Bristol Edge City Double IPA

Brewed by Bristol Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Colorado Springs, Colorado USA

My Bottom Line:
Wooden resins delve into a sand pit, as fleeting citrus fruit complete the forceful hop explosion. This is a Double IPA which will please those in dire need of an American hop fix, but which might bore those who were looking for something nearly as good as the best examples in the country.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A sheet of foam protects the cloudy amber.
-This is very similar to their regular IPA in its simple flavor approach.
-The body is svelte, but not well sculpted; these malts do not offer much flavor either.
-Alcohol is ably concealed underneath all that hoppiness.
-Why in the world are there 29 hop varieties in here? Finishing off leftovers?

Bottle.

Objectively speaking: An ambitious 29 hop project that was really useless as the hop profile feels very simple in the end.
I like: Lacing for a 10%+ beer. White grapefruit.
I dislike: Lack of earnestness 29 hop claims. Strong alcohol, fuselic even. Slick body. Dullness, no excitement toward the next sip.

Clear amber color with a thich tan head. Nice lacing. Good smell is hoppy and strangely sweet for the style. Full bodied and lightly carbonated. Good hop flavors here are sweet and herbal with malts in the back seat. I enjoyed this one. Nov14/06

Bottled. Poured cloudy amber, with an off-white head. Nose is citrus and hops. Flavor is caramel, malt, and hops. Finishes with a hint of alcohol and a mildly bitter end. Not as big as it should have been.

(22 oz. bottle via trade with <A HREF=http://www.ratebeer.com/ViewUser.asp?UserID=9 target=blank>BeerandBlues2, thanks Brad!) Sweet and piney...Pours cloudy lightly brownish orange. One finger of off-white head recedes to about 1/8". Aroma of pine, grapefruit, caramel, vanilla and light rock candy. Mouthfeel is full, soft and smooth. Fine prickliness. Nice weepy rings of lacing. Flavor is medium-bitter with pine and light grapefruit hoppiness over sweet malt notes of rock candy, caramel and light vanilla. One of the sweeter big IPA’s I can remember. Alcohol well-hidden. Pretty smooth and tasty.

22oz bottle-pours a thin retaining light tan head and amber color. Aroma is dry citrus/pine hops, secondary medium malt. Taste is dry citrus pine hops-bitter, somewhat sweet medium malt-caramel, alcohol. Sipping. OK carbonation.

Had this beer on 3/6/2005. Aroma is a rich sweet malt scent. Color is a very hazy brown/orange. Carbonation seems a bit low with only a thin ring for a head. Taste is rich and strong. Starting with a full body it goes down with a sweet rich feel that seems somewhat creamy. The finish comes on with a strong rich malt flavor that ends with a sweet alcohol taste. In the end there is no hop flavor nor bitterness, it is just too sweet and has no Pale like characteristics. I expected a much better brew from such a great brewery and there other Edge City brews where much better.

Date: 08/24/2005
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting

hazy amber, scant head, big sweet carmal malt aroma with a hint of hot alcohol, big floral hop nose, big, sweet, bitter, thick, rich carmel malt flavor with plenty of hops to balance, long bitter finish that starts to take over, becomes fumey, made with 29 different hops,

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 5/10; Flavor: 5/10; Palate: 5/10; Overall: 10/20
Rating: 2.8/5.0
Score: *4
-------- /> The score was calculated based upon the notes and an old scoring system.