Deschutes - Hop Henge Experimental IPA

This is a beer I know nothing about before tasting it.  While that might not make for very interesting reading or back story, it should provide for a very honest and unbiased review.  We just started getting Deschutes in the area within the last four months or so and I am definitely OK with that.  I don't buy sixers that often and since the selection of Deschutes we have thus far is primarily six packs I have not been picking up a whole lot of it.  I've also had all the current varieties thus far and choose to focus on new experiences.  However, when I saw this bomber which was both new and from Deschutes I had to snag it.  Besides, try and tell me that the label art doesn't look promising.  Hops are spilling forth from bags from bags!  It's a veritable monument to hops, right?  Let's pour!

Bottle gives no brewed date, but reads "Best by 08/27/13"

Aroma 11/12

A promising beginning shows plenty of citrus aromas with pineapple and grapefruit leading the way.  Floral notes are not too far behind, but resin seems distant at this point.  The caramel sweetness is present and doing its best to mingle with the hops, but its definitely second fiddle.  After the beer warms it opens up beautifully.  A rich honey note steps in to dance with the hops, which remain strong, and the piney resin begins to kick things up a notch.

Appearance 3/3

This bright beer's transparency really helps showcase the honey and pumpkin hues.  The head was particularly pleasing in texture, size, and retention.  A creamy color to match the wet, creamy looking texture as bubbles breached the surface everywhere they could.

Flavor 18/20

I had to wait until my taste buds acclimate before I could truly get a handle on everything that was going on in this bottle.  There are a pair of large flavors at work and its hard to hear anything else of the din of those two oafs.  Largely the huge caramel malts are fighting the hop pine flavors tooth and nail, but behind that are some solid flavors as well.  In fact, the caramel flavors are apparently in a tag team with some biscuity malts that take over because the sweetness seems to die away rather quickly.  The beginning shows us brief splashes of the aroma's citrus before it is almost immediately washed away by the two larger flavors.  Those two gorillas give make for a backbone thick with caramel sugars, pine, resin, and... no that's about it.  Hopheads should love the finish particularly as it gives the tingle of  hop acids, alcohol warmth, and spicy black pepper before it begrudgingly sticks and slides down your throat.  The aftertaste is what one should expect in a strong IPA with plenty of bitter resin, a persistent pepper, and a slight drying effect despite the plentiful malts.  Not the biggest IPA I've ever had, but definitely enough to satisfy those seeking their daily ration of humulus lupulus.

Mouthfeel 4/5

My first note on this was "thick."  It was accurate.  All the malts required to balance the "henge's-worth" of hops result in a big body beer that stumbles and bumbles its way across your taste buds.  The carbonation is spot on and leaves most of the tingly sensations to the resin, peppery hops, and a warmth that seems to only make an appearance in the finish and aftertaste; an interesting trick in a 10.9% ABV brew.

What a great sight!

Overall Impression 8/10

The amounts of flavor in this beer are certainly to be reckoned with.  I also appreciate the body and the fact that the beer somehow maintains a perfect level of carbonation regardless of how warm it gets in the glass.  The transition of flavor from sweet (brief citrus & caramel) to bitter (biscuit, resin, pine, grapefruit's bitter) is also an interesting characteristic to which one should pay attention.

Total 44/50

I'm trying really hard not to be fickle or hypocritical.  On one hand, I often criticize beers for not "bringing the thunder" when it comes to flavor.  This beer certainly does bring with it some substantial flavor, but brings it with all the nuance and tact of a bowling ball.  It's just... asserts itself with flavor.   Again, flavor is good!  I'll never fault a beer for having flavor, I just want to taste more than just the splatting of ingredients on my tongue.  Sure, I tasted several different flavors, I just  really had to search for them behind the giants in the way.  The imagery of a paintball being fired on the tongue refuses to leave me.  Not because this beer was so over-the-top intense, but because it basically all came at once until you get to the finish.  SMACK!  Where was the chance for flavors to develop on the tongue?  I don't know.  The more I type the more I sound to myself like a whiny idiot.  Maybe this is what happens when an amateur tries to put into words the subjective notion of flavor.

