Moylans Hopsickle Imperial India Pale Ale

Brewed by Moylans Brewery & Restaurant
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Novato, California USA

Huge fresh hop nose that comes screaming out of the glass. Deep amber color, fluffy head. Fairly big body to support the high res, sharp, biting hops. It’s all about hops, isn’t it? I know a lot of people get turned off by this, but it just too much fun to pass up. This is really over the top, but in a good way. A really good way. Love it.

Bottle shared with the usual suspects - courtesy of HogTownHarry. Hazy golden-orange with a small head. Oh yeah, this is hoppy - aroma of orange, grapefruit, spruce & tea - and maybe I’m just imagining it because of the name, but I swear that I get some creamsicle notes off the nose as well. Flavour is just as hopped up as the aroma - but even so, it’s very drinkable, and hides that 9.2% amazingly well. I really should be sick of these hop-monsters by now, but I just can’t seem to get enough of them...

Nice slightly hazy deep amber coloured body with a very thin and fast-fading tan head. Aroma of fresh apricots, malt, honey, lemons, flowers and of course - HOPS! Full-bodied; Strong malt flavour up front with alcohol and yeast noticeable...then fading to a citrus and piney hop flavour that is unrelentless. After the mouth is puckered from the hops - the sweetness sort of settles on the palate and the piney flavours really come out! Overall, a good Imperial IPA, a bit strong and rough to be drinking all of the time - but good once in a while. I don’t understand how most peole can drink these in 65 cL bottles, but it is a good purchase! I sampled this 65 cL bottle purchased from Norm’s in Vienna, Virginia on 09-October-2007.

22 oz bottle, via ClarkVV. Pours a slightly cloudy dark copper to orange colored body under a craggy and foamy off-white head. Nice retention with some nice lacing. Aroma is very resinous and piney hops in massive quantities. A hefty amount of malt there too, very candy like, with some light alcohol. Flavor wise, this is almost too much for me. Very bitter and resiny, the hops obscure the malt almost completely. It’s rather cliche, but this this really was like chewing on a hop cone. Not much alcohol presence for 9.1%, just all hops. Mouthfeel is medium to full bodied, very soft and well rounded despite the intense and slightly harsh nature of the other aspects of this beer. This might actually be a triple IPA.

22oz bottle via trade with SDBruBoy! - Thanks Cliff.. Pours cloudy amber with a thick offwhite head that stays well and laces the sides of the tulip.. Wow the aroma of this one is straight up grapefruit and pine.. Nice refreshing and clean aroma that will clear the sinuses right up.. Tons of hops in this one.. Flavor is amazingly well balanced though there are lots of hops there.. Lots of grapefruit, and pine but more pineapple and apricot with caramel tucked behind it all.. Wow this is what a big IPA is all about.. Bursting with flavors yet sooo balanced.. Palate is ever so smooth for a big hoppy brew.. Carbonated well but not overly so.. Resfreshing an very clean on the palate.. Nice bitter finish makes you come back for more again and again until you are wishing the bottle would refill.. This is beautiful stuff..

22oz bottle, courtesy of artusory. Thanks, Ryan! Pours a hazy, orange-amber color; off-white head with good retention and great lacing, coating the interior of the glass. Dense, resiny hop aroma; plenty of citrus and pine character; slightly dusty. Medium-to-full mouthfeel: plenty of resiny citrus and grapefruit bitterness with a significant amount of sticky caramel and maple syrup; somewhat astringent, with a bitterness that shows some harshness near the end. Lengthy, dry citrus and dusty finish.

The aroma is quite raw and hoppy, I get notes of pine, light citrus and a nice floral note. The beer is served just cool, which is perfect. The beer pours with a frothy creamy light tan colored head and is a rich amber hue. The nose has notes of grapefruit and is just so pungent and hoppy. The taste is soft and creamy, yet still aggressively hoppy. There is some very nice malt here as well, though it is of course muted and in the background, but it helps to bring out fruity citrus hop notes of tangerine, grapefruit and orange. The finish is hot and bitter, but with in the boundaries for this lover of hops. In the end this beer is soft & smooth, yet biting & aggressive, wonderfully floral, aromatic and a nice citrus character.

<font size=-4>Purchased: <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Sandwich, San Gabriel, CA<font size=-1>

Bottle from Irishboy. Slainte!
Pours a rich, deep amber; nice silky brew. Smells of orange and grapefruit. Flavor is grapefruit; in fact, it’s so much that the drinker may pucker his lips. Slight hints of orange peel and lemon are evident. Great mouthfeel. The beer equivalent of a Sour Bomb candy. Hop lovers, buy at least two of this beer.