Beer Valley Leafer Madness Imperial Pale Ale Hop Harvest Edition

Brewed by Beer Valley Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Ontario, Oregon USA

Thanks to ditmier for the super fresh bottles of the 2009 version. Absolutely scrumptious beer, I have to say. Cloudy orange pour with a nice roiling carbonation. Huge pale malts and grassy hops in the nose, with a healthy dose of juicy wet hop goodness. Settles down to reveal a solid malt character holding things together, but the citrus rind and wet hops are just so delicious when they coat the tongue. Creamy mouthfeel and malts again contribute to balance, but this is one is a delightful hop bomb.

My Bottom Line:
Resinous and sandy hops blossom into citrusy and leafy ramifications within and atop this Double IPA’s crunchy pale malts, sculpting a most compelling flavor profile.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A veil of foam stays atop the cloudy blond.
-The mouthfeel is comfortable, rich yet never heavy.
-The alcohol is well hidden in the expressive hop finish, which is mostly grassy and resinous.
-This must be utter hop heaven on tap!

Bottle; 2009 Fresh Hop Edition.

Bomber served in a tulip. Orange-grapefruit in color with a large oatmeal colored head. Pillowy and dense, good retention... nice. Citrus aroma. Bitter flavor and very bitter finish.

2009 Bottle - Opens with the slightest hiss...Pours a cloudy tan with a small white head...aroma is citric and hop resiny, massive caramel malt, the fresh hop florals are a bit delayed but follow closesly behind as it opens...flavour is sweet right off the bat, sitcky caramel, followed immeidately by grapefruit peel and pine...lingering oily bitterness in the mouth...that and the nose confirm the fresh hops...happy to find adequate carb despite the weak opening...tasty stuff, better than last years...
Earlier Rating: 4/10/2009 Total Score: 3.6
2008 Bottle - Pours lt orange with a medium off white head...aroma is hop flowers, grapefruit and caramel malt...flavour is similar, citric and has a bite at first, neither qualitiy lingers...finishes a bit thin, but still is nice...more tame than the regular leafer...not sure if that translates into better...still fun...

This came from bman1113VR or wavers1. Can’t remember who. Pours a hazy amber with a white head. Smells of citrus, earth, sweet. Tastes of spice, some resin, molasses. Average,

Courtesy Hopscotch. Pours a hazy yellow with a thick creamy head. Big huge pungent hop aroma, nice mixture of citrus and pine woodsy hops. Taste is spicy bitter, smooth malt body with touches of caramel. Really tasty.

Bottle… Cloudy yellow ale with a small, creamy, white head. Ink-blot lacework left behind. Smells of fresh, oily, grapefruit-like lupulin, toffee and pale malts. Medium-bodied with limp carbonation. Fresh, sticky, wet-hopped bitterness is pompous compared to the beer’s less significant pale malt sweetness. Grapefruit pith and rind bursts through the seams and the small gob of toffee provides little resistance. Bitter, astringent, dry finish. I’m not much of an IPA guy, but this is nice. A shout goes out to WeeHeavySD for providing this bottle!

Courtesy hopscotch. Pours a deep amber orange color with a small, foamy tan colored head. The aroma shows notes of fresh citrus and floral hops to go with some pine resin, and a hint of the caramel malt backbone. The flavor follows with plenty of bitterness from the orange and grapefruit rinds, but balanced out by the caramel. The hop bitterness is nice on the backend. Medium full bodied and a touch syrupy with a long, bitter sweet finish. This is much better than the regular version, and hoppier than I expected. Nice ipa.