Arcadia Hopmouth Double IPA

Brewed by Arcadia Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Battle Creek, Michigan USA

Splendid bouquet of caramel and hops, all the citrus fruits are there. Murky ochre color with a thick peach colored head. Medium bodied with fruity esters, like jolly ranchers, but considerably less sweet. Cherry, lemon, orange, and perhaps a bit of fig. Piney bark finish. Tasty and well hopped, but probably well below 60 IBUs. I think I like it better that way.

Another bottle from Kevin. This is a solid beer but its not really so much of a DIPA as a somewhat hoppy barley wine. Nose is lightly hoppy but dominated by caramel malt. Some light grassy hops in the flavor as well but here again layers of caramel and tofee. The malt is really quite nice but this is nowhere near hoppy or bitter enough to be a DIPA. But this is still a very drinkable beer.

Not a bad beer, but somewhat disappointing for a DIPA. Pour was ornge-red, with a nice off-white head and decent lacing, but the strong citrusy grapefruit hops (that I’ve come to love in the style) are missing from the nose, and not much more noticeable in the taste. The mouthfeel is a nice bitter-sweet blend of malts and hops, and the finish long and pleasant, but this is just not up to DIPA standards.

Pours a dark hazy orange color with a big fluffy white head. Aroma is really big on the malt characteristics with just some fairly mild hop undertones. Flavor is much more hoppy but this is still pretty sweet for a DIPA. Decent but not spectacular.

12 oz bottle poured into a tulip glass. Deep murky copper color with thin off-white head. Aroma is very faint for a DIPA, very mild grassy hops and a tinge of caramel. Taste is also too mild without the standard characteristics of a DIPA- big hops, citrus, pine, and caramel malt. Not much of any of those going on. I actually taste some rye in there. Nicely carbonated. Overall pretty disappointed. Meh.

On tap at xnoxhatex’s wedding reception spring 2009! Pours a caramel brown with a nice dense white froth. Strong piney bitter salty C-hop aroma, just a little funky. Very bitter moldy funky salty aggressive hops with smooth mildly rich caramel base. Medium bodied caramel sticky with softer big bubbly carbonation. Not great.

Murky copper orange with a thin tan head, slowly fading leaving some lace in its wake. Aroma of alcohol, citrus, pine and sweet malt. Taste of citrus, caramel malt, minor alcohol with a moderate bitter finish. Not overly hoppy, only the alcohol content reminds me this is a DIPA, where are the hops? Bitterness is there, but more of an afterthought than anything. A little too aggressively carbonated for my tastes as well.

12oz bottle from The Party Source. Thick cloudy amber pour with a medium tan head. Cereal malt aroma with some citrus hops. Sour orange flavor up front with a ton of malt and a bitter grapefruit finish. A bit too malty, but not bad.