Copper Creek Double IPA

Brewed by Copper Creek Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Athens, Georgia USA

firkin at Atlanta Cask Ale - Dark brown. citrus hops come on strong in this beer in all aspects. Nice malt balance though. Just heavy enough to be drinkable with all those hops. Yum.

From Cask at the Atlanta Cask Ale Tasting. Poured a hazy dark amber color. Big hoppy citrus aroma all over the top of this beer. Malty underbelly that was fruity with light caramel sweetness. Alcohol was in the nose as well. Flavor was malty sweet and mildly fruity with a long bitter and warming finish. Medium to full bodied.

This IIPA was a good bit lighter than the Emperor Penguin served right next to it and the two actually served as a nice contrast in the range of the style. While the Penguin edged into the barley wine end of the style with its overworked-yeast fruit aromas and heavy maltiness, Copper Creek’s rendition was much cleaner and lighter on the malt which allowed it to focus more on the hops and become a little more drinkable. In the hop side the Penguin had very little in the way of hop aroma and makes up for it in the bitterness. Copper Creek’s IIPA makes great use of the aroma hops and then puts less emphasis on the bittering side. Both were good beers, but I lean toward this beer. I heard others who leaned the opposite, though.