Double IPA Smackdown Part 2!

After my last post on Double IPAs I have noticed a bunch more that seem to have either slipped through my first netting, or have come out more recently.  I figured that this would be a good time to burn through several of them before the hop character fades, so here goes! 

The Illinois:  This is a newer double IPA from one of my old favorites Goose Island.  I'll admit I have been a little twitchy about the brand since it was bought out by AB-Inbev, but they continue to put out good quality beers.  I've posted about the brewpub and my personal history with that in the past.  This one clocks in at 9% ABV and 95 IBU.  I bought this fresh at The Four Firkins and served it in a Goose Island pint glass.
Aroma:  Sweet malt with a hint of grain.  Fruity with a combination of navel orange and lemon atop a light caramel.  A slight grassy aroma as it warms.
Appearance:  Deep gold to almost copper, this is a darker version than typical.  Fine white head that fades quickly.  Excellent clarity that may indicate filtering.
Flavor:  There is a pretty up front alcohol flavor and hotness to this beer, melded with a sweet maltiness.  The sweet fades quickly to a rather rough vegetal bitterness.  As it warms I get more orange and grapefruit flavors and perhaps some English bready malt character.
Mouthfeel:  Medium bodied.  A very noticeable alcohol warming that borders on uncomfortable.  Ends with an astringent finish.
Overall:  This one is not terrible, but it fits in the category of IPA that I'm not a big fan of.  Some folks love the vegetative mouth-puckering astringency in their IPAs, but I'm not one of them.  I like mine more smooth and balanced with hop flavor rather than crazy bitterness.  This is balanced much more to the bitter and the booziness accentuates that astringent finish to a slow burn.  I gave this a 3 at first but upped it to a 3.5 after it warmed up a bit.  I'll stick with Bourbon County Stout if I can find it!

Gubna:  In the last few months Minnesota has finally received Oscar Blues beers.  This was one of the first craft breweries to can their beer and have been putting out very tasty beers that we have not been able to get out hands on for years now.  I have been to the original brewpub in Colorado several years back and had a great experience there.  They have built a second brewery in Brevard, North Carolina recently and this is likely the reason we can get the beers in our market now.  Gubna is their Rye Double IPA, coming in at 10% ABV and over 100 calculated IBUs.  I've never tried this one before so I was happy to give it a shot!  This was poured from the can into the Dogfish Head IPA glass.
Aroma:  A strong citrus hop kick initially.  Lemon and orange rind backed by some sweet malt.  I think I can pick out Cascade hop character, but also some catty notes.  Not incredibly complex but pleasant.
Appearance:  Light golden color with no appreciable haze.  A very large white head with tight fine bubbles.  Head is very persistent.
Flavor:  Sweet with a papaya or pineapple flavor and zing to it.  Finishes with a pine and lemon flavor profile.  There is some sweet maltiness but the finish is dry.  Balance to the bitter side, but is not astringent.  Alcohol warming is present but not distracting.
Overall:  Not the most complex double IPA I've ever had, but well balanced and easy to drink for its high ABV.  The rye is subtle, and interestingly the can doesn't mention it at all, so I didn't know it was supposed to be in there when I wrote this up.  What I took as a tropical fruit zing may be the rye spiciness on the tongue.  A 4 out of 5.

Victory DirtWolf:  This is one that I've heard great things about from my hop-head friends but haven't tried before this.  I'll admit Victory has been a bit off my radar before this and I haven't had one of their beers in a couple of years, so this was a good time to try them again.
Aroma:  Crazy orange, mango that reminds me of Citra hops but with the classic cat-urine aroma of Simcoe.  Some light spice and sugar sweetness as well.
Appearance: Golden color with a slight haze to it.   A fine white head is present and fades slowly.
Flavor:  A somewhat tart orange-juice like character up front.  Some malt is present, but hidden by strong orange peel and lemon flavors.  There is a long dry borderline astringent finish to this beer.  The balance is very bitter.  Not a lot of alcohol warming in this one compared to some.
Overall: There is a lot of orange in this one!  More bitter than expected from the sweeter aroma and rode the line on astringency for me.  A very powerful and flavorful brew from Victory.  4 of 5.

