Oggis Hop Whompus

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

GABF 2005. Big head, frothy. Very dark orange. LIvely sweet hop aroma, resinous with pine. Sweet, sticky, and very big hops in the taste. Suprisingly not that bitter. A few malty notes in there, but this is mostly a hop monster. Nothing wrong with that!

GABF 2005. Body is dark amber. Aroma is moderately malty (toasted bread, cookie, caramel), heavily hoppy (resin), moderately yeasty (dough). Flavor is heavily sweet, moderately acidic, moderately bitter. Finish is moderately sweet, moderately acidic, heavily bitter. Full body, velvety/creamy texture, lively carbonation, moderately alcoholic. The name is certainly appropriate. But the most disappointing part for me was the strong vitamin B stink of the yeast...it almost threatened to overtake the hop aroma. Still, a wonderful thick and creamy mouthfeel with very good balance for being so enormous. I guess I can kinda see the top 50-ness of it, but the doughy yeast smell and floor polish hops don’t float my boat...if it weren’t for the ample and attractive malt aroma, I might have even given it a 5 for the nose.

On draught at GABF. I had about 7 samples of this one and then went over and had one sample of Pliny the Younger and realized how much more unique Younger is (IMHO).
But ahem, this one pours a nicely settled out, minimally hazed copper-amber with some clay-auburn tones throughout and a moderate amount of yellowish to creamy beige colored head. Some light lacing coats the glass well. I sat and sniffed the aroma for a long time and found plenty of pine, wintergreen, grapefruit, and a sweet caramel mixed with a dry sort of woody-toasted malt in the background. Very strong, hoppy, clean and well-done aroma. Flavor begins with your typical mix of sweet, sticky caramel malt and then plenty of floral, citric and piney hops. Well integrated, balanced and flavorful, with a consistency that I was a little surprised by. I was expecting it to be thick and syrupy, which it wasnt. Sort of a slippery, lightly creamy body, with tight, low carbonation, and a very drinkable, soft texture. I was a little disappointed with the overall complexity. It was a great, flavorful beer, but it just seemed like the malt could have been more interesting and while the hops are done nicely, it’s nothing too out of the ordinary from your West coast double red/ipa. But a fantastic and well-brewed beer, nonetheless and I would be happy to be drinking it on draught at Oggis sometime.

On draft at Oggi’s Vista, CA Murky brown pour with a nice head. Great smooth mouthfeel with a complex hoppy flavor, with malty notes. THis is one brew you could sit and sip by the fireplace.

beautiful copper/red color with a nice head. this is a beer that I could sit and smell all night long. I can’t believe how delicious it smells and then you taste it! It hits the tongue with a almost fruity flavor but also has a nice bitter finish to it.

[At GABF 2004] A hazy copper colored beer with a beutiful orange head. The aroma is sweet and grassy-hoppy. The flavor is like eating fresh hops ie. extremely hoppy, and also extremely bitter, leaving You with a dry end. I think this is one of the most bitter beers I’ve tasted - nice.

One of my favs at GABF ’04. Poured a translucent deep, dark copper/amber with a frothy cream-colored head. The nose is all about pine, citrus, and hop resins with some lightly toasted sweet toffee-caramel malts. It’s full-bodies nature hits you in the chops, but it’s the sticky, thick, and intensely sweet malt and hoppy balance that really grabs you. Well, that’s how I wrote it in my notes! This son-of-a-gun was bitter and hoppy to the end...but, never lost control...the malty backbone was there--hanging on by the thinnest of threads. Great ale.

Amazing beer of incredible depth not just hops, but they are there in abundance. Very fresh hopped bouquet that transcends into a roaste malt body that hints at vanilla bean and carmel with a bit of brownsugar. Great big bitterness and oily hop resin palate that hangs on like a pit bull with an attitude problem.