Terrapin Big Hoppy Monster

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

Bottle (Chris_o Gathering06): Copper sticky with a big hoppy nose. Sweet caramel with toffee. Nice pine and citrus. Suprisingly well balanced.

Bottle. Poured a small ivory head, lackluster lacing, carbonated, transparent, and a reddish brown hue. Nose was caramel, sweet, malty, and grapefruit hoppy notes. Hoppy, citric, sweet, and malty flavors. Mildly tingly mouthfeel. Medium body.

2005 vintage. 12oz. bottle. Deep dark orange-brown with a small dark tan head. Scorched caramel, raisin bread, and piney vegetal hops in the aroma. Appley, sweet bread maltiness lingering underneath a caramel and biscuit character. Muted fruity hop sweetness and more prominant floral resinousness in the finish. Mouthfeel is a heavy medium, somewhat sticky.

Any first impressions?
-A creamy head slowly dissipates into the dark cherry red.
-An intricate perfume of spicy, wooden, earthy hops is set in stone by maple sweetness. Complex, outgoing, and very enticing.
-Maple sweetness and fruity undertones are emboldened by a muscular crystal malt presence, all balanced to the level-headed wooden hoppiness.
-The rich, heavy mouthfeel never gets cloying as it’s well-carbonated. Nourishment at its best.

What if you dig deeper?
-Cranberry fruitiness gets defined, working admirably with the sweet maltiness.
-The earthy, wooden bitterness segues effortlessly, and in surprisingly subdued doses, considering the beer’s name. This is a well-balanced Gargantua.
-Maybe not as crisp and defined in its flavor profile as Rye Squared, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t hugely satisfying.
-Nowhere near as crude as the beer’s name suggests, this beautiful Imperial Red Ale is a testament to these guys’ impressive talent.

Bottles; 2005 and 2006 vintages.

I am colpletely partial to this Atlanta beverage. This is the most popular of the Terrapin Monster Beer Tour. It’s name says it all. Big and Hoppy. beautiful ruby red colored. Red in color. Heavy Hop floral aromas, Hop bitterness thoughout! A little on the sweeter side.

Deep brownish garnet coloured liquid, mounted by a frothy, lasting beige head with fine bubbles that mostly last. Attractive, potent nose manages to find an impressive balance on the rather thin edge separating this ingredients monster from being too malty or too hoppy. Here, the chewy, full on crystal malts meet their match in this vast array of aromatic hops ranging from the usualy american citrus and piney character to deeper intricacies like a woodsy earthiness and spicy tree bark. Full bodied, chewy and vigorous mouthfeel. Surprisingly not so bitter, just enough to balance the sweetness. Gracefully done for a punchy american brew.

This limited release bottled brew from their Monster 2005 Beer Tour Series was obtained at a bottle shop. It poured a medium sized head of light finely sized brown colored bubbles that was mostly lasting and left behind a hazy center with transparent edges typically carbonated dark brown colored body and a good lacing. The aroma was hoppy with a strong Irish red malty note. The mouth feel was tingly at the start and at the finish caramel hop aftertaste. The flavor contained notes of hops and caramel. Delicious and one I would certainly buy again.

Terrapin could not have picked out a better hop line up for the Big Hoppy Monster...cascade, centennial, simcoe, and warrior are alkl great aromatic, fruitful, and citrusy. The color and apperance of the beer is a wonderful dark dark ruby red that shines nicely through my St. Bernardus trappist glass. The mouthfeel is very full and rich. Even with keeping in mind that I am trying a year old bottle of this beer, the hops are still very much present...but very well supported by the strong malt presence. This is definitely a good beer and i am started to expect nothin less from Terrapin. Big thanks to Jay for the bottle!