TL;DR:  Good beer.  Lots of flavor.  Expect a car wreck of hops in your mouth, but not a wide spectrum of flavor.

Dogfish Head - Burton Baton (2007)

Today my quest to break out some of my weird an unusual beers takes me back to 2007.  It was a troubled time for America and I give you the following alliterative list to prove it:

• Barbaro is euthanized
• Bears lost the Super Bowl
• Britney Spears shaves her head.  Gets new tattoo
• "Breakfast of Champions" author Kurt Vonnegut dies
• Boris Yeltzin dies
• Bob Barker leaves the "Price is Right"
• Boston wins the World Series

Gratuitous Barbaro pic.

There were a lot of bad things, beginning with "B" that happened in 2007, but thankfully Burton Baton flew in the face of it all.  Having been brewed off and on since it's release in 2004, it eventually gained enough popularity to become brewed year-round.  Thank goodness.  It's labeled as an Imperial IPA, but Burton Baton is actually a blend of an DIPA and an English-style old ale, which is then aged in a big ol' oak tank.  Normally, I would not review an IPA or DIPA that is one month over 6 years old.  However, the bottle contradicts my logic by clearly stating, "Lush & enjoyable now, this beer ages with the best of 'em."  OK, I'll bite.  Let's pour!

Aroma 10/12

Oak notes are prominent, but nothing about this beer is harsh or aggressive.  The vanilla and oak touch the nose and bring with them some interesting travel companions.  A faded citrus is next.  It carries the remnants of juicy grapefruits and pineapple, but those fruity bits have all but disappeared completely.  Thankfully, we still have a slight acidity that gives the scent a bit of a bite.  The old ale notes come in after that and carry with them all the things we love about the style: sweet malts, a light roast, raisins, and a nice gentle warmth.

Appearance 2/3

I'm not expecting the world when it comes to carbonation in a 6 year-old bottle, but I was pleasantly surprised at the half finger of head that formed after a fairly aggressive pour.  Unfortunately, the head was the high point for the appearance of this beer.  It sits in the glass the murky color of a sun tea that has steeped too long and grown too dark. Held up to the light an attractive red can be found in the center of the glass, but it is poorly situated amidst a fog of rusty hues.

Flavor 19/20

Whoa!  One is immediately lambasted by dark fruits, caramelized sugar, honey, a deceptively sneaky warmth, and a wash of malty sweetness.  There's no fading in here; this beer is sweet and it means it.  There is a richness of flavor that cannot be anticipated from the aroma.  I wish there were more to say about the backbone of the beer, but the flavors are so robust and well-blended that there is little opportunity for nuance.  If held in the mouth a pepper note arises, but I am uncertain if that another remainder of the hops or just alcohol tingle.  I swear that at times this beer even shows glimpses of maple syrup.  The finish shows a slight warming and a moderate bitter to show us that the hops cannot be forgotten just yet.  Both sensations linger well into the aftertaste where that pesky pepper note appears again as a dot on the horizon.

Mouthfeel 5/5

Excellent work here.  Not only is this beer smooth thanks to some barrel aging and some cellaring, but also thanks to gads of malt.  Remember the honey and syrup mentioned earlier?  Well, it's nowhere NEAR as thick as those, but it's just as silky and smooth.  Since we're on the subject, it definitely has a full body and loads of sugars to let this beer absolutely slide all over the mouth.  It avoids becoming to heavy and thick by utilizing perfectly present carbonation, alcohol warmth, and that peppery prickle.  The alcohol warmth, of course, gets stronger as the beer warms and helps contribute to a dryer finish.  Prior to warming no one would have a clue about the 10% ABV.

Overall Impression 9/10

This aged incredibly well.  True, the hops are not at their peak freshness, but that doesn't mean their hallmark cannot still be found 6 years after bottling.  The aroma was not the strongest trait of the beer, but the less impressive introduction made experiencing the rest of the beer an exciting surprise.  The flavor was intense and sweet and the mouthfeel was amazing.  This beer did great things with its dark fruits, oak, and camouflaged warmth.  What a treat!

