Tyranena Hop Whore Imperial India Pale Ale

Cheers to General Gao for this great beer! Inch thick, enduring cream above this slightly hazy, dark tea-colored brew. Nice aroma of caramel, peppery wood, light citrus and cocoa, an occasional hint of cherry. Front is luscious caramel-drenched orange with earthy tea leaf and peppered oak. Slowly turns more to the leaf and wood, some dirty orange and light resin. Finish is bitter resin, wood and leaf with some alcohol warming. Medium body is lightly carbonated (yea!), somehow slightly watery and thick at the same time, lightly tingly with hops and dry on the finish. I like the flavorful "dirty" blend of hops used in this brew that seems a hybrid of a DIPA and an English-American Barleywine.

Bottle courtesy of Santa. Thanks Santa! Pours a dark copper color with off white head. Aroma is a nice balance of hop and sweetness. Mouthfeel is medium with a fair amount of carbonation. Flavor is nice with a good amount of hop upfront that reminds me of pine and caramel. Finish is plain hops. Overall a really nice brew and one that I am glad to have tried.

Bottle, thanks to the enormous generosity of CaptainCougar. Dark, hazy copper pour with smallish off-white head and lacing present throughout. Attractive. Given the name, I expected hops. Big floral and citrus hops. A hop explosion. A hop bomb. What I got was well, a malty, caramelly, burnt butterscotch-y, bitter hoppy bomb. The hops were there, but more resiny and harshly bitter than expected. Imagine a beer brewed with all bittering hops and no attempt at a pleasant nose. This just didn’t do it for me. Very bitter, and almost none of the floral or citrus notes I like in an IIPA. More of a double ESB or imperial amber to my taste buds.

In short: A well malted IIPA with harsh bitter coniferous hops. Nice.
How: Bottle 12oz, thanks to the simultaneous generosity of Kingpinipa and mreush, thanks a lot Mike and Matt!!!
The look: Cloudy golden copper body topped by a small off-white head
In long: Nose is coniferous and caramel. Taste is more of the same. Nothing fancy here, lots of caramelized malts, plenty of harsh bitter coniferous hops, some citrusy notes and a slight alcohol bite in the finish. Bottle or ratebeer doesn’t specify the abv but I’d guess this is a 9% IIPA. Surprisingly affordable, thankfully despite the current worldwide hops shortage I Hop Whores would are still less expensive than a S&M Whores.

Great hoppy/sweet aroma. Flavor is like thick caramel corn with rosemary and citrus zest.