Lucid Duo:  9% ABV and 75 IBU per the website.  I had a pint of this at the recent Lucid hosted AHA rally.  I'll be the first one to admit that I didn't take good notes on this one since I was socializing and having a great time, but thought I would still give my impressions here for completeness. 
Aroma: Powerful citrus and some tropical fruit aroma wafting off of this.  I could actually smell it before it was handed to me!  Some sweetness from malt present as well (once I got it closer to my nose.)
Appearance: Deep gold to nearly orange in color with excellent clarity.  Head was off white, and faded fairly fast.
Flavor:  As expected from the aroma, I got strong citrus (orange and a hint of lemon) in the initial flavor.  I got a fair amount of sweet after the hop punch.  As with many of the Lucid beers I found the finish to be somewhat astringent and difficult to get over. 
Overall: A good double IPA but not one of my favorites.  The astringent end ruins it for me, but this is still a strong beer from Lucid.  I'd like to try it again under more controlled circumstances and see if my thoughts vary.  3.75 of 5.   Yes I can give quarter stars in my own blog!

Alaskan Hopothermia:  This is 8.5% ABV and 70 IBU per the website.  Nugget and Apollo bittering hops as well as Amarillo, Citra, Centennial for Aroma.  I had never had this beer before and was happy to find it as a single at The Four Firkins.

Aroma: Starts with a candy-like sweetness, fading to a orange and lemon zip.  Some grain character and a hint of alcohol.
Appearance: Clear copper color.  A huge off-white head that is very persistent and pillowy. 
Flavor: There is a punch of citrus (orange rind and a bit of lemon) at first.  I get sweetness and tropical fruit in the middle, not sure if that is citra hop or esters.  The last 2/3 of the taste has an almost salty or burtonized flavor I associate with bitters and English IPA.  The hop finish on the beer is bordering on astringent and the beer ends pretty dry.  I pick up a bit of alcohol on this one as well.
Overall: This was pretty good, with more English character than expected.  I wonder if they used an English yeast strain on this.  The astringent finish hurt this for me a bit.  3.5 of 5.

Reminding me of a great Coverdale-Page song...Or maybe Steve Miller

 

Odell Tree Shaker:  This one is a fruit beer so really is like comparing...well apples and oranges?  I thought I would include it here simply for variety!  I can only describe citrus hops so many ways after all.  It is a high 10% ABV beer brewed with 3000 pounds of Colorado peaches.  I tried this for the first time at an Odell beer dinner at Butcher and the Boar a few years back and stands out as the first IPA that my wife actually drank a whole glass of. 

 

Aroma is zingy and full of citrus and sweet malt.  As it warms up I get more peach or apricot aroma that stands out.

 

Appearance is very clear golden color with a huge thick white head.

 

 

Flavor is very sweet and sugary up front.  Fades to a tropical fruit (mango) and peach finish.  There is a hint of astringency in the finish but still borders on too sweet at the end.  This year's batch seems sweeter than I remember, but may be why Sj will drink it. 

 

Overall not bad, and a very interesting take on a fruit beer.  I'm always excited to try anything other than a wheat fruit beer!  Peach is a pretty subtle flavor and I think they pulled it off in this beer.  I can't drink too much of this due to the sweetness.  4/5

 

Loki is attracted to the catbox aroma of double IPA!

 

 

Toppling Goliath Sosus:  This one came into my greedy hands via Keith Brady, fresh from Iowa!  This is an Double IPA brewed entirely with Mosaic hops.  I'll admit I haven't actually been a big fan of this hop in the past and this one was the test to end all tests for if that held true.

 

Aroma of lemon, orange peel, pineapple.  Sweet marmalade.  Appearance is light gold with a fine white head.  The flavor rather bitter up front rather than the sweet I was expecting from the aroma.  There is a distinct sharp hop clash and bitterness right away in the taste.  Fruit flavors of papaya, unripe mango and tart berries as the hop bitterness fades a bit.  A hint of sweetness but this beer is dry and bitter, bordering on astringent.

 

Overall I did like the beer but something about the balance on it didn't hit me right.  I would have liked that fruitiness up front more and less astringency.  I'm still not completely sold on Mosaic but this is certainly the best beer I've tried so far that features that hop.  3.75 of 5.  Thanks Keith!

 

 

 

Great Lakes Lake Erie Monster:  This is a 9.1% ABV monster, brewed by Great Lakes in Cleveland, Ohio.  I tried this once on tap at an Old Chicago and remember liking it.

 

Aroma is sweet with honey and floral notes.  Some kumquat and a hint of sulfur as swirled.

Appearance is golden in color with a sparkling clarity.  Large white head that is persistent. 

Flavor mimics the aroma closely.  Sweet malt and honey flavors abound in the first sip.  The beer has a lager-like crispness and is borderline biting on the finish.  Orange rind to almost pithy astringent flavor present that is not entirely unlikeable.  Sulfur lager fermentation character is a bit distracting and accentuates the astringent finish.

