Livery 2009 Carvana Birthday IIPA

Brewed by The Livery
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Benton Harbor, Michigan USA

750ml bottle. Cloudy dark dirty sediment brown color. Hugely floral citrus nose, peaches and blood orange citric acid.lively carbonation, syrupy and hearty. Fruit cocktail sweetness is tempered by full and frothy natural carbonation. Delicate and lovely for being so big. Intensely bitter.

bottle/growler(???). thanks to mike for sharing on dlday... guess this is where my notes started to tail off....woody and green hops, somewhat sweet, and lightly citrusy....flavors were fruity with a good dose of citrus hops. nice mouthfeel and pretty drinkable. don’t think i gave this one as much attention as i should have.

Name: Carvana
Date: April 25, 2009
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, DLD
Vintage: 2009
Appearance: muddy burnt orange
Aroma: sweet and spicy aroma, estery fruityness, phenolics and spicy hops
Body: big body
Flavor: big sweet malt flavor, fruity esters are well balanced by the spocy hops and phenolics, well balanced bitterness
Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 16/20
Rating: 3.8/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **4

Was on tap for Steve’s Birthday bash at the brewery: Hazy coppery hue with a small fading head and spotty lace. The aroma has notes of resiny, grapefruit and earthy hops, bready and caramel malts, a hint of oak and mineral water vapours. The taste displays a snappy hops forefront that is fruity and acidic supported by a layer of simple biscuity malts. The finish has a peppery and clove hop spice character along with some woody tannins and even a dash a liquorice. Wonderfully complex and surprisingly some what balanced. The mouth feel is soft and smooth with a snappy edge, chalky finish is my only complaint here. A very nice brew, powerful yet reserved, Cheers to many more birthdays Steve.

Tap at The Livery - Pours hazy copper with a small, quickly dissapating head. Smells grassy and hoppy, and tastes the same. Not overpowering, and mellows out with a sweet finish. A syrupy mouthfeel.

Pours deep copper orange with a stiff off white head. Nose is full of pine, herbs, and citrus peal. Aggressive bitter hop flavor. Lots of pine with a bit of grass and herbal notes. Medium body and easy to drink. Lots of lingering hop flavor and bitterness. Very good.

Cask Version: Very intense hop nose, pine and citrus, along with very robust sweet lightly roasted malt and alcohol fumes. The flavors tend to favor the belgian malt bill, a touch of fruity yeastiness, and big pine and grapefruit hoppiness, in addition to the large alcohol profile. The hops in the cask version are actually pretty subdued from the tap version, which is completely and wildly over-the-top PNW hops...which is to say, "It’s Steve’s birthday, so why am I getting the presents?"