Vinos Rock Hoprah Imperial IPA

Brewed by Vinos Brewpub
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Little Rock, Arkansas USA

(Draught) Pours a lightly hazy deep amber body with a medium beige head. Aroma of pineapple, mango, papaya, grapefruit, some florals, and light pine. Flavor of pineapple juice, apricot, grapefruit, and caramel malt with a dry, bitter finish.

GABF 2009, Great beer. Big citrusy hop aroma, Deep amber pour, Grapefruit hops, caramel malt balance, great mouthfeel. Never had much interest in going to Arkansas, this beer may change this

Sampled at GABF 2009. Light brown pour. Aroma of floral hops, grapefruit, and a hint of soap (more clean smelling than anything offensive). Sweet peach, tangerine, and pineapple flavors. A pleasant surprise; I liked this one.

Draught @ Brewpub: This one poured an almost opaque light chocolate brown color. There was lots of a tan head on this one. The lady behind the counter had a hard time pouring the beer. The aroma was mainly pine hops with some citrus in there also. The taste was a bit more balanced, as the hop bite was not overpowering. Pine, citrus, caramel, as well as a hint of chocolate and roastiness to the taste. Nice.

(draught at brewpub) deep amber with small off white head. Pine hops aroma with some citrus, hints of sweetness. Full bodied distinct hops presence that doesn’t overwhelm caramel malt. Really nicely balanced.

Sampled GABF 2008
This beer has a frothy, tan colored head that sits on top of a pretty dark for an IIPA, brown-amber colored beer. The aroma is quite sticky and sweet with an ample caramelized hop character; aromatic notes of candied ruby-red grapefruit zest, citrusy spruce tips, concentrated bergamot and a nose-tingling herbaceous pine note. This is very aromatically hoppy, but the sweet caramel malts play a huge role too.

The flavor seems to have a bit more caramelized grain character to it than overt sweetness, but that is here too; the malt seems to add a bit of a murky, toasted grain character that comes off as a bit muddled and confused. The hop character is a bit more dominant than the malt, and contributes flavors of grapefruit, candied orange, tangelo and ample lychee. The body of this beer is thick and chewy, so much so that this is definitely a sipping brew. There is lots of lingering hop bitterness to this beer as well as astringent hop flavors that contribute notes of pine and a menthol / herbal note.

This is a bit too malty for my tastes; it is way too focused on crystal malt flavors and is too thick and chewy (really almost a Barleywine in character). Hopheads who can get past the over-abundant crystal malt should find this enjoyable though.

Draught at GABF 2008. Hazy orange coloured with a medium sized off white head. Sweet aroma of hops, caramel, fruits and grape fruits. Sweet and fruity flavour of hops and grape fruits with notes of caramel. Hoppy finish.