Valley Brew Uberhoppy Imperial IPA

Brewed by Valley Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Stockton, California USA

Bottle from IrishBoy. Thanks Richard!
Pours a lush, lively cheddar mahogany with a healthy, frothy head of white that, as it recedes, leaves a beautiful latticework of lace around the glass. Aroma is straight-up grapefruit with peach bits; no frills with this one; it is an IPA and that’s all it is in the nose. Flavor is a rapidly budding flower of grapefruit, pine, soured orange peel, and sour rose hops. The sourness is unrelenting, leaving the palate scarred and beaten. Crisp, refreshing, and unapologetic; this brew is one of the premier IPAs.

Bottle: Pours amber with a medium white head...good retention and lacing. Nose is huge on the grapefruit and pineapple with some pine and a bit of fresh-picked mint leaf apparent. Very sticky body...the pine asserts itself much more in the flavor but doesn’t detract from the biting citrus notes. This brew finishes about as well as anything I’ve had aside from Dreadnaught, the pine, herbs and citrus just meld perfectly and come together about as clean and crisp as possible. Wonderful brew!

Bottle, thanks to Ibrew2or3 for sharing. Poured a cloudy, rich, amber color with a tall egg-shell color head. Powerful earthy hop profile in the nose imparting lots of citrus, pine, and grass notes. Thick, full body very smooth creamy mouthfeel. Big bold hop flavors, loads of grapefruit, pine, and grass. Also enough caramel malt sweetness to balance out the hop bitterness. Nice bitter finish. A really excellent and highly drinkable brew!

bottle thanks to bman1113vr. amber with a cream head. sticky, piney, grapefruit hops that are very fresh. very smooth on the palate with a great grapefruity flavor that is ridiculously smooth.

Strong nice aroma, with something a little unpleasant I can’t quite put a finger on. Start is great, but the finish is a little off. It’s a good beer, but in my opinion not up to the hype.

A solid pour into my large Tripel Karmeliet tulip produces a three-finger thick, pale tan colored head. The beer is a rich amber color that shows a lightly hazed, gold tinged, light amber color when held up to the light. The aroma is sticky with fat lupulin hop notes that lean towards concentrated tropical fruit and citrus notes. There is a backdrop of malt here that is barely noticed under the ample hop character, but it contributes subtle notes of caramelized malt, a toasted bready / grain note that is the most noticeable malt aromatic, and perhaps a hint of toffee. The up front hop character contributes notes of tangerine, definite lychee, a mix of apricot and pineapple, kumquat and something a bit like buttered orange zest (with more orange zest than butter). An essential citrus oil aroma at times can get a hint of grassiness to it and there is a supporting, though underlying current of fresh pine needles that gives the fruit notes a bit of an edge. A hint of noticeable alcohol also adds a touch of spiciness towards the end of the aroma. The aroma on this is definitely nice; though it seemed like the regular IPA was a touch more expressive in its hop aromatic notes.

Lightly sweet tasting, but quite light bodied, in fact this is down right quaffable. It almost seems like this is less thick than the regular IPA. The finish has an herbal, almost menthol like hop edge as well as a lingering bitterness that along with a touch of spicy alcohol further dries out the effect of this beer. Up front are notes of candied, mixed orange, tangerine, a touch of grapefruit and kumquat zests. There is also a lychee fruitiness and a touch of ripe apricot. This beer actually finishes a bit on the thin side; when the beer is in the mouth the quaffability and lightness is quite nice, but the finish is a bit much for the light body to stand up to. The bitterness in this beer starts as soon as the beer hits the tongue, but it is never overly aggressive in its bitterness and really lets the hop flavors take the leading hop role. I really can’t get over how light this beer is; yet it still retains enough sweetness to carry the fruity hop notes (though much of the fruity hop notes provide a perceived sweetness), I just wish that the finish didn’t clash with the light body. As I work my way through this bottle the finish can get a bit hot at times.

I wonder if there is a hint of diacetyl in this beer, it is nothing inappropriate, but there seems to be a touch of it in the nose, but only just barely. This is almost a textbook example of my preferred type of West Coast double IPA, but this actually has a bit too little body in the finish; it needs just a touch more to stand up to the hop onslaught in the finish which can be a bit to sharp and biting and makes the beer finish on a thin note; it is really the alcohol that knocks this over into the thin territory as it is a bit too warm and spicy. It is a bit weird for me as the lightness is perfect as long as the beer is on my tongue, but then there just not enough lingering palate presense to stand up to the sharper hop notes and alcohol in the finish. I have certainly focused a bit much on the finish, so don’t let that distract you from the fact that I think this is a great beer to be drinking if you have a hankering for a hop fix; it is a beer which I easily wish I had a few more fresh bottles on hand of.

Bomber thanks to wavers1. Pours lightly hazed orangish copper with white head. Aroma is citrusy, tropical fruit, hops, and a touch of pine. Flavor is well balanced but not overly hoppy or bitter. Flavor is citrus, floral hops, tropical fruits, a bit of pine and some caramel sweetness from malt. Not the hop bomb I was expecting and no real bitterness at all. This is however extreamly balanced and super drinkable which is scary given the ABV. Not on the level of Dreadnaught or Pliny or even Flossmoor’s Uberhoppy IMO but still a good beer. Would love to try it fresh on tap.

Bottle thanks to BMan1113VR. Pours a hazy deep gold with white head. Aroma of pine, some grapefruit and some malt, kinda herbal and spicy. Flavor is exactly the same with a nice bitter that follows. Mouth feel is medium body with high carbonation. Overall, this was some pretty tasty stuff, I enjoyed!