Foothills Seeing Double IPA

Brewed by Foothills Brewing
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Winston-Salem, North Carolina USA

On tap at Foothills. Fantastic IIPA. From color, to aroma, taste and mouthfeel, this is a complex and aggresive beer. Color is a bright orange/light copper. Aroma is of big hops, candied apricots and just a hint of alcohol sweetness. The nostrils tingle. Flavor is big caramel sweetness, with big hop flavor. The finish is sticky, smacky sweet with plenty of bitterness to clean it up and a dry enough finish emerges. This is by no means a balanced beer at this stage in it’s young life, despite mention of big malt to back up the huge hops. This is a monster, in-your-face IIPA. Centennial, Warrior, Columbus, Simcoe and other friends all make an appearance. I’d actually like to see how this one ages in a growler. The beer is unfiltered and the 1 year old Sexual Chocolate I had out of a growler a couple months back could not have been more spot on. They’ve got some amazing guys doing work down there in Winston.

My Bottom Line:
A dazzling orangey, resinous hop bouquet proliferates into the cushiony caramel maltiness of this nourishing, quintessential Double IPA. Balance and high drinkability are also reached, taking this beer to greater heights in the style’s pantheon, imho.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A blanket of foam protects the cloudy amber shine.
-The finishing citrusy and resinous hop bitterness is as important as the hops found in the flavor profile and aroma; everything’s so elegantly laid out!
-The body is chewy and the carbonation relaxing, creating an excellent, full but lenient mouthfeel.
-Hops also divulge a spruce-like sweetness in their flirting earthiness.
-Oh man, how I need to get to this brewery.

On tap at The Flying Saucer in Charlotte.

Draught at GABF 2008. Clear amber coloured with a medium sized off white head. Fruity aroma of hops and pine needles with notes of caramel. Sweet and fruity flavour of pine nedles and hops with notes of caramel and grass. Hoppy finish. Well balanced.

Pours a deep, dark cherry wood color. Aroma of citrus notes with a hint of alcohol. Initial sweetness, some caramel hidden in there. Sticky beer that clings to the roof of your mouth. A smooth maltiness takes over and slowly gives way to a bitterness at the back of your throat. This a a very special beer! Big thanks to alexanderj and kleyland for deciding to make the short drive to Winston-Salem from the WBF.

Sampled at the 10th annual Brewgrass festival. Pours hazy amber with carbonation and a thin white lasting head. Grassy citrus hops on top of creamy sweet malt. Yum. Wonderful flavor including sweet caramel, citrus hops (orange, peach), pine hops, red candy licorice, and cherry hints. Wow. Great creamy body. Perfect light carbonation for the style. Semi-dry finish. Just wonderful. I did not drink anything other than this for the rest of the day.

on tap at the Flying Saucer in Raleigh and again the next night at Tyler’s in Durham. was told this had not been on tap in a while, so assume my pints were from pretty fresh kegs. poured a mostly clear, orangey-dark amber with a one finger white head leaving a great looking silky lace on the sides of the glass. aroma was slightly floral, but had plenty of citrus and pine notes and a touch of earthy grain. flavor was a well balanced mix of citrus sweetness up front, followed by the caramel sweetness and finishing with lingering pine resin bitterness. this was not the hop bomb of a IIPA which have become so common. if not for the 9.5% abv, which was well hidden btw, this would be very sessionable. a very enjoyable beer!
10/19/09 had this again last Thursday at the saucer in Raleigh. many times a beer is not as good as one remembers... this was the exception, this was BETTER than I remember! dangerously drinkable.

Had this guy last night. Seems like a happy medium between 90 minute and Double Hercules. Not quite as fragrant as Dogfish, but this beer certainly has the complex malty background that it sports. From the nose I expected a syrupy monster, the bitterness keeps it in check through the entire palate. Not as hoppy as it could be, but that’s a good thing. I certainly see the cotton candy and I’m glad this beer sperates itself from other DIPAs. This beer is worth your time, please Foothills, bottle soon.

Growler courtesy of gottalottaibu (thanks alex): Pours amber with a creamy off white head. Aroma, citrus and earthy hops abound with some caramel and pale malts. Flavor, juicy citrus hop notes, with some caramel malts, and a nice underlying sweetness, a pretty solid bit of bitterness comes through on the end. Medium bodied, very easy drinking. Great stuff.