Terrapin Big Hoppy Monster

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

Pours a dark red almost brown in color. Small head. Strong hops smell. Long lasting malt finish, bitter at first. Not bad. Unfortunately it really isn’t brewed by Terrapin!?!

Draft, Barley’s Taproom, Greenville SC. Glowing red with tan head. Aromas of pineapple, pine, cinnamon, brown sugar, toffee. Flavor is well balanced with thick, chewy malt and thick, chewy hops, as well as a big alcohol burn throughout. Really bready throughout, with hints of cinnamon, a bit cookie-like. Really full and creamy, this honestly tasted like it was way higher than 8%. Nice stuff.

pours a lovely shade of garnett. small thick head that slowy changes to a fine film. nice piney aroma. caramel and hops up front finish’s with a supurb hop flavor. well balanced!

Pours a dark copper with no lacing and a weak head. Texture was very syrupy with too much coffee tones for my taste. I was unimpressed with this beer considering my taste for imperial reds and ipa’s.

What a great brownish/red color This beer looks like it is fit for a king! Little head was poured, and it quickly faded away. What can I say this beer is nearly perfect in appearance. Poured like cream. A great hop aroma. I can also smell the alcohol. The aroma is not nearly as great as the appearance, but the aroma still has a wonderful hop smell. From the description you can see that they use 5 types of hops. In my brother’s and I own brewing experience we use at most 3. The alcohol kicks in with the ridiculously smooth hop taste. There are flavors of caramel malts. They are nice and sweet and compliment the alcohol and the hops quite well. I must say this beer is also very smooth. I have not been this impressed with a Terrapin beer before.

Poured dark amber with fluffy tan head. Aroma of caramel malt. Big sweet malty taste with an alcohol finish. Drinkable but why past its prime. I need a fresh one then I’ll rerate.

Thanks to my 1st secret santa MIBromeo. Pours a dark clear red-brown with a yellowish head. Some lacings. Strong hops aroma, lots of grape fruit. Powerfull (because it needs to be) malty/caramel back bone. Full bodied. Medium carbonation. Nice long hoppy finish bitter with grtape fruit aroma.

2006 vintage. Dark and cloudy reddish-brown body. Some sediment reveals itself as the glass empties. Big, rocky off-white head that settles to a thin film. Thick, patchy lacing lines the glass. The aroma is big and malty, with ample amounts of nearly-burnt caramel, and slightly piney, citrus hops. The flavor is again very malty, with caramel playing a huge role, as well as toasted bread and citrus hops. The taste was mildly astringent, though this bottle might be a little past its time. Medium body that was a little sticky, though not overly cloying. Relatively smooth, save for the astringency issue. Very good beer that I think would be even better when completely fresh. I’ll re-rate this one when the 2007 comes out.