Total 45/50

Silky without being syrupy.  Sweet, but not one-dimensional nor cloying.  What more do you want?  This beer gave big flavor without feeling like it was beating you.  I would definitely say that at this age it errs more on the side of the English-style old ale than an Imperial IPA.  It's abundance of sweet malt, dark fruits, color, and apparent ability to age well all point toward the old ale.  The aroma would indicate an IPA that is too old!  A beer that clings to its "big beer" status and former glory with a thick body, now unbalanced sweetness, and perhaps a high ABV.  Thankfully, it became much more than that over the last 6 years.  Maybe Burton Baton was one of the best things to come out of 2007.  It sure as hell wasn't James Blunt.

And they ain't kiddin'!

SOURCES:

http://www.dogfish.com/brews-spirits/the-brews/occassional-rarities/burton-baton.htm

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-12-28-2419931004_x.htm

Mikkeller - I Hardcore You

I enjoyed the description of this beer from the Brewdog Blog so much that I'm just going to quote it here,

"I Hardcore You is a 9.5% Imperial India Pale Ale, an international collaborative effort between 2 of Europe's most rock 'n roll brewers. This beer is a blend of BrewDog’s Hardcore IPA and Mikkeller’s I Beat You. After the blending, the beer was then dry hopped a further twice. Making I Hardcore You a beer which has been dry hopped four times, or maybe even six times. We kinda lost count."

Oh, and from what I can tell, this was a one-time brew collaboration between the two that was originally brewed back in mid-2010, but recently enjoyed a resurgence in May of 2012.  I appreciate Mikkeller more every time and drink it and while my experience with Brew Dog is limited, I haven't been disappointed yet.  Let's pour!

Aroma 11/12

There's a great citrus blend happening here and rushes out as soon as the cap is pried.  At first the nose is sweet with honey, but in short time the citrus blend harmonizes with it and the results are splendid.  The citrus fruits are pineapple, lemon, and some lesser mandarin oranges.  There is a funk behind it all that comes across as a bit earthier than normal and some distant hop notes of grass and a little spice.  The beer begins to warm a bit and that funk note from earlier has started to open into a full resiny blossom.  It never overtakes the citrus/honey blend, but it is a concentrated, dark smell that hopefully translates into a big, hoppy flavor.  Other aromas are hints of the alcohol and a toffee-like malt that blends so well with the sweet hops that it is difficult to nail down what exactly it smells like.

Appearance 2/3

This beer pours and sits in the glass the color of dark honey.  It is an all-but-opaque cloudy glass full of orange-browns and rusty hues.  The head was fairly long lasting, a nice almond color, and possessed a nice fluffy texture.  While one can't give it points for a range of color, it certainly looks ominous and give the impression that this IIPA means business.

Flavor 18/20

It definitely does not start out as sweet as the aroma, but with a lot of dry-hopping I suppose that's to be expected.  However, sweetness is still the first characteristic detected.  It's more of the toffee from the aroma, but with a bright citrus note immediately behind and trying to upstage it at every chance it gets.  The toffee persists its way into the backbone of the beer and refuses to be tamed.  The brown-sugary toffee has some competition from some orange zest, an early splash of pine, and some resin but nothing that threatens its crown.  As the beer sits in the mouth the resin bitter becomes stronger as does an earthy note from the hops and both lead to a more complex finish.  The beer washes down with a mixture of orange and caramel, but not without a strong earthy note and some pepper.  The aftertaste is lingering earthy resin which trumps the alcohol by leaving the mouth watering and not dry.

Mouthfeel 5/5

Very smooth and extremely full-bodied, in true IIPA fashion this beer offers very little carbonation to play on the tongue.  The alcohol is mostly camouflaged throughout the beer, becoming noticeable in only the aroma and the aftertaste.  Feels like a big ol' IIPA should.

Stolen directly from the BrewDog website.

