Moylans Hopsickle Imperial India Pale Ale

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

Bomber from Holiday Wine Cellar. Pours a dark amber with one finger of off-white foam. Of course, the aroma is dominated by hop tones (grapefruit, pineapple, floral, light pine, earthy/spicy) along with a certain soapy quality. The aroma is good, but the flavor is somewhat disappointing. The hops come on too strong with very sticky/grassy/earthy tones (not much fruit). The malt backbone is strong and emerges after the initial hop shock, leading into a finish that is surprisingly not that bitter consider how this whole thing started. Feels too syrupy and heavy without the "refreshing" feeling of many other IPA’s and DIPA’s. All in all it’s okay, but it could certainly be more balanced. I consider myself to be a hophead, but this really begs the question: Is it possible for there to be too much hops? Apparently so. Other "triple" IPA’s (Pliny the Younger, Exponential Hoppiness) find the necessary balance. Not so much here...

Bottle at Volo. Pours a orange/copper colour with good-sized white head; nice lacing. Huge hoppy nose and flavour - very resiny. Pretty big body; very bitter finish. A nice, big beer.

Citus lemon and grapefruit aroma. Pours cloudy orange, small off-white head. Dry, piney with a lingering hop finish. Some alcohol. Earthy palate.

Now thats a DIPA everything hops is this beer..... nose HOPS!!!!!! flavor HOPS!!!!!! taste in my mouth for the next 3 days ...HOPS!!!!! and I love it!

Post Thanksgiving lunch/dinner feast. Pours a glowing, hazy amber from the 22oz. bottle into a snifter: Ok, so this label says "triple hopped" and so is Miller Light, so I proceed with caution. Oh my gosh this is bomber. The nose feels like each hop is holding it’s own hand grenade. Prominent caramel and a subtle, tart-like character. Some alcohol. Plenty of malts, hop resins, and faint spices in the finish, though it gets slightly perfumy. Drinkability: Heavily full-bodied with a decent amount of stickiness in the mouthfeel and a crisp bite of overloaded bitter, bitter hops. Rebuy: Definitely. #232 on 29112009, DG.

On tap at Crunchy’s, East Lansing. Translucent, slightly hazy straw-orange body, thin off-white head. Barleywine-like nose, caramely, boozy, and heavy, with herbal hops, citrus, and butterscotch. Extremely potent citrusy, herbal body, bitter, rough, and puckering, with thick, oily resins. A very big beer, boozy, astringent, and palate-destroying.

THOUGHTS: First time rating a so-called triple IPA. It was actually incredibly well balanced. Hid alcohol incredibly well. Tons of hop flavor, but not too harsh. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a medium to dark orange with an average, off-white head that kept a nice sheet and excellent lacing that was really more like sheeting. The aroma was moderate to heavy resinous and orangey hops, some Band-aid notes and a little rubber. The initial flavor was sweet, lightly bitter and acidic; while the finish was rather sweet and extremely bitter with a long duration. There was caramel malt, orange and grapefruit hops, resinous hops, slight metallic hops and oranges. The medium to full body was a bit syrupy with fizzy carbonation and a slightly metallic and lightly alcoholic finish.

This is a hop bomb no doubt about it & a nice one. It was a golden brown beer with a small foamy head. The aroma was awesome-sweet, piney, grassy, fruity & just made you wish you could smell it the rest of your life. The taste was the same with a big bitter ending. When I smelled/drank this beer it made me think of a giant 10ft. x 5ft. hop cone being squeezed in between a giant vice tool squeezing the hop juice out into your glass & this is what you get.