Weyerbacher Eleven

Formerly brewed at Weyerbacher Brewing Co.
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Easton, Pennsylvania USA

Bottle, July 2006. An 11% plus US IPA made only with a single British hop variety has got to be interetsing and this was one of the beers I particularly wanted to try on my US trip. Despite that, my notes are surprisingly meagre. "Copper colour. Bags of spicy earthy hop in the aroma. More of the same on the palate. Not as extreme as I expected and surprisingly smooth. Very nice." That’s all I have.

Bottle shared with a bunch of folks at DougShoemaker’s Decemberfest 2006 - courtesy of HogTownHarry. Golden-orange with a small white head. Aroma - holy crap, that’s hoppy! It made my frickin’ eyes water. Sticky body. Flavour - completely tongue-numbing hop juice. I’m down with the hoppy beers, but this one is just stupid. At least all those hops hide the alcohol fairly well...

Pours a hazy red-orange with a large frothy, rocky head. The head retention was great - lasted the whole beer. Opened, as these tend to, with a burst of fresh hops. As that recedes, it is replaced by some fruits emerge. There is some citrus, but not much, a pleasant change from your "standard" IIPA. The aroma is a little funky. I think I detect cherry. The beer is very full bodied. There is strong maltiness, apparent sweetness with balancing acidity. My, this beer is STRONG. And extremely bitter. Would age well. This is very well done, and one of my favorite IIPAs, probably because it’s a bit of a departure from the usual versions.

A triple IPA? Wow, this one should then have an almost unimaginable amount of aroma and bitterness wrapped around layers and layers of various hop character. Oh, wait....its says they only used "one" type of hop. No matter! it’s an anniversary brew and from a respected brewery......how could it go wrong? Nice pop and CO2 essence rising from the bottle. Gorgeous head and incredible lacing. Ooh, this is going to be good. As for the aroma........................wait for it...............and.....still waiting.......nothing. A slight puff of something. What was that? Definate light euro-hop character, but....is that corn I smell? Dare I say, "macro" aroma? Where the hell are the hops!?!? The absolute worst aroma I’ve ever come across in an IPA, much less a "triple" IPA. The first sip came across much different. Great mouthfeel, thick and oily. Huge malt backbone to this one. Smooth bitterness of the hops.......er, hop. Light and very mellow citrus character. This aspect is fine, but what followed made this damn thing almost my first drainpour. Fusel oils and lot’s of ’em. Later sips bring on increasing levels of sharp, acrid, back-of-the-throat-gagging, rubbing alcohol. Wow, third sip and the fusel oils are completely out of control. It completely dominates all else........ouch! I say lay this beast down for at least a year and cower in fear of it. No worry about losing the fresh hop profile in this one as.......well........there isn’t any to begin with. Pray that beast which is the cheap alcohol character can be tamed. In a word, horrible.

OK....I’m back to the business of rating beer.....thanks to chimp_lechamp’s urging. I’ve probably had over 100+ ratings slide down my throught since my last rating. Bottle 2nd night in a row :)...Hazy golden orange...looking much like my homebrew batch #10. A very nice off-white to light tan head. The hops spanks my toungue immediately....this is a good thing. Taste pine and bread with a very solid malt background. Nice sweetness to compliment the hops. The bitterness in the finish is a little dissappointing, but not bad.

Bottle. Hazy orange with a medium-sized bubbly white head. Piney orange hops and bread malts follow. Thick, chewy, and warm palate. Resiny hops, bread, and caramel. Too much alcohol to really be balanced though.

Bomber. Pours an almost clear orange with a huge head. Head turns rocky as it slowly dissipates, and leaves fair lacing. Aroma is definitely not standard is a IIPA. Hops smell kind of earthy and orangy. A little sweet fruit malts. Taste is very hop bitter to start, and end with the sweet fruit malts. Alcohol taste comes through a little. Medium to heavy body.

#958, Bottle, sampled at the Champaign Urbana Beer Club meeting in December of 2006. Hazy copper, thick frothy foamy medium lasting off brown head. Nose is more sweet and fruity with some thin hops. taste with a kick of hops and yeast, good with nice carbonation.