Overall Impression 8/10

While this beer wasn't as laden with hop flavor as I had imagined, the balance in it was impressive.  This wasn't a hop bomb, though it certainly is hoppy.  It was more of a huge, balanced, IPA.  The malts were definitely sweet and served their purpose, but I feel the hop FLAVORS (not their aroma nor their bitter) suffered in turn.  In the same vein, while this beer balanced the malt and the hops well, it never really bothered to blend them except in the aroma.  It's more of a meeting of the "immovable object" and the "unstoppable force" instead of a cohesive blend between these two powerhouse flavors.  That said, it's still remarkably tasty and I'd easily like to have a few bottles on hand for a rainy day.

Total 44/50

I'm pretty sure I said in all in the "Overall Impression" section.  This beer is big, tasty, hoppy, and sweet.  The aroma is fantastic and seems to blend all the good things that are happening in this beer.  Unfortunately, for the flavor, the blending is not as successful.  It's like two semis colliding in your mouth; the results are pretty kick ass, but I can't help but wonder what this beer would've been like had the two powerhouses decided to work together.  The aroma shows it can be done - those flavors go great together!  Now it's just a matter of getting these two great breweries to tweak the recipe ever so slightly before the next release of I Hardcore You.  Right brewmasters?  Next release?  Eh?  Hopefully we can all see this again in two years.

Also stolen.

Sierra Nevada - Hoptimum (2012)

I started writing this review a while ago. So far, I've had two bottles of my Sierra Nevada Hoptimum and each bottle has been completely different. They were each good in their own right; the first seemed like a resinous wallop and the second was a fruit smorgasbord. Needless to say, the hops are mellowing and their different characteristics are really coming through as of late, making this beer much more than a hop bomb. That was around 2 weeks ago, so I'm really anxious to see what condition these hops are in now. But first, I have a question... It says on the label that it is a "Whole cone Imperial IPA" and I don't know what that means. I assume, it's when they add the "whole cone" or hop blossom to the boil (or thereafter if dry hopping). However, what I don't know is if this is not standard practice already. Or is this just to differentiate between brewers that might instead use hop pellets, just the petals, or extracts? If any of your homebrewing experts wish to speak up in the comments, I'm all ears. Time to get this party started. Let's pour!

Aroma 11/12
When I first poured this beer, it was too cold and I was worried that I had waited too long to review it and that as a consequence the hops had lost the potency of their delicious fruity, nectar-saturated aromas. It began with a hint of wet hey, but rapidly showed the standard pine/grapefruit. The fruits seemed diminished and mixed with a grassy note. At this point, I was mostly getting apple and white grape-type fruits. Sweet, but not particularly strong. Then the beer began to warm and things really started going. The pine aromas took off like a shot and tried to hide an apricot scent behind them. Wait another few minutes and that apricot aroma seems to have found its own voice and morphed into a more tropical version of itself. This pine/tropical apricot (nectarine?) combination carries the majority of the aroma the rest of the way through the beer. There is a subtle spice that loiters in the background and a much less subtle alcohol burn that has been detectable the entire time. Halfway through the bottle the beer's sugary malts become less bashful and give the drinker the impression that this beer is going to be a sticky one.


Appearance 3/3
The beer produces a fairly low amount of head even after an aggressive pour.  What head does result is an attractive rusty pastel color, creamy in appearance, and light in texture.  The brew's color is any of those shades found in a cooked squash with some darker coppers and ambers thrown in for good measure.  There's some good lacing left on my glass and this pleases me because I don't remember the last time that happened in a review.  Good Karma points are also awarded for having some great bottle art.

Flavor 17/20
This beer blitzkriegs the tongue! Before you've barely had a chance to recognize the thick caramel and almost brown sugar sweetness, the beer shifts into high gear and puts a medicinal bitter on the back of your palate. Seriously. As in, "I think a tiny, vengeful gnome is gleefully dissolving an aspirin on my tongue" type of bitter. It is sharp and unrelenting. The earlier sweetness could be considered balancing if it remained in the mouth after the hops spread their tremendous, terrible wings. It does become a little easier to imagine a bit of balance toward the middle of the bottle once the bitter has lost a bit of its sting, but make no mistake about it - this beer is called Hoptimum, not Maltimum, for a reason. Wow! What a big, bitter bastard. The finish is, of course, more bitter but on quicker swallows does allow the sugary malts to timidly make direct eye contact with you from time to time. If it asks nicely. This is also where most of the warmth can be found. It's far from a burn, but it's not a secret either. The aftertaste is remarkably clean considering how potent the earlier flavors were. The only lingering flavor is that of the aspirin. I blame the gnome.

