BrewDog Hardcore IPA

Brewed by BrewDog
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

Lacking in character in both taste and aroma, this was an immensely disapointing IPA, i expect great things from brewdog and they just deliver on this one. Taste has a sweetness to it that is appallingly bad, with very light hops, very light aroma with no exciting notes worthy of mentioning. It does redeem itself with a nice dark brown color with decent lacing, and has a nice mouthfeel,but theres obviously alot more to beer than appearance.

March 2008 A hoppy barleywine that the brewers term an Imperial India Pale Ale. The base malt is well attenuated and certainly quite European in style; the hops are firm and assertive but again feel European - English in fact. I can see the American influence both in the name and the label design, but this is a British take on an American beer style which was influenced by British beer and it ends up as a minor and insignificant variation on the barleywine. The beer is drinkable but lacks character and interest - no doubt the filtering doesn’t help with the character. The malt is clean and has subtle toffee and caramel notes, but is mostly just a clean, lifeless bog standard strong malt base. Very boring in fact. The yeast is clearly a simple bought off the shelf well behaved and dull yeast with no character whatsoever. The hops lack fragrance and interest - there is an intensity which burns on the lips, but that’s about it. It’s each to their own as regards beer, and there’s little here for me, though I can see hop addicts liking it more than me. [2.6]
September 2009 The "new" batch - 330ml bottle from Sainsbury’s - one of the 15 finalists. This tastes much more American in style than the version I previously rated. The malt, though, still retains some British quality - a little more toffee than is noticeable in equivalent American beers. The malt seems reasonably sweet and attractive - there is a feeling that the malt would have been a decent quality, and it has been cleanly brewed, and then cleanly filtered. The malt, however, cannot be examined closely, nor fully enjoyed, as the hops intrude too much. An excessive dose of hops has been used, which results in the mouth being burned. There is fragrance, but it is reduced by the punishing hops. I don’t recall the hops being quite this aggressive when last trying this beer, but I found this an unpleasant experience. Too much alcohol, and too much hops. Too much nonsense. It’s each to their own, but I don’t like this sort of stuff at all. Worse beer of the competition so far - and I can’t imagine anything else in the competition being quite as unpleasant to drink as this. [0.9]

This bottled brew from a bottle shop poured a very medium sized head of medium sized clear colored bubbles that were quickly diminishing and left behind a very hazy orange colored body. The mild aroma was hoppy and musty. The crisp mouth feel was tingly at the start and at the finish with a mellow hoppy aftertaste. The flavor contained notes of mild hops. An OK brew just nothing special.

(Batch # 190, BBD: 29/10/10; new recipe) Nice piney hop nose, with a touch of caramel in the back end. Pours a clear amber, with a fluffy white head that leaves great lacing behind. Very visible carbonation in the beer itself. The flavor of this is amazing, crisp bitter hops, with a long bitter finish. A touch of caramel sweetness, but this still showcases the hops. One of the better IIPA’s I’ve recently tried.

tap at ørsted ølbar on saturday 5th september. i’d guess it’s the new version. clear golden yellow, smooth white head. flowery wooden, mellow hoppy aroma. flavor is malt, hops, bitterhops, flowery hops, citrus. palate is veryt smooth. something in the hop profile is a bit strange, otherwise a decent strong hoppy ipa.

This was from batch 261 and dated best before 20/09/10. The batch number bears no relation to the 037 in the Admin note but from the BBD it would seem to be the new recipe. It poured a hazy orange with a small white head and light lacing. The first whiff of the the nose is apple, and then it moves toward citrus, flowers, and even some pine. Full and rich mouthfeel. Flavor is a good balance of caramel malts and bitter hops, leading to a long bitter alcoholic finish from the 9% ABV brew.

330ml bottle from Sainsburys Bracknell, batch #156. Amber with a scummy white head; rich aroma of citrus, malt and honey; lively in the mouth with fresh, zingy, citrus, herbal, hop flavours; moving straight to a dry hoppy finish without a chance of the orange fruits and malts to fully develop. The alcohol is well masked by a rasping, herbal, beefy, finish. This could be a great beer, but it’s trying too hard.

Bottle from Cracked Kettle. Luminous orange body with thin head. Floral and hoppy nose. Big taste of hops and lots of fruits, including oranges and citrus. Gets hoppier in the bite. Another quality BrewDog product.