Weyerbacher Double Simcoe IPA

Brewery: Weyerbacher Brewing Company
Style: Imperial IPA
ABV: 9.0%
Country: USA, Pennsylvania

This was another beer that I found while at State Line Liquors. The "SIMCOE" in big bold letters on the bottle caught my eye immediately. The Simcoe hop is the main aroma hop of the wonderful Hopslam ale. Since my first attempt at finding a beer to tide me over until next year was a total failure, I was eager to have another go.

Poured a reddish coppery color with a nice and fluffy off-white head. Somewhat hazy with visible yeast. Big hoppy aroma is full of pine resin and citrus, this was what I remembered and loved from Hopslam. The first sip carried with it plenty of the hoppy flavors from the aroma. Sticky pine was the most prevalent with the citrus flavors playing second fiddle. Plenty of sweet, caramel malts managed to hold their own though and lent the body a thick and creamy mouthfeel that was quite pleasant. Speaking of the body, it coated the mouth well and left a lingering residue that was quite tasty. The finish crept up slowly with a pleasing bitterness that stuck around with the stickiness. This was quite a delicious and well balanced brew that I'll have to remember the next time I'm in the mood for some Hopslam and it isn't January. A

Bell's Hopslam Ale

Brewery: Bell's Brewery
Style: Imperial IPA
ABV: 10%
Country: USA, Michigan

This might qualify as the first "whale" that has been reviewed on this site. Hopslam is only released once a year and in limited supply. Supposedly, only 600 cases of this made it to Virgina. Of those cases, most had been sold in the course of a week. There are plenty of beer geeks out there with the release date for this beer marked on their calendar. I was treated to some at Ashburn Wine after which I was told that they had some in stock but it was sold by request only and with a two bottle limit. Without hesitation, I bought my two bottles and proceeded to fantasize to when I could sit down and savor this brew some more.

I broke out the tulip for this one. It poured a bright orange color. Big white fluffy head lingers a long time. The clarity of this was perfect as well. An impressive sight to behold for sure.

BIG aroma. Plenty of piney, earthy resin notes up front. Behind that lays a combination of sweet, honey malts and citrus grapefruit. I'd be content with smelling this all night long. My head started to get dizzy from inhaling this after a while.

The taste was absolutely divine! Like the aroma, a pine-tree resin is present up front. The honey shows up second which not only provides a wonderful sweetness, but also provides an incredibly rich mouthfeel. More grapefruit hop flavors show up which give way to a dry bitterness. The only presence that the 10% ABV makes is a pleasant warming sensation at the end. All the flavors of the alcohol are concealed with the hefty malts and hops.

Mouthfeel is rich and thick, bordering on syrupy. Lower levels of carbonation make this a delight to savor a long time. Like the 90 Minute IPA, this ale is beautifully balanced. Plenty of malts serve to check the generous hoping. I'll admit that this replaces the 90 Minute as my favorite beer for now. Its a shame that this only comes out once a year. I have my calendar marked for future releases already. A+

Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA

Brewer: Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
Style: Imperial IPA
ABV: 9%
Country: USA, Delaware

Ah Dogfish Head, how I love thee! This had been in my fridge calling my name for so long, I could no longer resist. The 90 minutes in the name comes from the 90 minute long, hop boiling process. The longer hops are boiled, the more of the hop's alpha acids are isomerized. In layman's terms, more boil == more bitter. This beer is also dry-hopped which imparts less bitterness and more hop aroma.

Typically, this brew is meant to be enjoyed from a snifter or tulip, but seeing as I lack either (Christmas is coming), I turned to my pint glass. This poured a bright, golden amber color that was crystal clear. A big, white, foamy head lingered a long time before giving way to plenty of lace and lots of ringing going down the glass. Certainly a beautiful beer to behold.

The aroma is incredible. Plenty of hops are present and the smell runs the gamut from fruits to citrus. Plenty of peaches, nectarines, pineapple, and grapefruit are present. I'd be content with simply sniffing this all day long.

The big aroma leads to an even bigger taste. A sweet and smooth malt backbone carries a large load of hops with it. Plenty of the fruit I smelled makes an appearance in the initial tasting. Lots of citrus present. Mouth feel is great. The warm, medium body is creamy and smooth, not overpowered with excessive carbonation. The 9% ABV shows up as this began to go down. A warm spiciness imparted by the alcohol does a good job of balancing out the initial hop explosion. It then serves as a prelude to the smooth, bitter aftertaste that lingers, but not too long. The key to this beer is its amazing balance. The malts, hops, alcohol, and bitterness all complement each other perfectly with no single character overpowering the other. This is, simply put, my favorite beer. Amazing. A+

Ruination IPA

Brewer: Stone Brewing Company
Style: Imperial IPA
ABV: 7.7%
Country: USA, California

Stone brewing company is known for their bold and powerful beers. Not for the faint of heart for sure. The Ruination IPA proudly proclaims itself to be "A liquid poem to the glory of the hop." In that sense this brew certainly does not disappoint. This beer is listed at 100+ I.B.U.s (International Bitterness Units, yes thats real) which puts it past the theoretical limit of the unit. If you don't like hops, prepare to be knocked on your ass.

It pours out a cloudy gold which leaves a thin head which vanishes rapidly. Looking in the glass, I could literally see tiny bits of bitterness floating around. A sweet aroma gave a hint of honey and grapefruit.

The first sip yielded a nice, medium body with a touch of sweet malts and grapefruit. This was nothing more but a tease before the beer bent my mouth over and had its way with me. A big wave of piny, bitter hops exploded and stuck around. The dry and bitter aftertaste lingers and lingers and lingers. Did I mention that this stuff was bitter.

My wife tried a sip and said that it was so bitter it made her dizzy. This is serious business. Don't plan on drinking any other beers after this one if you expect to taste something other than bitter hops.

This backs a punch and is a great beer: a solid A

Photos by: http://marleyphoto.oliad.com/

Burton Baton

Brewer: Dogfish Head Brewery
Style: Imperial IPA
ABV: 10%
Country: USA, Delaware

Looks like this will be the first (of many) Dogfish Head beers consumed for blogging purposes. I'm a big fan of plenty of the brews they put out as well as their willingness to try different things. I hope their new show on Discovery Channel brings them some recognition and popularity.

The Burton Baton claims to be "a two-thread blend of young & wood-aged Imperial i.p.a" I'm a fan of big IPAs and Dogfish can pull off some incredible IPAs, my favorite being the 90 Minute IPA.

I poured this into my loyal pint glass. The color was a bright and coppery amber. Very clear. A one finger head finished with a thin lace. This essentially looked like a glass of whiskey with a head on it.

The aroma, starts big and hoppy with plenty of citrus, mostly oranges and pineapples. Alcohol is certainly powerful and finishes things out. As I worked my way down the glass the scent of alcohol increased and dominated.

It had a big hop taste with plenty of bitterness. Sweet honey malts and pineapple hops, though, are quickly overpowered by the bitterness and the strong taste of alcohol. Oak wood flavors show up along with the alcohol continuing to reminded me of a glass of Jack Daniels. The aftertaste is long and warm. The Burton doesn't make any attempts to hide the large amount of alcohol within.

The idea of an IPA whiskey hybrid is certainly interesting but overall the wood and alcohol flavors are too overpowering. I prefer my IPAs to do a better job of concealing the alcohol though and in the end this was a bit too much. I wanted to like this one but I can't see myself trying this again.

Grade: C+

Photos by: http://marleyphoto.oliad.com/