Coronado Idiot IPA

Brewed by Coronado Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Coronado, California USA

Bomber. Pours a highly carbonated clear amber with 2 finger dense off white head and spotty lacing. Nose is floral hops, sweet citrus and pine. Taste is caramel malt and orange peel with a mellow resin finish. Lighter mouth feel. Decent IPA.

A vigorous pour into my 25cl tulip glass yields a fluffy, initially three-finger thick, pale tan colored head that rises just above the rim of my glass. As the head slowly subsides with a nice layer of thick lacing that sticks to the sides of my glass. The beer is an amber color that shows hazy’ish, orange-red tinged, copper color when held up to the light. As I am visually inspecting this beer a sticky mix of malt and hop aromas are noticeable. A more focused inspection yields a hop-fruity nose of candied, ruby-red grapefruit zest, ample lychee, bright tangelo and some lighter tropical fruit notes. A substantial, though clearly secondary, crystal malt character contributes a caramelized, sweetened tea note as well as a light toasted malt note and a hint of biscuit flavors. The finish picks up a slightly rank, herbal hop note that reminds me of hemp oil and garlic chives, but it is quite soft and you really have to dig for it; though now that I have noticed it, the aroma is much more noticeable.

The flavor has a lot more of that herbal hop character to it than the aroma initially suggested, but there is still a substantial hop-fruitiness. Up front, sweet flavors of lychee, bergamot oil, and candied kumquats yields to herbal notes of hemp oil and garlic chives, yet still retains a fruity hop presence. The bitterness is actually not all that huge here, though it is definitely present and contributes throughout each sip. This gets a bit green and astringent towards the finish, but there is lots of sticky malt character to balance this out and to help carry the fruiter hop character. Speaking of malt, it is clearly a supporting character here, but does contribute quite a bit to this beer; flavors of toasted malt, light citrus-infused toffee, some sweet tea crystal malt notes and a caramelized malt sweetness. The heft of this beer’s body is pretty close to spot on for a double IPA; it is drinkable enough and does not have a body that would suggest that of a Barleywine.

As the beer warms up it gets a bit hot from some alcohol notes towards the finish, though when cooler it did seem to hide the alcohol fairly well. This is actually not nearly as aggressively-balanced towards the hops side of the spectrum as it could be. A more expressive, intense, hop fruitiness would be a welcome addition and would help to temper the crystal malt addition which can be just a wee bit too much at times.

Purchased: South Bay Drugs, Imperial Beach CA

Bottle; poured a nice orange color with a huge off white head. Aroma was truly great; caramel, vanilla and grapefruit. Might have held on to a bit too long, but can’t complain with the overall flavor. Good caramelly and vanilla backbone. Finish of pine and grapefruit, not too hoppy, but a good amount. Aftertaste wasn’t great, nor was the palate; but this was a good one.

Bottle. Pours hazy orange with thick white head. Huge floral hop aroma. Taste is piney hops with medium mouthfeel. Easy drinking. Nice balance. Very good IIPA.

Good light hop aroma, nice head, though a little pale in color. This has a good hop bite but isn’t that bitter. Crisp and relatively easy to drink, I think I may like this one Coronado beer I had in the bottle better than all I had on tap at the brewery last weekend.

Bomber poured a cloudy tarnished copper with a lasting ivory head. Aromas of carmel, tangerine, earthiness, light pine, light grapefruit rind and a hint of grassiness. Palate was medium bodied and smooth with a dry finish. Flavors of pine, eathiness, carmel, tangerine and grapefruit peel with a smooth dry lingering bitter finish.

22 oz. bottle in trade from Snojerk321- served in tulip- poured cloudy darken orange, medium carbonation, white ring around the glass for a head. Aroma of grapefruit, floral, and hops from the seventh layer of hell.. Hits the mouth with a defined medium body, malt is very detectable, sweetness and hop holy hellness come in the middle, hops close out on the finish. Not a hopbomb, they seem to have mellowed a bit, but just a very small notch below awesome!

Bottle. Pours with an amber-orange body topped by a medium thick, white head with a good amount of lacing. It’s sweet and malty with a grapefruity hop note, floral notes and some alcohol esters. Medium bodied and moderately carbonated.