Terrapin Big Hoppy Monster

Brewed by Terrapin Beer Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Athens, Georgia USA

2007 edition. Dark red in colour with huge toffe coloured head. Big floral hop aroma. Sweet rasin/port flavour. Big bold hop bitter finish. Thanks John

Pours a clean red/brown color body with a small tan froth. Sweet malty aroma with some piney hops and sweet bread present. Flavor starts with sweet carmel malts, bubble gum, and a sugary yeast taste with a milder than expected piney hoppiness that mellows out the finish. Thanks to Jimbowood for the bottle.

Pours a dark hazy brownish red with minimal off-white head. Smells sweet and malty to me but this brew is called Hoppy Monster so I don’t know what’s up with that. It’s a red I guess. Sweet and caramelly, faint tastes of red berries. A bit of alcohol on the finish. A little on the thick side, only moderate carbonation. Alcohol hits you in the back of the throat. Not bad, not the greatest Imperial Red though.

Mahogany body, beige head. Very malty and sweet with really not a lot of hoppiness backing it up. Apparently the name of the beer is quite misleading. Strong alcohol notes. Disappointing.

Courtesy find @ Total Wine. Pours red/amber coloration and a frothy reddish swirl of a head. Aroma is caramel and sweet candi sugar. Bigger caramel, slight hops, enormous creamy malts, toffee, brown sugar. Bitter hops in the finish. High carbonation and full-bodied. Texture is creamy, full, and smooth; reminiscent of a barleywine. I expected more hop presence as indicated form the name, but this is still an enjoyable beer nonetheless.

Pours a hazed ruby/copper with a frothy cream head that slowly dies into sheets of lacing. Smells of big malt, caramel and lots of hops. Taste is sweet, almost of brown sugar, toffee and a hoppy bitter finish. Feels full in the mouth, syrupy with decent carbonation. Very nice drinkability. ABV is not very present. This kind of is a light barleywine with all the flavor of one. Very different for a DIPA. I might need to try this again with a fresh batch as this could be well past its prime though still a tasty brew.

Best by summer of 07. Pours a deep red with little head. Very malty in the nose, faint hops. This one has lost pretty much all of the hops in the flavor. The malt background is great though, and lends itself to form a nice barley wine style. Subtle fruits and hints of caramel shine through at the end. Goes down slightly syrupy thick, but not too much to ruin it. Good brew, I’d like to try it fresh.

First time that I tried this, I didn’t really enjoy it. I drank it extremely cold and missed out on a lot that the beer had to offer. Glad I have it another go. Pours a beautiful reddish amber color with a smallish head that fades to a nice ring. Doesn’t have the aroma of most other IIPAs. This one seems to be much more balanced than other hop bombs out there. Definite presence of the malts along with a nice hoppiness in the background. Very silky smooth malty taste with a nice hop presence and finish as well. Nice change of pace from the over the top, citrusy offerings that dominate this category. Too bad this is only a seasonal offering from Terrapin. They are quickly becoming one of my favorite breweries.