Middle Ages X Double India Pale Ale

Brewed by Middle Ages Brewing
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Syracuse, New York USA

22 oz bomber. Poured deep cloudy orange with a quickly diminishing head. Spotty lacing. First aroma I picked up was fresh mint sprigs (weird!), then sweet ruby red grapefruit, light toffee malt, pine, and some sweaty yeast. Flavor of dry resiny pine and citrus hops, dry iced tea powder finish. Slightly bublegum aftertaste. Palate was kind of fizzy and effervescent at first, which may have killed the more subtle flavors, but became smoother and dryer as it warmed, revealing the more resiny notes and a slight orangey tanginess. Alcohol well hidden. Pretty good for sure, but for a special "anniversary" 2IPA I was hoping for more diverse and complex tongue delights than I found.

22oz. bomber. Clear dark amber color with a medium sized off white head. Aroma of citrus hops, some pine, caramel and a bit of diacetyl. Lightly bitter flavor of grapefruit hops, butterscotch, pine and caramel. Alcohol comes on strong at the end. This must have been pretty in your face when it was young.

A year old. Cloudy copper pour with white head. Strong aroma of citrusy hops — grapefruit and orange. The flavor was sweet and bitter, but mostly bitter grapefruit with a hint of sweet orange and toffee. Fully body and a long, bitter and alcohol peppery finish. Certainly above average, but not spectacular.

Orange gold head with a sustained white head. Even at a year old, the nose is full of hops - citrusy and fruity. The body is real rindy - like biting an orange with the skin on. The creamy mouthfeel is nice, but this has got to be better fresh.

Bomber purchased at Town and Country in West Springfield. This IIPA is about a year old, and to be frank, before I even try this, I am not expecting too much from it in terms of hops. Big gush of grapefruity, PNW hops to start, nice. After that dissipates it gets a bit sugary and sweeter in terms of the aroma. I detect a ton of bubble gum and a bit of booziness as well. Transparent amber/copper color with a pretty frothy off-white head. Fair lacing. Herbal, floral hoppy start, with some more sweet bubble gum like flavors. Middle has some noticeable booze present, but not bad for the 10% abv. Finish has lots of grapefruity, tannin-like dry bitter hoppiness, but not overly exhausting. Even after a year, the hops are still agressive in this without really much in the way of oxidation. This is a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately, the malts do not make their presence felt and it comes off as being unbalanced. Do they still brew this beer? Or should it be retired now that there is a Middle Ages XI? BTW, the XI was less than impressive when I had it in Cooperstown a few weeks ago.

I didn’t totally love this beer. Bracing hops just don’t have the variety of hop flavors I expect from an excellent 2IPA. Finish is dry, bitter and a bit one dimensional.

bottle split with Tronraner. In a night of mediocre tastings, this one stands out. It’s good from the dark copper pour and tall, foamy white head. The aroma cuts like a knife with sharp, balanced, acidity and is rounded out with caramel sweetness. It is predominantly fruity, some grapefruit and even a bit of orange juice hinted by the meshing of the malts and hops. It hits the palate in true American IIPA fasion: tons of bright acidity and a wash of sweet caramel. But it doesn’t quite become a textbook exercise, there are a bit of nuances like gingerbread and sarsaparilla behind the wall of pine and caramel. Totally solid.

Bomber, thanks to NachlamSie. Pours copper with persistant whitish head. The aroma is hops (chinook?), and lots of ’em. There is a sugary malt note in there, too. The flavor is superbly bitter and hoppy. Lemon, pine, cookies. It leaves a very bitter, sharp aftertaste as well. For me, this ranks highly among IIPAs.