Overall this is a decent beer.  I suspect that Great Lakes has fermented this with a lager yeast (they use that for most of their beers, even the IPA) and this puts this beer outside the style guidelines for an Imperial IPA.  3.5 for this one.

 

The cake is a lie...

 

 

Clown Shoes Space Cake:  This one is 9% ABV.  I have had some mixed feelings on Clown Shoes beers--some are very good, others are unbalanced.  Seeing this new beer with its over-the-top label art, I figured it would make a good end to this round of Double IPA Smackdown.

 

Aroma: Very sweet sugar and malt.  A medium level citrus aroma as it warms, but not as much as expected. 

 

Appearance: Slightly hazy.  A gold to almost copper color.  Head is fine and off-white.

 

Flavor: Very sweet up in front, with loads of malt!  A stronger orange pulp flavor in the middle, but doesn't seem very tart due to the sweet background.  The end is still pretty sweet, but not quite cloying.  Mouthfeel is medium. 

 

Overall:  A very sweet version of DIPA.  It borders on too sweet, but still drinkable.  I did end up drinking the whole bottle over a couple of hours.  3.75

 

 

 

So this round of DIPA Smackdown has come to its bitter end.  The winner of this round is:  Surly Abrasive!  Ok, I did drink my last can and it was fading a bit, but still better than all of these beers.  If you want me to be official, though, I would say that the best of these was probably the Victory DirtWolf.  I've already got a few more in my fridge and will probably have to do a third round of Smackdown.  What do you--my readers--think of this ranking?  Do you have some more favorites that I need to try?

Double IPA Smackdown!

In the midst of deepest darkest winter we huddle for warmth before our fireplaces and heat vents, gloomily looking forward to more ice and snow to come.  Hibernating in our ice-bound homes like bears awaiting the spring thaw and time to frolic, we wait.  And to kill the pain of isolation and bring a hint of citrus and summer to our palates we find ourselves in the season of Double IPA. 

I decided to write up this entry after realizing that I had come into a plethora of DIPAs.  A friend had brought me a Firestone Walker Double Jack from California; I had stocked up on Surly Abrasive; I won a collection of them at a silent auction for Kathy Stock; and then stumbled across Bell's Hopslam on tap.  "Wow!" thought I,  "This calls for a quick n' dirty smackdown between the big guns of the DIPA world!"  And here it comes.  Keep in mind that IPA has been around for over a hundred years, but double IPA is a very recent thing.  Some credit Vinnie Cilurzo (currently of Russian River) with brewing the first commercial DIPA.  Regular American IPA has an ABV of 5.5-7.5% and a hopping IBU from 40-70, while DIPA ranges between 7.5-10% ABV and IBU from 60-120.  This "because we can" style of beer has really caught on in the past few years and many breweries are coming out with unique and usually well-sought-after offerings. 

I'm a big fan of IPA, but once I discovered this jacked-up style I really fell in love with the hop.  I am drawn to the balance between the higher alcohol and the crazy hop flavors and aroma in the DIPA style.  Some are better balanced than others.  My personal taste is toward the fruitier examples and less toward the astringent puckering ones, so this smack-down will probably make some people angry with me.  I would love to try all of these together rather than over a few days, but nearly 10% alcohol beers aren't very conducive to that type of experiment.  Or, rather, my liver can't take more than one or two in a day!  The difference between bottle, can and tap could have effect on judging.  There also may be some variability based on age, but I tried to get examples that were as fresh as possible.  So now that I have explained all the ways in which my "very scientific" test could be inaccurate--I'm going to tell you why I'm correct!  And as I wrote this up I discovered that there are only so many ways of describing citrus hops, so bear with me.

1) Pliny The Elder:  Brewed by Vinnie Cilurzo from Russian River, this is the quintessential version of the style and a direct descendant of the very first version of the style.  Named after the man who first wrote about hops in the first century AD, this was first brewed in the year 2000.  Clocking in at 8% ABV, this is on the lower side of the current style but was pretty extreme when it first released. The beer is eagerly snatched up by fans and rarely has the problem with sitting on a shelf getting old.  We can't get this in Minnesota, but I managed to snag a fresh bottle from a silent auction at the Upper Mississippi Mash Out.  The hops used are Amarillo, Centenial, CTZ, and Simcoe. 