Mouthfeel 5/5
From the very first sip, this beer is thick and threatens to coat your tongue with each flavor it possesses.  The carbonation is all but absent.  However, a light swish in the mouth reveals that not only is it present, but it helps add a silky smooth texture.  A large body to match a large flavor and in a good way.  As mentioned earlier the alcohol is allowed to present itself at a few points in the brew and each time it is a compliment to the existing powerhouse on display.  This is how big beers should be made.

Overall Impression 8/10
Big body.  Big flavor.  Almost constantly changing aroma.  This beer is definitely a sipper and perhaps not one you'd want to have every day.  Hop heads will love it, balance-seekers... not so much.  If one of your friends is talking about really getting into hoppy beers, you could test their mettle with this brew.  Even experienced IBU imbibers know that this beer is not to be trifled with.

Total 44/50
With Sierra Nevada's Hoptimum, you get what you see.  A beer for Hopheads that never promises to be anything else.  I mean, literally!  Look at the label art!  I myself would normally like to see more balance in a brew, but much like Green Flash's Palate Wrecker, every once in a while you need something unapologetically bitter and strong.  This definitely fits the bill.  Because it knows what it wants to be, I can't and won't deduct points for lack of balance.  However, I have gotten two different experiences out of the three bottles that I've had.  Two were very much like the beer found in this review: big, hoppy, and bitter.  The odd bottle in the middle seemed much more content to let the thick tropical fruit smells waft forward, provide a more complex sweetness (from said fruits), and be much more of a beer than the "resinous challenge" that I labeled the first beer in my tasting notes!  I'll look forward to the last bottle, though I anticipate it will be more of the "hop bomb" experience and less of the nuanced powerhouse that I'm hoping for.  In fairness, it's probably easier for brewers to make (and mass-produce) the former instead of the latter, but the former earns total scores like this and the latter earns, or at least deserves, national acclaim.

Green Flash - Palate Wrecker

When you see a beer emblazoned with such an appellation, it really demands that you pick it up.  I mean, c'mon... Palate Wrecker?  It jabs your curiosity with a red hot poker and challenges you at the same time.  I know exactly what this beer is made to do and when you're in the mood for that hoppy, bitter, sticky goodness, nothing else will do.  There's no IBUs listed on the label, but it states a 9.5% ABV.  Good, I never really liked my liver anyway.  I'm ready to crack this open, I just hope it doesn't crack back.  Let's pour!

Aroma 11/12

Starting off, this beer leaves no hop scent unturned.  It begins with a strong grassy smell, adds resin, grapefruit, pine, and dabbles with some oranges.  The malts come through as hay-like with a touch of mustiness, but also offer a distant bit of brown sugar which has to shout to be heard through the citrusy hops.  Once the beer settles a bit, the hops fall into a pine & citrus partnership, with a bit of herbal tickle that keeps us mindful of the hop plant's relations in the Hemp family (cannabaceae, pronounced can-uh-BAY-shee-ay).  The citrus comes across as so sweet and fragrant that it borders of floral.  Very nice.

Appearance 3/3

As expected this beer showed great head, lacing, and retention.  The sticky head was a slightly yellowed ivory color and covered the surface well after the pour.  The color is more copper and amber than I expected.  Well, I guess most IPAs are copper and/or amber, but this appears more red when just sitting in the glass.

