Great Lakes Lake Erie Monster Double IPA

Brewed by Great Lakes Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Cleveland, Ohio USA

22oz bomber courtesy of ogglethorp poured into a tulip. Pours a super cloudy, bright golden orange with a tight creamy white head that recedes slowly to a soapy film on top with delicate lacing around the edges. The aroma is bright and citrusy with lots of lemon zest and pineapple with a slight grassy aroma as well. The sweet malts are there as well and have a slightly toasted bread character in the nose. The taste is better for me with the hops taking on a more pithy grapefruit character. What makes it better though is the hefty malt bill, which I don’t always want in a DIPA, but here is really lends a great balance to the hops. The finish is slightly bitter with some earthy hops but with a lingering malty sweetness as well. Very well balanced taste. The mouthfeel is sticky with citrus hops and malty sweetness. The carbonation is fairly low and soft but just enough to keep things from getting syrupy. This is an excellent DIPA and I was really surprised by the amount of balance in the taste. The light citrus hops are still the main draw here, but the balance is what makes this one for me.

22 oz bottle. Cloudy orange brown with a slim white head. Nose is orange, caramel and faint pine. Creamy medium body with soft carb. Taste is tangerine, pink grapefruit, peel and toffee. Tasty but subdued; sneaks up on you.

Draft at Dayton Ale Fest. Pours a nice orangish-amber color with a nice white head. Good lacing. The aroma was caramelized malts and hops with notes of citrus, pine, and grass. On the palate, it is a little thick and it has a tiny bit of an alcohol burn. The flavor is maltier than I expected, not much of a hop pressence at all for an IPA. It finished a little bitter. Overall, it was pretty balanced, but pretty disappointing. I really enjoyed the Commador Perry and The Burning River, but for a double IPA, I am really let down.

Bomber thanks to MrBunn. Pours a thick viscous orange juice consistency. Aroma is not real strong, but is there in small bits of pine and citrus. Taste is pretty good, heavy on the malt and some decent hops and pine resin flavor. Smooth drinking. More like an IPA than a double. I could drink more than one of these as I near the end of the glass. The label wins it for me....very cool.

Draft sample at Dayton AleFest ’09. I was expecting more from a DIPA. The aroma and flavor is quite subdued. Flavor is sweet and citrusy. It is quite balanced and the ABV is hidden, but it’s just an average IPA.

Spicy, grapefruit, floral, nice honey sweetness with appropriate bitter aftertaste for this 22oz Bomber Bottle - DIPA.

22oz: pale yellow with mild white head and moderate carbonation. spicy and floral nose. flavor with some hop bitterness and a lot of nice hop flavor, of herbal and spicy and floral notes. problem is in the lack of malt flavor, there is some residual sweetness, but not much character flavor. am interesting double ipa, not great, but worth drinking

bottle courtesy of miketd, thanks so much! slightly murky pour looks as unclean as the waters of lake erie itself. aroma is of an old timey box of soap flakes and ’spring fresh’ fabric softener. there is a very pleasant freshness and crispness to this beer. very tart and dry style, not my fave, but pretty darn good. has a mild malt sweetness that balances it out nicely.