Arcadia Batch 999 Imperial IPA

Formerly brewed at Arcadia Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Battle Creek, Michigan USA

Pours medium amber. Aroma is of citrusy hops and some malt. Flavor of hops, a slight smoke (which was an interesting nuance) and a mild malt.

Sampled at jeffc666’s gathering. Sort of clear amber with an off-white head. Fresh hop, pine nose. Taste had notes of grapefruit, hoppy resins, pine and toasty malt. Bitter aftertaste which lingers. Body is medium-full. Solid stuff.

(12oz bottle) Off-white head, lightly hazed amber. Aroma is medium sweet, pine. Taste is medium sweet, pine, caramel, grapefruit, some orange. Nice bitter aftertaste that lingers. Creamy medium body, some resin.

A very good beer, but not worthy of its high rating. Lots of hops here -- some aroma lots of flavor. A unique hop too for an IPA and I am not sure which ... perhaps amarillo and chinook? At any rate, I like hoppy beers, but I thought this was overly hopped for the malt backbone. A little too thin and bitter. But, I did enjoy it.

Potent pine and grapefruit hop aroma, slightly peppery. Copper colored with a thin white head. Nice malt-hop balance in the flavor. The hops are on top, but there is a nice underlying caramel maltiness. Definitely on the bitter side. Oustanding smooth, full body that makes this beer extremely drinkable. Overall, and very nice IPA. Darker and more caramel flavor than is typical for an IPA, but the balance is so nice and the mouthfeel so smooth that I can’t put it down.

(12 oz bottle: Obtained in trade with CaptainCougar, thanks Tom!) With a name like Batch 999, I was really expecting a solid brew, but when I found out this special release was "just" an IPA, I was a bit disappointed. Friends, this isn’t "just" an IPA, it’s huge for a "basic" IPA and top shelf all the way. The very aromatic nose is very hoppy, but also sweet and full of orange citrus aroma. The flavor kind of echoes the nose, being very flavorful, hoppy, bitter, but with a strong, sweet orange citrus base. There’s surely a lot of malt in this brew, as evidenced by the full, round palate, but the hops and citrus really mask the flavor of the malt. There’s a mild sensation of alcohol in the mouthfeel. Ruddy amber in color and very cloudy in appearance. The head is very small on the pour, slowly creating a thin topping on the beer, but then gradually succumbing to a patchy film. Some vertical streaks of lace are left on the glass. One of the finest "basic" IPAs I’ve ever tasted. Tom, you get a second thank you for sending me this gem!

Pours an unfiltered red with a nice creamy head. Could smell the hops while pouring it. Hop character tasted fresh and well balanced. Malt profile in this one adds some nice body and makes this beer an overall very drinkable IPA.

Totally cloudy amber brown/yellow color with biggish white head. Aroma is full of citrusy hops, crisp and clear. Flavor is hoppy and bitter, but has a good amount of malt background. A very well balabnced IPA but very big overall. I really enjoyed this brew, and this was a bit of a surprise.