My impressions of this beer were all good.  I found this to be very dry, but not overly astringent.  The hop aroma was strong and citrusy, with a light malt note to back that up.  The flavor really matched the aroma well with no huge surprises.  The dry finish and lack of alcohol warming makes this beer deceptively smooth and easy to drink, perhaps the most dangerous of the ones I tried.  Folks not prepared for this alcohol content could put down a few of these before realizing just how strong they are!  I have tried the bigger brawnier brother (Pliny the Younger) and that one takes it to the next level--more in line with a lot of the recent additions to the pantheon.  (And contrary to popular belief that does not at all resemble a Mickeys Malt Liquor.)  I give it a 5 of 5 for perfect drinkability and balance.

2) Bell's  Hopslam:  This is one of Bell's big guns, arriving in the winter and leaving shelves in minutes of arriving at the stores.  The brand's hoppiest beer, it clocks in at 10% ABV and includes 6 different hops with a large dry hop addition of Simcoe.  I first tried this beer a few years ago and loved it, then the following year was disappointed and stopped seeking it out.  As with any big beer, there is some variability from batch to batch and this one has seen some changes over the years.  I was busy at the Mash Out when this arrived in stores and missed my chance to pick some bottles up.  Happily, I discovered it on tap at School of the Wise in Victoria (just across the street from Enki Brewing).  I managed to get back there three days running for another sample--just to make sure I wasn't missing anything for this write-up of course! 

Served in a Sam Adams special pint glass.  The aroma on this is wonderful with a bright mandarin orange, sweetness and orange blossom honey.  Deep gold color with large white persistent head.  Flavor is slightly sweet up front that fades to a bitter hop-flavored middle and off-dry finish that borders of astringent.  Some orange sweetness and hint of honey with a light grainy character as well.  Some alcohol warming.  Overall this year's is very well balanced and easy to drink, way better than I remember it.  Not just the hype apparently!  5/5.

3) Drake's Denogginizer:  Debut was in 2004 and apparently a blown pressure relief valve nearly decapitated one of their brewers during the process!  ABV is 9.7% and uses Summit and Cascade hops.  This brewery was an early addition to craft beer scene in California, starting in 1989.  They won a Silver medal at GABF for this beer in 2009.  This is the first beer of theirs that I have ever tried.  Served from a bomber bottle into the Dogfish Head Riedel IPA glass.

Aroma: A slight metallic tang to the aroma.  A strong hop aroma that is a mix of cat-box, vegetal greenery and citrus.
Flavor: Sweet malt with some caramel and bread up front, but quickly overtaken by a firm bitterness.  As it warms I get a nice citrus marmalade flavor and alcohol becomes apparent.  Slightly astringent finish but enough booze and malt to balance it.  I got more harsh alcohol and burn as I have more of it, and decided I couldn't have more than one glassful of it.  I'm going to split this into a 3.75 out of 5.

4) Stone Enjoy By IPA:  This is the newest in the series by Stone that up front tells everyone that you have to drink it fresh and they will literally pull it from shelves when it gets past that date on the label.  A bold move that has made many more people pay attention to freshness in their IPA's.  This one is Enjoy By 02/14/14 and clocks in at 9.4% ABV.  Not much info about the hops on this one.  The website is fun as it has up to date shipment info for the batch and a count-down timer for when the beer will suddenly suck and no longer be drinkable!

Aroma: Citrus and slight vegetal hop matter.  Light tropical fruit, bright and zingy.  Some sweetness and almost a buckwheat honey character.
Appearance: Deep gold to almost copper color.  Huge white head with tight bubbles.  Brilliant.
Flavor: Slightly sweet at first but not much, fading quickly to a dry middle and finish.  Borderline astringent end, but manages to stay drinkable.  Some light caramel malt notes, but not actually sweet.  I do get a orange pith flavor and strong bitterness.  Some muscat grape as it warms.
Overall: Very drinkable due to dryness but lacks a certain balance that I have found in my top examples.  4/5 final score.

5) Deschutes Hop Henge:  This is a yearly experimental beer that started life at the Deschutes Bond Street Brewpub (which is an awesome place to visit by the way!)  Every year's version is different and this one includes Cascade, Centennial, Millennium, and an experimental hop variety. 

I get citrus and sweet clover honey in the aroma.  Bright golden color with a huge white head.  Flavor is sweet malt and graininess with a strong orange rind or zest tartness.  Finish is a bit astringent and very drying.  That orange zest really lingers.  4/5, still very nice.

6) Hanger 24 Double IPA:  This is a beer from a brewery I had never even heard of before, but I won a bottle the Mash Out and figured I'd try it in good company with all the other DIPAs.  The brewery is located in Redlands, California and seems to have a pretty good local following.  This beer uses Centennial, Citra, Columbus and Simcoe hops as well as local orange blossom honey.

