Moylans Hopsickle Imperial India Pale Ale

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

From bomber. Pours orange/brown with nice white foam ring. Good lacing. Aroma is piny and hoppy. Flavor is similar - pine, citrus, strong hops (as expected). Mouthfeel is fairly thick. Aftertaste is bitter with some alcohol burn. Really enjoyed this fine IPA. Californians certainly do know how to brew a good IPA. Good value also at $6 a bomber.

Flaske: Hop burns for første gang siden en maximus da jeg lige havde startet med at drikke velhumlet øl. Flot ravfarvet klar farve med fint skumhved. Duft af humle. Smag af humle, meget bitter og brænder i ganen af humle. Fin fin øl.

nice orange pour with a thin cream head. grapefruits, fresh hops and oranges on the nose. nice and smooth on the palate with an awesomely smooth flavor of hops and a really bitter piney hop finish. awesome imperial ipa.

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.

Cloudy honey-colored with a smallish white head. Nose is quite bitter, with lots of citrus, a touch of caramel. Flavor is quite sweet, backed up by a dry, nutty bitterness. Plenty of grapefruit, almonds, and touches of vanilla and cake.

Pours clear copper with a good sized light tan head. The aroma has lots and lots of hops - piny, tropical, earthy, citric and floral - very nice. It is nice and bold with very little malt presence that’s noticeable. Medium / full body that has a lot of lick resin and soft carbonation. It starts off with pine cones, pine needles, dry grapefruit and earthiness. The finish is very earthy with dark pine. Highly resinous. A great IIPA.

To put it into uncertain terms, this meets with hop lover approval. One has had beers roughly this hoppy before, but doubtful any hoppier. The thing with beers like this is one-dimensionality, that dimension being hops. This went to the top, and then over and back down a ways; it’s just a bit too much of a great thing. The film of bitterness sticks on the palate in less than the most pleasant of ways. On a more whimsical day, I’d give the beer extra points for going out on the limb of ridiculous extremity, though I’m having a tough time remembering doing that for a beer that lingered not-exactly-pleasantly on the palate like this. My throat is left dry-scratchy and with the flavor of thyme. Sound pleasant to you? Then you’ll love it.

Bottle, at LCRBM 2008, ’s Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
Clear, blond body. Off-white head. Aroma of alpha hops (amarillo, cascade) delivering a great complexity. Harshly bitter (hops) 16flavour. Good complexity. Very well balanced. Even not very 1 dimensional on the hops.