Ithaca Double IPA

Brewed by Ithaca Beer Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Ithaca, New York USA

Bottle - I’m no hophead, but as a big fan of Ithaca’s other products I had to try this. Copper color with a short lived head. An almost oily mouthfeel, flowery, citrus notes on the nose and not as nearly as hopped out as I’d expect of a "Double" IPA. All in all another quality product from Ithaca.

12 oz. bottle shared with brother. Pours light amber with a slight haze and a fairly tight, off-white head (greenish tinge) which fades fairly quickly. Good and hoppy on the nose. Green, piny and resinous. Sweet malt later on and a fruitiness. In the mouth, tons of banana and estery flavours. Quite malty. It is sweet, with almost a bubblegum-type flavour. Fairly full, sl. oily mouthfeel and low-mod. carbonation. Decent hop finish and bitterness that stays for a reasonable time. Overall, not a fan!

Growler. Clear copper-orange body with a large frothy white head. Fresh flowery hops, grapefruit, fruity pine, cookies. Tastes thick and resinous but alcohol bites at a given moment. Sticky sweet in the finish.

Any first impressions?
-A sheet of foam sits atop the glowing light orange.
-Unassuming sandy, dry-seeming hops branch out into orangey fruitiness over the biscuity maltiness.
-The flavor profile is more satisfying than the aroma, offering oily maple malt sweetness to support the talkative citrusy hoppiness.
-The smooth, tiny bubbles let the well-fed honeyed maltiness express itself.

What if you dig deeper?
-Mango chewing gum thrives within the malty sweetness.
-Hop bitterness is sandy, devoid of personality.
-Some toastiness is found in the maltiness, and balance is achieved.
-All in all, this feels like a fortified hop wine, and is as well-malted as their Cascazilla; but it doesn’t quite satisfy my Double IPA hunger.

Bottle; no date.

From the gravity cask at Tap NY:
A great aroma blends biscuity maltiness and citrusy hoppiness. The near-lack of carbonation also helps the body whose flavors are ably to breathe and express themselves much better. From the bottle: 3.3/5; from the cask 3.5/5.

Growler shared with Hogtown Harry, Blankboy, and MDS. Courtesy of Blankboy. Weird aroma - candy like sweetness, and quite hoppy. Orange, foamy white head. Tastes nice - lots of hops, a ton of alcohol, surprisingly easy to drink. A decent if unremarkable Double IPA.

Growler shared with HogTownHarry, mds & tupalev -- courtesy of me. Pours a clear golden-orange with a small to average size diminishing white head. Sweet aroma of citrus hops and sweet malt -- quite nice. Flavour’s a little mellower then I expected, it’s not the hop-bomb I thought it would be: citrus hops and sweet malt with a nice bitter finish. For 10% the alcohol is quite well hidden. Light to medium bodied. I would’ve liked a little more flavour and body but this is easy to drink and pleasant tasting. A pretty good IIPA.

Draught (growler from Consumers Beverages in Williamsport). Shared with blankboy, mds and tupalev, blankboy’s bottle. Poured slightly hazy amber-gold with an average off-white head. Sweet fruity citrus hop aroma, mild malt character but a little candyish - just a wee bit odd. Taste is pretty boozy (10%? hell yeah), sweet orange juice malt, lots of bitter hops, no specific hop character, just sharply bitter. Average IIPA body, very astringent, decent carbonation and a drying alcoholic mouthfeel, long bitter finish. Pretty okay, a little harsher than I like. Thanks for sharing, Paul!

Great Hop aroma as soon as you open the bottle. This brew is all about hops but unlike many IPAs it has has some depth to it that makes this a very drinkable 10% abv.