San Diego Hop-O-Potamus

Brewed by San Diego Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
San Diego, California USA

Name: Hop-o-potamus
Date: 10/11/2007
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewfest, GABF

clear dark yellow, creamy dirty white head, sweet citrus and tangerine aroma, creamy body, huge tangerine flavor, nice fruity sweetness, light bitterness,

Aroma: 8/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 8/10; Overall: 17/20
Rating: 4.1/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: ***+/4

Golden-amber. Mango, orange, simcoe sort of nose - nice bright hops. Bright simcoey stuff on the palate - nothing special but a nice brew.

Draught. Marks for Appearance are an average, as beer was sampled in weak artificial light after dark. Fine, if powerful C-hops, with some malts backing the full aroma. Very delicate (yes!), flowery, dried roses flavours, sweet lassi and again tangerine hops. Rather light MF. Nearly - I say, nearly - delicate hopbeer.

GABF 2007: Poured a clear golden color with a large off-white head. Big hop forward aroma. Grapefruit and tangerine juice. It smelled like fresh pulp. The flavor was also like tasting citrus and orange pulp. The beer had a malty middle. The sweetness drys out quickly. The finish had a growing bitterness. Medium bodied.

GABF ’07. Pours clear amber with a large, frothy, off-white head, lasting lacing with excellent lacing. Aroma is average malt (hay, straw, meal), heavy hops (perfume, pine, spruce), average yeast (sweat) with notes of light alcohol, pear, and pineapple. Full bodied, alcoholic texture, average carbonation, and a bitter finish. Average duration, light sweetness, moderate acidity and bitter finish.

Draught at brewpub. Dark amber color, no head. Herbal and pine-forward hop nose. Confusing array of flavors including an initial alcohol shock followed by a thin, angry unbalanced body that is like the animal it’s named for: not as nice as it would seem at first.

2007 GABF. Light copper color big khaki head, nice lace. More mellow aroma than the hopnotic, berries start coming through, caramel, sweet. Avg pal. Sweet fruity tropical fruit & caramel, flavor. Mellow and nice.. surprising how much the icing improved this guy.

Draft at the brewery. Clear golden with nice white head. Aromas were sweet right from the start. Lots of sweet mango and pineapple and other bright citrus aromas. Flavor continued into sweet. Very very Chewy and resiny. Lots of citrus and grassy hops on the finish. I really like the sweet DIPA’s. Good stuff.