Moylans Hopsickle Imperial India Pale Ale

Sampled at the Odds and Ends Tasting II on 10/19/07: Pours a dark copper color with a medium thick and fluffy off-white head that has good retention. Patchwork lacing on the glass. Strong hops nose that is citrusy and piney. Rich and bitter character with a citrusy hops punch and a solid toasted malt base. Some pine and alcohol are evident in the taste too. The finish is hoppy and leaves a lingering bitter aftertaste. Overall this beer is a great example of a straightforward IIPA that retains enough balance to make it supremely drinkable.

Orange amber with decent, creamy white head / Crisp hop & grapefruit nose / Light, lively body with long, dry, biting, bitter finish / Pungent flavors of fresh pine with undertones of grapefruit / I wouldn’t drink this on a regular basis, but it’s a lot of fun. Would be interesting to try with, say, very hot Thai food.

Departing the 22 ounce bottle, the beer shows a slightly muzzy gold with a hint of copper, the gargantuan, creamy white head towers over the body, after its eminent demise, the lace seals the glass with a fine coating. The aroma of hops permeates the nose; sweet malt takes a rumble seat to the spiciness, lime like crispness, a hop lover’s nose for sure. Front has a pleasing malt profile, sweet with the hops providing a lip smacking tartness, just a tad bit of alcohol finds its way into the mix, top is medium in feel to the palate. Finish has a prickly acidity, the hops “Blows The Doors Off The Taste Buds”, and the arid aftertaste glues itself to the palate, another good beer from a great brewery.

On Tap @ Neighborhood in Downtown San Diego. Overall a pretty tasty DIPA. Don’t know why exactly I’ve waited to have this. Nice big hops and killer citrus. Not as good as some, but pretty nice.

Intense pine aroma and not much else. This is overwhelmingly bitter. long lasting bitter aftertaste. Flavor is obvious pine and a little grapefruit. A little malt to balance. Definitely not as balanced or good as the olfabrikken 100 gram i had last night. Still and above average IIPA.

Pours a dark gold in color with a nice off white head. Plenty of stick lacing is present on the sides of the glass. Smell is all hops, citrusy and floral. Taste is both juicy and mouth puckering. Hits you with the citrus juice up front, then rips the back of your tongue apart with an abundance of bittering hops. There is no doubt about the hops in this one. I can safely say that this is the biggest assault on my palate by hops that I’ve ever had. It’s a tad one sided, but you’re expecting that when you buy. Nice hop bomb.

22oz Bomber Recieved from the great trader known as errantnight, thanks. Hopsickle pours clear copper with a mild chill haze. A two finger eggshell off-white head formed on the pour and fell to a half finger cap that does not disappear. A few streams of carbonation keep the head going. Wow! This beer is dripping with resinous hops. There’s not much malt coming through in the aroma but what’s there is caramel and way in the back. This beer smells of straight up pine sap and resins. A few drops of grapefruit juice are mingled in there as well. Damn this beer is a hop bomb! Exactly like the aroma with caramel in the back and a mouthful of pine needles and resinous hops. The sheer amount of hops in this beer will ruthlessly stomp on your tongue without mercy. Just the way I like things. Body is on the heavier side of medium but has a nice creamy airyness on the tip of the tongue. Gets slightly heavier toward the backend and leaves a thick layer of bitterness all over the tongue and down the throat. This beer is very easy to drink. My only reservation is the beating my tastebuds are taking. I’d hate to break open another bomber of this stuff and hardly be able to taste it. Moylan’s makes a hell of a IIPA, two of them actually. I sampled the Moylander in the past and from what I remember this is somewhat similiar in the hop profile. This may have a hanful more hops in the kettle but the flavors are similiar and both very good. 10/19/07

Pours an amber almost orange color and smells of apricots. A little too bitter for my taste, but one of the better ales I’ve had.