 pint_size (989), Austin, Texas, USA
May 14, 2008 Updated: Jun 16, 2008
5-13-08 bottle shared with lb4lb thanks to knight84 and hoppymeal!!!
Glowing orange red that is thick and dense but is crisp and cheery with a superb BIG HEAD. Immediate lacing from the fluffy white amazing head. Smell is fruity goodness - apricots and mandarin oranges play nicely with the bright and bold hops in the nose. Flavor is great - hoppy and has a nice citris grassy effect to it. It actually has a bold hop presence which I crave and adore here. However, the part that makes this beer so wonderful for me is the palate - this is what pulls it all together into one magnificent package. It has this bitter and sharp hop bite but has a creamy and smooth mouthfeel that just balances the flavor so well - it leaves me speechless. It leaves a nice citrisy bitter rind flavor on the tongue that leaves me wanting more and more and more. I got to try this at a tasting prior to tonight and this was nothing like I remember it being then. I thought it was average and not a great DIPA by any means. But tonight, I feel very differently. The more I drink, the more the flavor progresses and the more I want to weep because the glass is quickly becoming empty.
Doppelganger (1080), Oxford, Oxfordshire, England
Jul 17, 2008 Bottle, at cgarvieuk’s, with Stella, the kids, and Traci. Really great tasting Craig—thanks! Shiny copper, fine white head. Full melon-honey hop nose, musky mineral/animal grapefruit. Under that, a touch of toasty character. Find textured chewy malt, velvety alcohol mixed with hop juice. Almost more hop liqueur than beer. Alcohol very straight-on and unhidden, but kind of nice like that. Chalky sweet finish.
IMtheOptimator (1096), Bethel, Connecticut, USA
Jul 17, 2008 Poured an effervescent amber with a frothy white head. Nice, fairly intense aroma of grapefruit rind and pine needles with a touch of sugar candy and a bit of alcohol. Flavor follows faithfully with strong notes of bitter grapefruit and pine, some earthiness, lots of bitterness but also backed by a biscuity sweet body that Hopslam lacked. I can taste some alcohol but not nearly enough to make me suspect 11%. For me, this was superior to hopslam, with a slightly metallic alcohol taste in the finish being its only detractor. I would certainly purchase this regularly if if were available to me. I am ignorant as to whether Bells is brewing this special or intends to make this a permanent release, but I think this would be an excellent addition to their lineup... the pale brother of Expedition, maybe.
SQNfan (384), Wheaton, Illinois, USA
Jul 7, 2008 Tasted at the pre-DLD event at Flossmoor: Powerful, thick, rich, dense...you name it. There was tons of citrus along with herbal hops and some balancing caramel malt. The only downpoint was that this came off as big for the sake of being big. I love big beers but feel that if they had toned this down a 1/2 notch it would have been even better.
Glouglouburp (1872), Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Jul 6, 2008 In short: A dry, very dry intensely hopped triple-IPA.
How: Bottle 12oz, drank 3 months after its release. Bottle as a bonus (!!!) from moejuck. That’s an unreal bonus Joe, I owe you one!!!
The look: Clear golden-copper body topped by a medium white head
In long: Big nose of cedar, grapefruit, pine-tree and citrus. Toasted bread with honey and caramel followed by an intense, and I mean INTENSE hops bitterness. Pine-tree, cedar and dry citrus fruits skin are the hops flavours. Alcohol somewhat apparent. I had this one and the Hopslam side-by-side and this one really tasted like a much dryer version of the Hopslam with an added cedar touch. I can’t believe that Bells sent most of this release to San Diego!?! As if San Diego needed another excellent Double IPA. Christ!!! Why not send Upland lambics to Brussel while at it? Or your tax money to Bill Gates just to keep on with the spirit.
acrdz (4129), Pennsylvania, USA
Jul 5, 2008 Pours slightly cloudy but very bright lemon-orange yellow with a white head. Hugely pungent and peppery hop oil nose, bright lemon citrus and mandarin oranges. Texture is moderately coarse, decent bitterness, somewhat drying and coarse on the back, flavors center around lemon juice citrus and sharp oranges, some pineapple and melon as well. Overall very clean and straightforward, well made. Surprisingly the alcohol isn’t as bothersome as it is with the most recent batch of Hopslam.
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