summary.

Overall, this recipe has a lot of potential but seems to be slightly misguided.  It kind of breaks my heart because I want this beer to be so much better.  It has a bad ass name, it’s packaged in a tall boy can which houses some pretty killer artwork, and it’s a high IBU beer of the Northwest.  There is so much potential there for this to be a beer that us Pacific Northwesterners are wicked proud of.  I’ve had plenty of other 7 Seas beers that I thoroughly enjoyed, so who knows, maybe this beer I’m searching for will still come from the boys in Gig Harbor.

Color/Head/Retention [maximum of 1.00 point possible]: 0.79

Odor [maximum of 2.00 points possible]: 1.84

Carbonation/Mouthfeel [maximum of 1.00 point possible]: 0.83

Hop Flavor [maximum of 3.00 points possible]: 2.10

Malt Flavor/Balance [maximum of 2.00 points possible]: 1.90

Finish/Aftertaste [maximum of 1.00 point possible]: 0.81

Total [maximum of 10.00 points possible]: 8.27

WA contraband

Enjoyed on 2/7/2011

Brewery: Speakeasy Ales and Lagers

Location: San Francisco, CA

Beer: Double Daddy Imperial IPA

Web: http://www.goodbeer.com/

Presentation: 22 oz. – Brown Glass Bottle – Capped

Vintage: 2010

Style: American Style Double India Pale Ale

Barrel: N/A

ABV: 9.5%

IBU: N/A

Hops: N/A

Malt: N/A

Commercial Description:

Doubling down on malt & hops, DOUBLE DADDY raises the stakes. With it’s good looks & No-Limit style,DD takes the pot every time.

Beer Advocate: B (3.65)

Rate Beer: 96 (3.61)

Timperial’s Notes:

Background.

This shit is contraband yo!

It’s rare that a brewery exits a market, but that’s just what Speakeasy did to Seattle about a year ago.  Obviously it sucks to lose the distribution of a great brewery, but I think I took it extra hard.  I have a lot of wonderful memories that revolve around this brewery.  This very beer was a long-standing number 1 favorite IPA of mine.  Speakeasy is one of the first breweries that I discovered in which I really liked every beer that they made.  They are one of the first breweries outside of the North Atlantic that I visited and toured.  Every time that I fantasize about my future brewery, I think of the aura, the people, the tunes, the beers, the setup of the Speakeasy brewery in San Fran.  I want mine to be like theirs.

I stumbled across this bottle at John’s Marketplace in Portland and I had a mini freak-out.  God, I really hope that they send their outstanding wares to Seattle again in the near future.

Appearance.

DD is much lighter in color than most IPAs.  I’d call it gold or pale orange.  Based solely on the color, if I didn’t know better, I’d think it was a lager.  It’s maybe just one shade darker than most lagers.  It’s also very clear and displays a fairly soft carbonation rising from the bottom of the glass.  The head is full on white and is pretty subdued on the pour.  It fades quickly down to a thin sheet on top of the liquid but manages to leave a fairly dense lacing on the inside of the glass.  It is this lacing that is really the only impressive element to the appearance.

Odor.

The odor kicks ass!  It’s so perfectly balanced that I want to lift my glass high and toast the brewers of Speakeasy.  It has become all too common lately for the hops to completely dominate imperial IPAs.  Often, it seems the hops are used to cover up what would otherwise be a highly mediocre beer.  Here, with DD, you know that you have a quality crafted beer before you, prior to even tasting it.  That’s impressive.

I’d tend to concede that the grainy element of the scent is most prevalent here and that the hops are actually just slightly positioned in the background rather than the much more likely foreground.  The malty element seems very natural and almost uncooked.  It’s a bit confusing because I’d estimate that the boil would be, at least, in the 90 minute range to allow for various hop additions but there is little caramelization noted.  Clearly the crystal used, if at all, is very low in intensity.  It’s like sticking your head in a freshly opened sack of 2-row.  Pure, unadulterated malted barley.

At first, the hops lend a sappy, pine like earthiness with a little bit of grapefruit tang.  The malts are very round and soft within the nose, but the hops are sharp, as is the booze’s heat.  It’s a contrasting experience that might just be a text-book worthy anecdote for “balance” in beer.  As the beverage warms, the pine bite seems to fade a bit and bitter orange peel is all that I can think about.

