Arcadia Hopmouth Double IPA

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

22 oz bottle from Bello Vino in Ann Arbor, Michigan, sampled at cellar temperature from an Allagash glass at home. The dark translucent chestunut body is a thing of beauty, restrained and classy, topped by a rich dark tan head that leaves thick lacing on the glass all the way down....rising up is a gorgeous fresh aroma, apricots and citrus, pine and haystacks, beautiful as dew in the morning....the body, strangely, smacks of a little age, the carbonation rather low and the mouthfeel a bit syrupy....old dry woody hops, molasses and English malts, biscuity and reminiscent of many ESBs I’ve had....as it warms a bit of leathery character, some dried cherries appear, light dry yeast.....English character really does seem dominant, not really something that works for me in a hoppy west-coast style like a IIPA....seems curiously restrained and boring overall, too bad considering the wonderful beginning. Certainly not a bad beer, just nothing really special as you might hope it would be.

Bomber from the Beer Geek. Coppery amber color with a decent beige head. Resin aroma backed by a little roasted malt. Medium body with fizzy/creamy carbonation. Flavor is smooth resin hop over very light malt. Arguably, and I never thought I’d say this, it might use more malt. On the other hand there is a fair amount of hop here, and it is arguably balanced. Nice, light, pine finish. Worth a try. It does improve with continued consumption, and it was pretty good to start.

From a bomber. The body was dark copper colored with a light khaki colored head. The aroma was caramel with toast. There was also some pecans and sweet syrup. The taste was citrus with grapefruit. There was also some nice toast and some almonds. A pretty good IIPA, but woudl be light for some people.

Beautiful floral hop nose with underlying citrus and resiny pine. Definitely hop focussed but underlying toasty malt sweetness is apparent. Clear amber coloured body is topped by a decent off white head that leaves some sudsy lace. Very strong bitterness overshadows the flavour and malt profile does not do enough to support leaving it feeling a bit harsh. Very dry and somewhat astringent light medium body with prickly carbonation. Bottle sampled with Altair, beerbuzzmontreal, Cathschlag, Glouglouburp, Goldorak, MartinT, muzzlehatch and Yowie.

Bomber bottle and served in a ye old pint glass and near room temp:
Poured a moderately hazed coppery hue topped by a rich foamy head and excellent lacing on the glassware. The aroma is pure PMW grapefruit and piney hops with a light caramel and Maris Otter character full force. A peppery ester is also found on top of it all.

The taste is juicy fruit gum with a pepper twist. Very well behaved and proper just as I would expect from Arcadia since their best beers are more British traditional. This is by no means a hop bomb but there is just enough bitterness to keep ya happy. There is a yeasty aftertone that seems to mute the bitterness and kept the aftertaste in check. Very dangerously drinkable and so smooth with zero note of alcohol or metallic sharpness.

If there is such a thing as a session IIPA, this would be it. (far better than batch 999 IMO)

Sampled at Cellar’s Wine & Spirits IPA Nite in St Paul, MN. Pours a hazy copper/amber brew with a thin off-white head. Aroma has grapefruit, black pepper, some tropical fruit and piney hops. Taste is moderately sweet, thick and almost raisin like character. Finish is dry hops and some pine aftertaste. A good quality IPA.

Bottles from Jcaprioti and SuIIy. Poured a hazy dark amber with a small off-white head. Hoppy aroma of pine and flowers with caramel, gum and some butterscotch. I am wondering if some heavily hopped beers (depending on the hops) can give butterscotch as well as diacetyl, because I have found it in a few big hop beers. Flavor of caramel mixed with hop bitterness that start right away with a medium length finish. Not much in the way of hop flavor other some some acidity. The mouthfeel is a little slick making me thing it really is diacetyl. Medium body.

Bomber... probably from Mista Styles. Poured a translucent coppery orange with a quick-forming cap of dense beige head. The nose picks up dried leaves, pine forest, and sweet underlying grapefruit. Flavor was quite nice with a sweet citrus bouquet and surrounding pine and herbal bitterness... left a sticky caramel and grapefruit meat finish.. slightly warm. Enjoyed this one.