 FlacoAlto (2482), Tucson, Arizona, USA
| 3.5 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 7/10 | 4/5 | 7/10 | 3/5 | 14/20 |
Sep 12, 2009
Bottle 184 of 3317; Sampled August 2009,br>
The beer is a bit excessively carbonated as it foams up as soon as I pop the cap. A careful pour still produces a three finger thick, pale, off-white colored head in my 25cl tulip glass. The beer is a red, light amber hue that shows a lightly hazed red copper color when held up to the light. The beer smells of sweet citrus, sharp pine and a toasted grain note in the finish. While this is definitely hop dominated a pale malt character still plays a significant role here. Bright lychee, ample bergamot, clean tangelo, kumquat oil and some clean apricot aromas define the dominant hop fruit notes. If you really dig around there is a touch of warming alcohol noticeable in the nose.
Sweet tasting up front, but immediately balanced by a biting hop bitterness. The finish has a sharp herbal and green grassy hop notes as well as some hot alcohol notes. The carbonation is still a bit high, despite sitting in my glass for quite some time; some swirling gets rid of the excess carbonation. Despite the up front sweetness the overall effect of this beer is pretty dry, this is helped by the dryness of the finish. Notes of orange zest, lychee, and ruby red grapefruit concentrate. The body is fuller than one would want in a light, quaffable West Coast Double IPA, but is not on the heavy side for many Double IPAs out there. This has enough sweetness to accentuate the fruity hop notes but not so much as to make this cloying. The malt is fairly clean, though it can seem just a touch murky, or perhaps rustic is a bit more flattering, at times. The hop character in the finish also has a nice menthol, oral-nasal character to it.
Despite being out for quite some time, this is still fresh and hoppy tasting. Definitely hits the spot for those in needs of a hop fix. This is a nice beer, for some reason though it isn’t entirely doing it for me right now. I think I might just not be quite in the mood for this beer right now, but this is till pretty enjoyable.
Cletus (5058), Connecticut, USA
| 3.8 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 9/10 | 3/5 | 7/10 | 3/5 | 16/20 |
Nov 29, 2009 Bottle 269 from wavers1? Pours a hazy copper with a white head. Smells of pineapples, resin, floral, spicy, vanilla notes. Tastes lightly bitter with sweet citrus, pepper, resiny, warming alcohol presence on the finish. Enjoyable.
smith4498 (921), Miami, Florida, USA
| 3.6 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 7/10 | 4/5 | 7/10 | 4/5 | 14/20 |
Nov 13, 2009 Bottle #1458 shared by daknole. Pours cloudy orange color with off white head. Lots of pine and citrus in the aroma. Sweet and bitter hoppy flavors. Medium to full body with average carbonation.
drjay44 (818), Salida, Colorado, USA
| 3.7 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 7/10 | 4/5 | 7/10 | 4/5 | 15/20 |
Oct 9, 2009 Taster at the brewery. Pours a thin head over a golden copper (SRM 8-9) slightly cloudy body......nose is heavy pine and citrus grapefruit, with later pineapple and honey.....taste is heavy pine and citrus grapefruit, ending with bitterness....mouth feel is medium to heavy and carbonation low. Although this confection really tasted good, the hop backbone seemed a little rough. I think another year or so in the bottle will create an outstanding beer.
Nate (2563), Indiana, Pennsylvania, USA
| 3.8 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 7/10 | 4/5 | 8/10 | 4/5 | 15/20 |
Sep 19, 2009 Sampled at the ’09 RBPTE, courtesy of my buddy Mike who drove this bottle across the US. Spicy nose, with pineapple, resin, and heavy pine. Clear amber body with an average frothy off-white head. Full bodied with medium carbonation and bitter finish. Heavy bitterness throughout, long lasting, with minimal sweetness and acidity. A little bit of oxidation, but this bottle was given to me in Dec. ’08, so it was bound to be a little less than fresh. Otherwise, a nice beer.
wavers1 (175), novato, California, USA
| 4.4 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 9/10 | 5/5 | 8/10 | 4/5 | 18/20 |
Aug 16, 2009 Updated: Dec 13, 2009pours pours medium red to dark amber with a really nice super creamy and thick khaki head with a nice retention and nice lacing. aroma is very bready and yeasty with a nice hop resin finish to it. the mouthfeel is very full and heavy.very chewy. the heavyness melts away in your mouth leaving an intense coating like butter. i tryed this beer about a month ago and it was too hot, it is def much better now!
cheapdark (2047), Monacatootha, Pennsylvania, USA
| 1.9 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 7/10 | 3/5 | 3/10 | 2/5 | 4/20 |
Aug 15, 2009 Had this one at the RB Pittsburgh tasting august 2009 thanks to Nate. Forewarning I am not a big IPA lover. This stuff is strong and over the top. A little on the hard side. I think I detect some difficult nut in there. On style, and I think there is some carbonation in there but but the taste is so overwhelming that I probably can’t detect it. Aroma is quite nice in retrospect. Finish is terribly on style and rude.
Beerman6686 (1296), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| 3.4 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 7/10 | 3/5 | 7/10 | 4/5 | 13/20 |
Aug 12, 2009 This one poured a cloudy amber color with a white head. Aroma was lots of bittering hops, some citrus and sweet sweet malts as well. Flavor was a bit too sweet for my liking in this style, just syrupy stronge ale with some bittering and citrus hops to mellow it out.
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