Mouthfeel.

This beer feels like 100% silk in my mouth.  The low carbonation and heavy body cause the liquid to glide down my pipes with ease.  Dare I say too much ease.  There is nothing negative to speak of here.  I’d say that this is well on the more viscous side of the scale, which can be read as a higher score for me, at least when it comes to impy IPAs.

Flavor.

The flavor of DD is all about balance.  Do we sense a theme?  Probably the best theme possible when reviewing an imperial IPA.  The interesting thing about this one is that the “imperial” element is only really found in the abv.  I can understand them not choosing to use the word “double” because that may be misconstrued as double the hops.  Don’t get me wrong, I do not doubt that DD has more hops per barrel than Speakeasy’s standard IPA, Big Daddy (named after the owner of Toronado in San Fran), but hops really do not dominate this beer in any way.

The whole experience of this beer is soft, mellow and soothing.  The bitterness is dampened by the hefty grain presence (there’s your imperial).  The alcohol isn’t fucking around, but it’s not harsh, simply warming.  The hops are all sorts of bitter orange and grapefruit, which kind of brings thoughts of a cool breeze on a hot summer day.  With each sip, I wonder… if a thirsty bee may have fell into good graces, only to be awakened when slurped and bring a foul sting to my tongue, awakening me from this much-needed fantasy escape from the chilled clutches of winter.

The malts continue to exist in a very unencumbered fashion.  This is beer in its purest sense, and that gives me goose bumps.  How a brewer is able to encapsulate that within such an extreme style category is highly impressive.  I feel like the recipe is probably built on a lager platform.  The grains were magnified, the yeast was shifted to that of an ale, and it was all intensely hopped.  Pretty simple and wildly successful.  Why didn’t I think of that?

Aftertaste.

The aftertaste is most hot with booze and lingers for quite some time.  Both graininess and bitterness can easily be perceived.  It all blends itself so pristinely that details fail to manifest.  It just exists as a brilliantly developed beer that had sadly departed from the pleasure sensors.  Each and every sip tragically leads to a swallow and each passing swallow tragically leads to an empty glass.

Summary.

Lately, few beers have transported me to far away places like DD has tonight.  I feel stimulated, provoked, inspired.  It’s amazing!  If I could give extra credit I would.  The oddest part about this review is that I have given very high scores to almost every area except for the area with the most weight, hop flavor.  That’s pretty rare.  Though I fucking love this beer, it probably deserves to be punished for that fact.  This is The Hop Brief.  Or, maybe my scoring system is flawed and an exemplary beer deserves an exemplary score.  I’ll mull over this existential question and happily field your thoughts on the matter.  Email me or comment below.

Thank you Speakeasy, and please, come back to WA.  You are missed.

Color/Head/Retention [maximum of 1.00 point possible]: 0.80

Odor [maximum of 2.00 points possible]: 1.98

Carbonation/Mouthfeel [maximum of 1.00 point possible]: 1.00

Hop Flavor [maximum of 3.00 points possible]: 2.52

Malt Flavor/Balance [maximum of 2.00 points possible]: 1.98

Finish/Aftertaste [maximum of 1.00 point possible]: 0.98

Total [maximum of 10.00 points possible]: 9.26

Sorry for the weak pic, computer issues...

Enjoyed on 1/11/2011

Brewery: Bend Brewing Co.

Location: Bend, OR

Beer: Hop Head Imperial India Pale Ale

Web: http://www.bendbrewingco.com/

Presentation:  22 oz. – Brown Glass Bottle – Capped

Vintage: 2010

Style: American Style Double India Pale Ale

Barrel: N/A

ABV: 9%

IBU: N/A

Hops: N/A

Malt: N/A

Commercial Description: Unavailable

Beer Advocate: A- (4.17)

Rate Beer: 98 (3.92)

Timperial’s Notes:

Background.

My mother lives in Bend, OR.  Periodically, I visit.  When I do, you better believe that I’m going to makes stops at Deschutes, Cascade Lakes and Bend Brewing.  Ever since I learned that Hop Head won a bronze metal at the 2008 GABF, I knew I had to have it.  Unfortunately, it’s a seasonal for Bend, and every time I’ve gone there, it has been the wrong season.  This year BBC bottled the hoppy wonder, and they still had some left when I was there for Christmas.

