Otter Creek Imperial India Pale Ale

Brewed by Otter Creek Brewing
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Middlebury, Vermont USA

Bomber - Pours a darkish orange amber in color with a small white head that quickly fades to a thin covering over the beer. Aroma is quite hoppy... citrus/grapefruit and pine mostly. Flavor begins slightly sweet and then the hops kick in... big time! I was surprised at the maltiness... with 135 IBUs, one would expect all hops. Maltiness adds other flavors... caramel, apricot/peach, orange. Alcohol is well hidden, but certainly apparent in its affects at 11%. Finish is very bitter and lingering. This was really a good IIPA and well worth repeating!!

After having Dauphiné La Mandrin aux Noix literally throw itself on me, I’m looking forward to something delicious and crisp. I hope this beer works out. Here we go. Bomber, pours hazy golden orange, thick off white head. Aroma is sweet: malt and peat (oh no!!!). Flavor is hoppy, bitter and fuzzy, very sweet and syrupy. Ok, so the peat is not super present in the flavor, but this beer is very syrupy and alcoholic. It has a very very bitter walnut/grapefruit character that is rather unpleasant and almost painful. Maybe it’s reacting to the Dauphiné La Mandrin aux Noix that’s still in my system.

Bottle. Pours a orange/amber color with a off-white head. Hoppy citrus & floral aroma with grapefruit, pine, and light caramel. Flavor was pine, orange/grapefruit, citrus and had a nice malt backbone with a medium body and finishes strong and bitter.

Not bad, I believe the IBUs. This was one bitter fuck. Didn’t have a whole of other characteristics, but it was enjoyable, albeit quite a palate wrecker. Worth a try.

22 oz bottle via Mys Swap 4.0 (thanks j12601!). Pours a semi hazy copper with a large off-white head that leaves lots of beautiful spider webbing on my mug. Nose is mild pine and orange. Taste is very very sweet and very mouthpuckering bitter as well. lots of caramel, molasses, grapefruit, orange rind, pine, apricot and more camamel and a smack you in the mouth orange rind/grapefruit hop finish. The hops are abundant and ride on top of a strong malt backbone. Full body, almost syrupy mouthfeel. One of the best IIPA’s i have tasted in a long while.

This beer was Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde for me, showing two entirely different characters. I opened it, poured it into a tulip, and took a few sips, and thought it one of the blander DIPAs I’ve ever had. But I was making dinner as I sipped it, and once I had some food alongside it, it really shone. I don’t know if it was the saltiness of my food, just contrast, or perhaps I just had some funkiness in my mouth that was canceling the flavor before-hand. Appearance was an amber gold, and head was plentiful at first, but faded into a nice scummy residue that left good lacing (sticky). The body of the beer was pretty thick. Aroma was pretty mild throughout, and offered some stinky-cheese character (like Romano cheese). Flavor was pretty malty and boring initially, but some really nice and striking hoppiness came out with my food. Not sure if there’s something wrong with this beer, or with me. Once it got going, I thought it was pretty good.

Bottle. Pours a coppery orange with a very large frothy/sudsy head. As I wait, a thick layer of foam coats the glass where the head has receded. Aromas are pretty good... there seems to be a pretty good mix of hops and malt... caramel and biscuity malt aromas with citrus and floral and pine on the hop side. First sip reveals that this is pretty good stuff. It has an octane kick like jet fuel (it is unabashedly 11%, but I’d say it seems like more), a very nice hops mixture and enough malt to mostly hold it all in check. Maybe the alcohol is a bit over the top, but this sure isn’t one of those boring malt bomb IIPA’s. I can feel the chest hairs growing with each sip (and I’m pretty sure I don’t need any more.) So, if your nancy-boy frat buddy is looking for a beer to help him be a man...

Bomber from Carrboro Beverage Co. Turd recommended that I buy this, and my man was not wrong! Very surprising to drink a DIPA of this quality from Otter Creek. Lustrous pale orange pour, with very prickly carbonation and a nice creamy one-finger head. Soft, earthy nose with pine and some very mild fruit notes. The mouthfeel is very fine, thick and lasting. Flavor could be a bit bolder, but there’s a nice blend of pine, orange rind, and flowers, with a bitterness that meshes splendidly with the malt backing. Surprisingly unassertive and drinkable for 11%. Nicely done.