BrewDog Hardcore IPA

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

Bottle from Cornelius Edinbrugh, november 07. Sweet almost syrupy matliness, with some strong fruity notes and fruity hops flavor. Alcohol almost unnoticable albeit the obvious warmth for a 9%. Full to medium mouthfeel, tasty and big, but a bit too clumsy and obnubilating at some points. Lasting earthy aftertaste. Nice, earthy spicy hops aftertaste. Fruity, spicy slighty piney aroma. Nice but not up to par with flavor. Clear, rather pale golden color with a small white head. Powerfull, flavorfull strong IPA.

(Bottle 33 cl) Courtesy of Grovlam. Clear golden with a rough, white head. Extremely intense aroma of pine and peach. Fat body with plenty of malt - sweetish malt - and very fruity accents. The finish is hoppy with the fat, oily aroma hops shining through. Excellent. 301107

this was an excellent beer. tastey and strong. A nice surprise at the split rock beer fest. I’d look for this brand again.

66cl bottle. Orange with a lasting white head. Cadied grapefruit, tangerine, doughy pastry, and light spice in the aroma. The flavor is medium-sweet dough and honey malt, with lots of citrus and a medium-strong bitter finish. Very light alcohol, but enough body to indicate it’s strength, though it is not thick by any measure. There is a great balance between malt and hops, though the hops dominate slightly in the finish, as it should be in the style. Definitely a lot of American influence in this one.

Cask @ Crpydon Beer Festival 2007. A very strong hoppy nose with spice and syrup evident. Colour was deep hjoney. Mouthfeel soft with some malt but predominantly hoppy with citrus. A muscat like consistency with an enduring hoppiness.

33cl bottle. Clear, effervescent orange with a fine but frothy, lasting white head, which leaves a greasy lacing. Grapefruit, orange, lemon sherbet, and herbs and spices on the nose. A barrage of resiny, grapefruity hops with orange peel, spice and floral flavours. The bitterness is relentless, almost going as far as reaching back to your tonsils. Endless, almost tongue-numbing bitter finish, medium body, medium carbonation with a crisp yet clinging mouthfeel. Not quite enough maltiness to balance. 156, 23/09/10.

Bottle from batch 207. Pours a cloudy orange hue with no head. Sweet hoppy and fruity nose. Medium mouthful with a huge amount of malts. Overbalanced? I don’t think so because there are big Citrusy hop notes to match the malt. I’ve had this before and liked it less. This batch is imperial and very good.

Poured from bottle into Nonic Imperial Pint. Slightly cloudy but bright golden orange with very little head. If this really were a DIPA, I would dock it for lack of head. However, as I will get into below, I do not think this is a true DIPA, so I will consider the look as pretty good for an English Ale. Aroma of semi-sweet tea-like malts and English hops. Some alcohol detected. Smells like a strong English IPA. Slightly sweet malts with notes of fruit, caramel, toast and tea. Nice English hop counterbalance that is somewhat metallic. Very bitter at the end. Low carbonation and medium, but slightly creamy and chewy, body. Pretty smooth and very dry. Warming. Easy to drink, as it seems like a kick ass English IPA. Never would have known it was 9%, other than the warming sensation. As DIPA is a very American style, and this beer is not at all American (other than the level of bitterness), this is not really a DIPA. Maybe it could be called an English DIPA, but this is the only example I am aware of. Really, it seems like a cross between an English IPA and a Barleywine. Regardless, comparing it to a typical DIPA, with all of its citrus and pine hop taste, is not really fair. This is a unique beer.