Carolina 11th Anniversary Imperial IPA

Brewed by Carolina Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Holly Springs, North Carolina USA

From notes 7/16/06: Bottled on June 28, 2006. Pours a slightly hazy golden copper with plenty of orange hues. Frothy head of off-white forms easily and leaves plenty of chunky lace. Holy crap is this aroma juicy! Dripping fragrance of mango, grapefruit flesh, orange, and lemon. Absolutely outstanding. I find myself just sniffing and inhaling this beer to no end. Nice job! Sweet caramel maltiness is drenched with citrusy hop flavors. So very nice. Sticky icky coats the tastebuds. Resinous and tacky. Oily and green. This beer pushes all the right buttons. Smooth mouthfeel. Full body. So very very drinkable. A (pun intended) "Herculean" effort here. Damn this needs to be a year-rounder!

Crisp, tart grapefruit hop bite. Slightly sweet, ABV is slightly noticed, especially as it warmed. Great 2IPA, I enjoyed this one.

Bottle. Nice amber color, slightly hazy. Aroma is very hoppy and tthere are alcohol overtones. Medium white head, some lacing. Flavor is similar, good hop/malt balance, alcohol aftertaste. A bit on the sweet/malty side--not that I mind that at all.

24.07.06 12oz bottle via trade thanks to Magjayran. Shared at NYRBG, Belgian Room. Paler amber pour without much of the lofty head one expects in a double IPA. Big, sweet, and resinous aromas with loads of grapefruit and nice biscuit undertones. Quite cat-pissy and bitter throughout. Pretty standard stuff, not exciting, but solid. Unfiltered. If I lived in NC, I’d be ecstatic about this beer and, most likely, this entire brewery.

Bottle thanks to Willblake at the NYRBG. Hazy light amber color with a small white head. Aroma is predominately grapefruit hops, some pine and a bit of malt in the background. Bitter citrus hop flavor with some caramel malt and alcohol on the finish.

Pint @ Flying Saucer / Raleigh. Good nose, sweet & citrusy. Orange, grapefruit, caramel/toffee. Clean brownish orange color, small head tha quickly faded to a ring. Minor lacing. Bittersweet flavor. Like aroma, but the grapefruit come to the fore front. Get that palate burning kind of thing. ABV shoes it self as it rolls on your tongue. Thick body, oily creamy mouthfeel, dry bitter finish. Tasty enough, kind of a familiar IIPA. Very enjoyable!

Bottle provided by WillBlake at the NYRBG, thanks Jon. 12oz bottle poured cloudy yellow with some lacing. Strong hop aroma (Amarillo?), citrus. Taste is citrus hop. No real malt profile.

Pours an amber color with a thick and fluffy mostly white head. Great lacing. Aroma is deliciously hoppy and fresh with lots of pine and grapefruit. Great hoppy flavor. Face smacking citrus bitterness with some pine resin in the background and a little bit of sweet malt to hold it together. The 8.2% ABV works well here since the hops pretty much cover up any traces of alcohol. This is a VERY fresh sample and I couldn’t be happier about it. If only I could somehow convince CBC to brew this all the time. Think of this as a slightly lighter Hercules. Most of the flavor but it sits a little lighter on the stomach and your head.