Flavor 17/20

I was about to take the first sip of this beer and I began to wonder as I raised the glass to my mouth, "Will this be a really sweet opening to this beer to balance the malt or just rush right in with bitter?"  Answer:  It SLAMMED me with bitter.  I take that back, there's a light sugary citrus note that floats for just a moment before being comically crushed with an anvil.  Despite this barely exaggerated description, there really is more to this beer but you've gotta pay pretty close attention to find it behind the "These-go-to-eleven" level of hops.  After the bitter explosion, if you hold the beer in the mouth, you'll get quite an intense resin flavor mixed with a pseudo-balancing citrus sweetness, honey, and some sugary, caramel malts.  Not only does holding the beer in the mouth help find these flavors, but so does acclimating your palate to the bitterness.  Halfway through the bottle, these flavors become much easier to detect.  Good heavens is this beer bitter!  The finish is, you guessed it, ridiculously bitter.  However, a quicker swig lets the caramel malts help fend off most of the bitterness.  The beer is sticky in the back of the throat and makes saliva difficult to swallow.

Mouthfeel 4/5

Adequate carbonation in the beginning, but toward the end of the bottle the carbonation has abandoned ship which does not help to finish off this monster beer.  The alcohol warmth is invisible behind the hops and the body is just as heavy as the sticky head and remnants in the back of the throat would have you believe.  Normally, I'd say the minimal level of carbonation is perfect, but in a beer this strong and heavy I could really use a few extra bubbles.  There is nothing small about the mouthfeel of this beer.

Overall Impression 8/10

For what it is, it's a kick ass beer.  No really.  It might just kick your ass.  Large aroma, gargantuan flavors, and a car crushing mouthfeel all make this not a beer to be taken lightly.  True to it's name, it is a palate wrecker.  Those looking for balance or nuance look elsewhere.  You'll not find it here.  If you've got a hankering for hops... this. is. it.  

Total 43/50

Well, I was looking for hops when I bought this and boy did I find them.  This beer absolutely walloped me in the mouth and did not apologize afterwards.  It then kicked my cat and pinched a baby.  I'm not sure where it got the baby because I don't even have kids.  Palate Wrecker is an insanely accurate name and description for this beer.  This is both good and bad.  It's good because it doesn't leave you wondering if the brewer meant to make a more nuanced, balanced DIPA/IIPA.  He/she did not.  They made this beer to destroy you.  It's bad because FAR more often than not, I want to drink a beer with balance.  This beer sacrifices drinkability, balance, nuance, and complexity all in the name of what your tongue can endure.

This is not a beer I could drink every day.  It is, without question, a special occasion beer.  It's the beer you keep on hand to see how many IBUs your craft beer buddies can take or when you're REALLY in the mood for something hoppy.  However, it never claims to be anything but.  It says Palate Wrecker right on the friggin' label.  What did you think you were getting?  Due to its honesty and implying the brewers' intentions, I cannot rate it lower.  This beer is exactly what it wants to be.  No apologies.

Dogfish Head - 120 Minute IPA

Ahhh... the first review of a new year.  The next beer on my schedule was going to be Dogfish Head Punk'n Ale, however that seems an odd choice to ring in the new year.  Now DFH 120 on the other hand seems more than appropriate don't you think?  It's a beer that needs no introduction to the initiated.  To those still learning, it is the king of big, hoppy beers.  It is big, bitter, rife with alcohol, expensive, and the probably the most hop-laden beer you will find any time soon in a brewery of this size.  It sits around 18% ABV and at 120 IBUs (bitterness measurement), when most IPAs only rate from 40-80 IBUs.  Make no mistake, this is not for rookies nor the weak.  It is a hop bomb in every sense of the word and I'm ready for an explosion.  Let's pour!

Note:  Mad love to Keith for snagging me yet another premier bottle!!

Aroma 11/12
This is much sweeter than I anticipated with honey drizzled green apples bursting from the pour!  Soon after is a fresh bed of pine needles, apricot flesh, and orange rind with lesser grapefruits and lemon zest.  No citrus is safe.  The alcohol warmth is plentiful without overpowering the delicate citrus.  An area of concern is that the acidic citrus combines with this warmth and occasionally reminds one of a rubbing alcohol instead of a natural beer warmth.  Thankfully, this fades relatively quickly as the beer warms.  Hiding behind this virtual produce aisle of citrus is a bit of caramel and a roasted, grainy malt.  It is not a dark caramel and blends excellently in with the hops.

