HopTown DUIPA Imperial IPA

Formerly brewed at HopTown Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Pleasanton, California USA

This was the 1st Imperial IPA I ever tried and its still one of my favorites! On tap @ my house poured a clear lovely copper with a substantial long lasting amber head. Aromas of a Colorado pine forest followed up by some citrus{mostly grapefruit} and then some fruitiness and carmel. Palate was medium bodied with a smooth resiny mouthfeel. Flavors is well balanced with carmely maltiness upfront rapidly followed by fruitiness and a big blast of grapefruit and piney hops, with a very nice savory sweet yet bitter finish! Ya gotta try this one!

I have been wanting some hoptown IPA and then i find the DUIPA instead. dont ever think that i am complaining. this was an abosfuckinglutely incredible beer. Served on nitrogen. lovely creamy white head that lasted through the whole beer. color me happy and color the beer light gold but definitely not yellow. the head stayed on my upper lip and the hoppy goodness exploded in my mouth and slide like cream down my throat. nice caramel balance with the super hops. the alcohol is not noticeable until the taster stand up again and then it hits hard. did i say that i loved this beer?!

Bottled straight from the brewery. Best beer I’ve ever had in my life. Very hoppy, with a great pine floral taste. You’d think the hops would be dominant, and they are but a carmel flavor also stands out. Outstanding!

I so love this on nitro. Nice light orange color. Sweet hop taste on this GIANT hoppy ale. So friggin good.

Sampled @ Hollingshead in Orange, CA. Deep tawny. At last, a Double India Pale Ale in Southern California that actually has a substancial amount of malt activity, rather than just a substancial amount of malt with the goal of balancing the insane hops. This was awesome from start to finish. In the aroma, a sugary malty fruitiness is present along with an enormous amount of piney, resinous and grapefruit like hops. The flavor was even better, with an insane amount of hops but also a coating and full bodied malt flavor. Characterful.

On tap, Cato’s Oakland. Infuckincredible. Pours a pale golden with nitro white sheeting topped by a vanilla-ice cream colored mousse. Takes a full two minutes for the nitro to sheet out. Gorgeous fresh hop aromas -- some Cascadian goodness. Settles into an orangey, tangy beer with a velvety creamy feel. Hop juice aromas and flavors the whole way with malt sweetness playing counterpoint. This is a very successful variation of the IPA I hope to see more folks take a crack at. Hoptown’s best offering I’ve tasted. Found on tap, this beer needs some local tasters and it’s own glass.

This is the kind of beer, that shocks your senses after tasting beer for two hours. I went back the next day and I was right, this is a wonderful beer. The balance of malt and hops, well my kind of balance - HOPS, HOPS - it really does kick your ass, but the trip is worth it. GABF 2002

On tap at Hollingshead in Orange. Nice amber pour, fantastic head. Aroma is definitely hoppy, but there is a noticeable malt backbone, the hops don't command all the attention. Flavor quite similar, perfect balance for a big IPA and great masking of the alcohol.