Great Lakes Lake Erie Monster Double IPA

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

March 2008 vintage, stored at 40 degrees since purchase. Pours a dark, murky, auburn red to sienna brown color. A frothy, well retained, cream colored head leaves thick sheets of porous lacing all the way down the glass. The aroma shows big notes of orange and grapefruit hops, a touch of grassiness, and huge toffee malt notes. The hops probably aren’t as crisp as they were when ultra-fresh, but they’re still quite potent. Flavors are big and hoppy, but ultimately leaning towards the malty side. Buttery toffee is prominent, caramel follows, as do big orange juice hops, and a semi-dry, grassy finish. The body is substantial, but not as much as expected. Dry grass and cereal grains linger on the finish. Overall, this is a nice IIPA, but it doesn’t hold a candle to some of the west coast hop bombs. Reminds me of Hoppin Frog Mean Manalishi, in a slightly disappointing sort of way.

22oz, bottle, from most recent batch, kept cold during entire storage time, still hops have faded a bit, but its still quite good, balanced, not as extreme as i may have hoped but spot on from Great Lakes. glad to have tried this IIPA from one of the more conservative breweries. and a hometown favorite

Bottle. Golden colour with an off-white head. Aroma is hop, citrus, malt. flavour is hop, citrus, sweet, malt. Nice beer.

66 cl bottle - tasting with yngwie, gunnfryd and Beer_2000. Hazy amber color, big off-white head. Aroma is nice hops and fruit. Flavor is the same. Nice bitterness.

(BIG UPS TO HOPPYMEAL FOR THIS BONUS BREW)awesome ice tea like looking body with a white head that leaves thick webbing on the glass.this gets a perfect for appearance.nice pine/earthy hop aroma with some caramel malts peaking through.flavor is full of ivy and earthy hops.interesting for sure.

Bottle, 22oz. It pours a slightly unclear golden body with an off-white head diminishing rather quickly. Hop-driven aroma leaving room for the sugary malts. Pine and resin. Sure nice, but a bit gentle maybe. Very sugary flavor, sure on the malty side, with pine and resin. Full body. Long finish with sugary malts, resin and pine. Delicious, but not in the west coast way. (080626)

Pours a hazy copper color with a bright white head. Aroma is of a lot of citrus and a small bit of pine. Flavor is very smooth citrus hop flavor with a nice pine finish. Not as bitter as some DIPA’s

Bottle thanks to miketd. Poured a hazy golden-copper color with a moderate off-white head that faded to a layer and left some lacing. Aroma of citrus (orange rind and grapefruit) with some pine resin and hops. Entry is lightly bitter with some citric character that leads into a moderately bitter leafy, flowery hop hit with notes of pine and undertones of sharp orange and grapefruit that are offset by soft apricot and mango flavors with a lingering hoppy finish. Smooth on the palate with just the right amount of carbonation. Not an overpoweringly bitter IIPA, but the flavors work well together to create a nice beer. Probably better on tap. Thanks Mike.