Appearance 3/3
The head is rather diminutive from a rather aggressive pour, but what head is produced remains for a long time and leaves a sheet of lace on my glass.  The beer is just short of being completely opaque; a bit of a surprise in an Imperial IPA.  Usually, one sees them a bit lighter, but this is not a usual IPA.  The color is rusty with lighter, squash-toned edges.  Not a lot of hues here, since the center of the glass is so dark, but the few colors available are very attractive.

Flavor 19/20
Ummm... consider me very confused.  This is supposed to be a hop bomb, but the initial flavors are gobs of rich, delicious honey and waves of creamy caramel.  It is astonishingly sweet and absolutely delicious!  The citrus makes it too bright to be maple syrup-like, but it only falls just short.  Without letting up one bit, this beer rhinocerous-charges full speed into the backbone and dumps in a crate full of the fruits from the aroma: primarily apricot, but also hints of the brighter citrus are present albeit less distinct.  When held in the mouth a peppery hop begins to show, as does the tingle of warmth, a bit of green apple, and a very light bitter.  Keep in mind all of this is against the backdrop of the rich, sugary caramel.  The finish is the first time the sweet, sweet malt begins to subside and allows the hop bitter a brief say in the beer's composition.  It's also a showing of the beer's hop content for such a sweet, potentially mouth-watering beer, to leave such a dry finish down the center of the tongue.  The aftertaste barely hints at some "American" piney hop flavors, and leaves intense (but not loud) bitter.  As if one accidentally chewed a small portion of an Advil, not the whole pill.

Mouthfeel 5/5
Of course with this level of sweet malts, it results in a supremely smooth, full-bodied beer.  It doesn't come close to being syrupy, and this is undoubtedly achieved by the drying hops.  The alcohol that was worrisome in the aroma was hardly a factor in the flavor and never came close to overpowering the other monster flavors.  The carbonation is appropriately low and the legs on this beer are ridiculous.  It literally clings to every surface it can.  I swear I see fingernail marks as it slides down.

"Ages Well"  That. Is. Promising.

Overall Impression 10/10
Big, huge, caramel-laden, full-bodied, experiment that pushes the boundaries of beer.  The packaging as a whole is rather misleading.  Instead of blatantly plopping a bottle of hop oils in front of the drinker, DFH has chosen to let other aspects the hop shine, especially in the aroma.  The malts may have second billing, but they steal the show in a very surprising way.  Not in a "this is here for balance" type way, but more like a "thank goodness the hops are here to balance out all this crazy sweet malt" type way.  Big-but-still-able-to-show-nuance is not something that every brewery can manage, but DFH pulls it off here.

Total 48/50
"They" say that 120 isn't a beer for everybody and I can only say they're half right.  If you're a novice beer drinker, you may not enjoy this.  However, if you have an affinity for craft beer this beer definitely deserves a try and some props.  It's not an over-glorified bottle of pine resin (though I'm not sure how fresh this bottle is), nor is is big for the sake of big.  It's a full-bodied, smooth, warm, sugary sweet, giant of a beer that shows us what else hops can do when they're not being slammed down upon our palates.

My initial paragraph was clearly written on reputation alone.  This bottle shatters it own reputation and provides a unique and surprising experience.  My wife even found this drinkable!  In fact, she sipped this more readily that some other hop aggressive beers that I have brought home.  Needless to say, not the hop bomb that I was expecting.  Buy it.  Try it.  You can't miss this beer.

In finishing, I'll simply quote the bottle.  "What you have here is the holy grail for hopheads.  This beer is continually hopped over a 120-minute boil and then dry-hopped every day for a month.  Enjoy now or age for a decade or so."

