Oggis Hop Whompus

Formerly brewed at Left Coast/Oggis Pizza and Brewing Company
Style: American Strong Ale
Del Mar, California USA

GABF 05. Pours a deep amber iwth a beige head and good lace. Lots of hops in the aroma, but I was surprised by how much malt aroma and flavor there was overall. I was expecting a complete hop monster. Lots of thick malt and stick hops on the tongue with tons of pine and citrus all around. Great beer, but over-rated slightly.

Thick chewy, toasty, biscuity malts are matched by strong floral, orange, earthy, pungent hops in the nose. Crystal clear copper coloured body is topped by a low but lasting white head that recedes to ring with some lacing. Toasted and caramel malt flavours nicely support the huge hop profile that offers notes of orange, grapefruit, earth, resinous spruce/pine and lavender with assertive bitterness. Some alcohol is apparent to the tastebuds. Dry medium full body with lively carbonation and strong alcohol warming. Sampled at GABF 2005.

GABF 05. Pours a rich brown with a hoppy grapefruit aroma. Flavor is a bit too sour and thick. Coating palate. I’ll try it again before I render my final verdict.

On tap@O’Brien’s: Deep dark ruby color with a wisp (bar pour) of yellowish (green tinge?) head. Aroma is very sweet with some pineapple and grapefruit. Flavor starts rich and sweet (barleywine like) with a quick, sharp, hoppy, grapefruit bite finishing with a gentle, lingering orange rind aftertaste. Smooth, creamy, sitcky palate. Very well balanced. 9% ABV well hidden.

Like WIllblake, my first beer of the GABF: everything I want my hop fix to be. Poured amberish with a creamy off white head. Huge hop aroma with citrus, pine, caramel. Moderately sweet flavor with just a ton of hop. Very well balanced IMHO. This beer is massive and I wish I had more.

Creamy off-white head is affected on a dark amber hue. Enormously aromatic nose bring a hop galore to the nostrils, but there’s this pleasant candy and caramel cookieish malt base that pushes it to a world-class aroma. Very resiny, but almost as much grapefruity, floral, leafy and minty. In mouth though, an unpredictable graininess contrasts with the globally spicy nature and sprucey cedar, reminding us that we’re basically dealing with an amber ale, which was not necessary. Generous malt and restrained alcohol were not what I expected from this beer, but this was necessary to work in the neighbourhood of those hops. Medium to full bodied, mineral creamy and powdery mouthfeel, rather dry.

GABF 2005. Samples tried: 2, ~2.2oz. total. Aroma is hugely piney, citric and earthy with plenty of toasty caramel maltiness and hints of orange, pineapple, flowers and cotton candy, and a very faint but interesting yeasty component. Medium copper color with a very thick, lasting yellow-tan head. Fully hop-driven flavor, again earthy, citric and piney, some dark, almost bready maltiness present but hops easily dominate from beginning to end. Big, juicy, resinous hop finish. Smooth, oily palate, body is of course quite full. Very tasty "Double Red".

09.29.05 First beer of GABF, I ran down a busload of ne-erdowells trying to get to the Oggi’s booth. Slackers. Dark, thick, and sticky. Caramelized pineapple, resinous, cocoa, sweet. Super tacky lasts beyond finish. Money.