Green Flash Imperial IPA

Brewed by Green Flash Brewing Co.
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Vista, California USA

Wow...what an aroma..I thought someone lit a doobie...the hop aroma was WAY OUT THERE. Almost was too strong...golden pour, medium head, sour taste, but very enjoyable! This miight be one of my first Imperial IPA’s. Not sure.... I’d definitely recommend this to all my IPA loving compadres!

Bottle, purchased while in Cali. Pours an orangish amber with slight whitish head. Citrusy aroma, but a little lacking, but most IIPAs seem this way to me, especially compared to aromatic IPAs. Big malt backing to an agressively hopped ale, wonderful. This was an excellent and very drinkable IIPA, enjoyed very much, but I can’t get it in Ohio. One of my favorite styles, and this one did not let me down.

Bottle. Thank you bu11zeye for this one. Pour a clear orange color with a small white head. Malty hoppy grapefruit aroma, also some hints of pine. Malty and very hoppy grapefruit flavor with some piney hints. Long malty hoppy bitter finish and also a long hoppy bitter aftertaste. Good Stuff!

Bottle. Hazy dark honey body with a thick ring of bubbles and a small island of bubbles. Nose-metal, cinnamon, nutmeg, light mint, very candy like. Taste-light chocolate, medium alcohol, low bitter, sweet tea, very light pine, very light citric/grapefruit, kefir lime, fairly high pH, pineapple, lightly buttery. All in all, all of the usual IPA flavors are there (citrus, pine, grapefruit, etc.) but everything is very muted. No one flavor profile dominates. If I was blindly tasting this, I wouldn’t think that it was a IIPA, more like a IPAX1.5. Since I am quickly tiring of IIPA’s, I rather enjoy the laid back nature of this beer. Unique, and I am going to give it a relatively high score based upon it’s restrain and uniqueness. Nose becomes more like an English barleywine as it warms.

Bomber pours a clear a clear gold with frothy off white head and sweet lacing. The aroma is lighter than it should be to be a top notch brew with hints of sweet malts and mild citrus grapefruit hops. The taste begins somewhat neutral then becomes sweet with malts as grapefruit hop bitterness and floral hops bloom. The mouth feel is thick speaking to the gravity of the beer yet with virtually no hint of the 9% ABV. Nice lingering grapefruit hop bitterness.

Considering the style, Scores ranging from 1 to 5, 5 being the most intense
Appearance:
Body:   Clear(1)->Murky(5) : 3     Golden(1)->Dark brown(5) : 2     Still(1)->Sparkling(5) : 3
Head:   None(1)->Large(5) : 2   White(1)->Tan(5) : 2   Lasting: 2   Lacing : 1
Aroma:
Intensity : 2  
Yeast : 3   Bread : 1   Tropical Fruits : 3   Soap : XX   Diacetyl : XX Sulfur : XX   Fusel : XX  
Malt : 3   Biscuity : 3   Hay : 2   Toasty : XX   Caramel : XX   Fruity : XX   Nutty : XX   Honey : 3   Maple : XX   Molasses : XX   Cereals : XX   Grainy : 2
Hops : 4   Noble(1)->American(5) : 5   Leafy : XX   Spicy : XX   Floral : XX   Lemon/Lime : 2   Grapefruit : XX Orange : 4   Herbal : XX   Grassy : XX   Pine/Spruce/Resin : 3  
Notes :   Peach/Apricot : XX   Earth : XX   Mint : XX   Butterscotch : XX   Smoke : XX   Dates : 3   Bourbon : XX   Bubblegum : XX
Flavor:
Initial Flavor : Dry(1)->Sweet(5) : 5   Finish Dry(1)->Sweet(5) : 3   Sourness : XX   Bitterness : 4   Complex : 2   Length : XX
Palate:
Light(1)->Full(5) : 4   Flat(1)->Fizzy(5) : 3   Clean : XX   Sharp : XX   Watery : XX   Oily : 2   Chalk : XX   Astringent : 3   Alcohol : 4   Mineral : XX   Oxidation : XX   Metallic : XX

Comments: An archetypal Californian ipa, though with more alcohol and slightly less intense hop aromatics.

Bomber. Been in my fridge for a while. Pours orange with a nice pinky sized bright white head. Nose is subdued, not sure if this is because of bottle age or what, but there is hops there but they don’t jump by any means. Taste is sweet, pretty front ended in its heat and piney and citrusy. A good DIPA, but I guess I’m spoiled.

Pours golden orage colors with thin white head. Strong citrus hop aroma. Again, strong american citrus hop flavors but is lacking malts to balance hop flavors and high bitterness. I tasted this one right after Yulesmith Holiday ale and must admit that it would benefit from having a stronger malt profil. This is still a well brewed Imperial IPA but as many of them on the market.