Warning: Dogfish Crossing

Avery - The Maharaja Imperial IPA

What have I gotten myself into?  I generally do not find myself drinking IPAs as much as other beers, let alone Imperial IPAs.  They are usually proud to unapologetically destroy your mouth with hops.  While I do look for intense experiences in my beer (read: intense, rich flavors), I am generally not one for an exercise in painful endurance.  If that were the case, I would train to swim the English Channel or watch a marathon of "Sex in the City."  For the record that is the only Sex in the City reference I will ever make in this blog.  However, I found myself buying this bottle of Avery Brewing Co's - The Maharaja Imperial IPA for several reasons.
          The first is that I wish to develop my own palate.  I like to think I can tell a good IPA when I get it, even if they are not my "go to beer."  The second is that this looks like an amazing example of the style.  It lists the following things on the label:
1.  102 IBUs
2.  10.54% ABV
3.  "Supremely Limited"  (Yes!)
4.  Batch no. 13.  Mar, 2011 (Batch numbers are almost ALWAYS a good sign)
5.  Big shiny label.
6.  Apparently it is part of their "Dictator Series."

While I have not yet looked the "Dictator Series" up online, usually when a brewer introduces a series it means they are pretty damn serious about what they are doing.  It usually takes extra time and money to make as well as new marketing costs.  It is usually something that the brewer is proud of and I am ready to find out if they should be.  Let's pour!

Picture is my own.  Bottle art image used without permission for educational uses only.

Aroma 11/12

Despite the beer's rating of 102 IBUs the primary aroma is not that of hops.  In fact, it is rather sweet carrying with it floral hops and fruity esters of apricots.  A bit of caramelly malt can be detected behind the esters and is an excellent companion to the apricot (caramelization & apricots are both in a good cobbler, right?).  After the head dies down, more traditional hop aromas arise, adding some pine and spice to the mix.

Appearance 3/3

Maharaja pours a translucent, bright, burnt orange.  The more than adequate head is the lightest of beige and leaves copius lacing on my glass.  Head retention is also excellent and leaves a thick collar, even toward the end of my glass.  EBC: 29-30

Picture is my own

Flavor 19/20

There are so many taste sensations that I hardly know where to begin.  Initial sips offer slightly tangy hops, but are overall a bit mellow and belie the IPA style.  There is a lot of the caramel malt that was only faintly present in the aroma, and quite a lot of malt going on here for an IPA, let alone a IIPA.  The caramel flavor blends nicely into the backbone of the beer where the hops become more present and eventually take their rightful and primary role.  The hops are spicy, grassy, and even some herbs are present.  They are all strong, but not overpowering and do not destroy the other flavors in the beer.  What a boquet of hops!  The finish emphasizes more of the spicy hops and brings back the piney notes from the aroma, while the caramel malt still clings to the tongue.  The aftertaste starts with the bitter of the finish, but fades nicely to a pleasant level - a very neat sensation.  The aftertaste is also the only point where the alcohol level of the brew becomes truly present as the warmth can be detected, despite its prior camouflage.

Mouthfeel 4/5

This is a medium-high bodied beer with a higher level of creaminess.  This texture when combined with the rich flavors and the high alcohol content, truly make this beer a "sipper."  The carbonation is spot on and provides the brew with plentiful, tiny bubbles that last until the end and never become prickly.

Overall Impression 9/10

A fantastic beer on several levels.  The hops are featured in several distinct styles and yet are balanced out with a complimentary malt sweetness.  The appearance is near perfect.  Body, carbonation, creaminess, and warmth are all a fantastic aspects of this beer.  Furthermore, one bottle (1 pt, 6 fl oz) on an empty stomach will get you feeling pretty darn good.

Overall Impression 45/50 (Outstanding)

This beer is not only BIG, but it is also appropriately balanced for the style and technically sound on almost every level.  I am pleasantly surprised that this IIPA did not attempt to murder me with hoppy bitterness, but instead featured the flavors of the hops with their bitterness and displayed the malt as well.  For those IIPA or DIPA fans, this will not disappoint.  For those who are reluctant to be slaughtered by hops and bitterness, I strongly suggest you give this one a try.  It is not a mild hop flavor by any means, but it does offer more than punishment.  In fact, it is a damn good beer.  It offers sweetness, body, a complex hop bouquet, and a nice balance.  It is too bad it is only a "supremely limited" release because although strong IPAs are not my #1 choice, I would certainly purchase this again.  Big kudos to Avery for this effort!