Aroma is light and filled with citrus and honey sweetness.  Color is gold and quite clear with a white pillowy head and fine bubbles.  Flavors are reminiscent of grapefruit and fresh oranges.  This is off-sweet with a very dry to somewhat astringent finish.  Some alcohol warming here, but not extreme.  As opposed to the Drake's beer, I actually liked this one more as it warmed up...the astringency faded a bit and more orange and honey flavors made their way into the finish.   At first sip a 3.5 but rises to  3.75/5.

7) Surly Abrasive:  Formerly known as 16 Grit (strangely not an inviting title) after the abrasive factory that Surly took over.   This beer has a changed a few times since its initial release in 2008, and was the first Minnesota DIPA in cans.  Addition of oats help a bit with mouthfeel on this one, and for the last few years Citra has been the dominant hop in the beer.  I love me some Citra, and this was the first place I was exposed to that hop.

I actually had a few cans of this at home and the first one I tried was a bit older, resulting in a loss of hop flavor and some significant amount of yeast chunks when I poured it into the glass.  I tried another the following day and my results were better.  I suffer through this all for you, my readers. 

The aroma on this is all grapefruit, orange and hint of pineapple with some sweet malt to back it up.  It has a sharp citrus that I have not noted on the previous beers, that is sometimes pleasant and other times distracting.  Appearance is deep gold with a large white head and some haze with a couple of yeast floaties (yes I poured it carefully!)  Flavor is bursting with a hard grapefruit taste followed by a mix of orange and papaya.  Very fruity beer!  The end is slightly astringent and I can certainly pick up a bit of alcohol warming in it.  Medium body but a dry finish that lingers.  I just want to keep drinking this one, and after all 16 oz are gone this is one of the few that I wish was in a bomber bottle!  I give this a 5.

8) The Alchemist Heady Topper:  This beer is from a small brewery in Vermont, with a nearly cult-like status, and such minimal distribution that it is nearly mythical around Minnesota.  I had this once last summer from my friend Jason, and I've been itching to try it back to back with some of my other favorites.  The other day another friend handed me one of these treasured beers to enjoy--thanks mate!  Reading over the website, they mention that this American Double IPA is hopped with a proprietary blend of 6 different hops.  The writing on the can goes into great detail about you should drink this from the can to maintain all the hop flavors, which goes contrary to popular belief on how aroma, especially, works with beer.  I tried to follow directions and sip it out of the can, but was unimpressed with the lack of aroma and promptly poured it gently into the new Dogfish Head (East Coast Yo!) IPA glass.

Aroma is rife with toffee, orange, mango and passionfruit...almost reminds me of a dreamsicle, but less "fake".  Appearance is iffy, perhaps this is why they want you to drink out of the can?  This is murky as anything and looks like low-pulp orange juice, with the same bright orange color.  Large off-white head with larger sized bubbles.  Flavor is complex and very fruity: like a clementine orange, a mango, and a grapefruit all ended up at a 1970's key party and this was their unholy offspring.  But in a good way!  Plenty of hop bitterness to balance the malt, but on the sweeter side compared to some of the examples I've tried.  Off-dry finish with a lingering tropical fruit flavor.  Very well balanced.  I do get a hint of metallic or vegetal twang as it warms--likely due to the huge amounts of hop material in this beer.  Despite its less-than-savory appearance, I give it a solid 5.

And In The End...

What did I learn from trying all these hop-bomb beers in the middle of arctic winter?  I learned that this style across the board really appeals to my palate.  I have to keep in mind that many of the beers I tasted were the very cream of their category, but even the "non-contenders" all were fun to try and drink.  While winter begs for an Imperial Stout in front of the fire, I think that the bright and fruity flavors as well as alcohol strength in the DIPA's brings me a brief hint of summer and goes better with most dinners!  What was my overall favorite?  I actually agonized over this one a bit.  Abrasive just punched me in the nose and mouth with hops, living up to its name.  Hopslam really brought the honey aroma and an epic dry finish.  Pliny was easily the easiest to drink and the most well balanced of all of them.  And then the late-comer Heady Topper blasted me with the fruit character that I long for in this style. 

And the winner is:    Pliny!  It really came down to this or Abrasive in the end, but this year's Abrasive was a little more sharp than last year's batch to me.  The Pliny is just to well balanced that you can drink it all day--and maybe regret it!  I'd drink either of them any chance I could get.  Now get out there and try some yourself!  Post some comments to tell us what you think and what your favorites are.  I've already had several friends tell me that this year's Hopslam is not as good as last...