Appearance.

This beer fills my pint glass with a very clear, light amber color.  In fact, I’d say that it’s one of the lightest colored IPAs out there.  Though I recently purchased this beer from the brewery, I believe that it’s a summer, or at best fall seasonal for them, so I have a slight fear that the lack of freshness could have negative effects tonight.

I did get a slight hiss when the cap was unhinged, but there wasn’t much of a head on the pour.  There is, however, a respectable rising of bubbles from the depths.  What head is produced on the pour quickly dwindles to a ring and faint wisps, but lacing is evident as I drink.

Odor.

The nose is fairly subtle in volume but with effort, an intensely pungent odor is detected.  There is an earthy, almost skunky nature to it, but that seems to come in waves, where the receding tides allow for a citrusy aroma to bloom.  Tangerine and grapefruit rind stake claim, and a balancing effect is noted with a buried and exhumed malty sweetness.  As the beer warms it’s as though our seemingly endless paddling has finally propelled us beyond the breakers, and a much-needed calm inundates the scene.

Here we find a melding of seas, or, as it were, scents.  At this point I’d say that the grapefruit dominates and that carries enough earthiness with it to legitimize earlier notions.  The malt side is not playing a major role and only really imparts a sugar-coating on top of the hop flavors.  I guess, with that being said, age is more likely than not… not an issue here.

Mouthfeel.

The mouthfeel is nice with this one.  The carbonation is appropriate and the viscosity is within the range that I expect.  It goes down easy and lingers for just the right amount of time.

Flavor.

Unlike the nose, the flavor is better at colder temperatures.  The bitterness seems more subdued, as does the maltiness.  Pine flavors were most prevalent to me, which played as a pleasant contrast to the fruity nose.  At warmer temperatures the bitterness becomes overwhelming.  The flavors shift more toward earthy presenting an almost wood like experience.  It becomes more like chewing on grapefruit peel than simply enjoying the zest’s essence.  Yes, there is a shit ton of hops in this beer, but I don’t know how successful they were blended.

The malts are present early on and accent the experience with powdered sugar dustings, but later, as the beer warms, they become uber-pronounced in their grainy, biscuity nature.  I’m not surprised that there isn’t much of a caramel or candy-coated element to speak of.  The color of the fluid did its part to foreshadow this.  I’d much prefer to see some higher lovibond crystal malt in the grain bill.  To use the word balanced would be accurate, but for my tastes, this is a bitter bomb with too much of the wrong grains.

Aftertaste.

The aftertaste is a well blended bitter and malty existence.  Thankfully, it’s not completely dried out by the IBUs, but they are doing all that they can.  It all lingers for quite some time, reminding you that you just sipped down a pretty bold IPA, but the 9% continues to be mostly hidden, even into near ambient temperatures.

Summary.

This one has its fair share of bumps in the road, but it finishes on a high note, and in the grand scheme of things, I wouldn’t mind having it in my corner to represent just how the Northwest rolls when it comes to hop monsters.

Admittedly, I am giving this beer a pretty low score.  One important thing that I’d like to state, no matter how obvious it may seem, is that I have a fairly unique take on what makes a stellar IPA.  Apperantly, what makes my palate most happy is in stark opposition to what the BJCP says an IPA should be like.  I can only assume that because of the award that was given to BBC at GABF.  It is always healthy to question the authorities that be, but it’s also important to realize that the standards and rules are there for a reason.  I guess my point is that I can respect this beer and the brewers deeply, but Hop Head just isn’t for me.  The question then becomes, is it the one for you?  Let me know at timperial@beerblotter.com

Color/Head/Retention [maximum of 1.00 point possible]: 0.85

Odor [maximum of 2.00 points possible]: 1.78

Carbonation/Mouthfeel [maximum of 1.00 point possible]: 0.95

Hop Flavor [maximum of 3.00 points possible]: 2.58

Malt Flavor/Balance [maximum of 2.00 points possible]: 1.58

Finish/Aftertaste [maximum of 1.00 point possible]: 0.93

Total [maximum of 10.00 points possible]: 8.67