Hello there, been awhile and I probably am behind a review or two. Oh well.....not like I'm getting paid for this. I've been drinking plenty of beers (often new ones), but very few of them have been at home, and as per my previous "beer-gasm" post, I have a hard time going 100% beer nerd when drinking in public. At least not to the point where I can take notes and what not to the point where I can write a proper review. So, here goes....again.
I've never been a huge IPA guy, not in that I'm anti-hops, but just anti beer being overhopped...which happens quite often nowadays. That's not to say I don't like the good ones, and seeing as how Founder's makes quite a few good "big" beers, I decided to give this one a try. I got it at Friar Tucks at Highway K and 40 in O'fallon, and it wasn't freaky-deaky expensive, at 8.99 for a 4 pack. Certainly not cheap, but in terms of Double-IPAs...nothing to freak out over.
12 oz. squatty botottle poured into a La Chouffe tulip. I figured something with a ton of hops in it could use something to help with the aroma. Bottle says 9.4% ABV as well as 86 IBUs (definition), and as with many Founders brews, it has a pretty snazzy label.
Pours a real pretty, hazy amber-orange. Aggressive pour gives it some decent head (that's what she said) but it goes down to a soap ring awfully quickly. As foam goes down it leaves some really nice sticky lacing, as well. The nose on this thing is brilliant. Big juicy grapefruit...not just like grapefruit zest but like big hunks of freshly cut fruit, floral notes of pine, sweet malt, spicy alcohol. Not quite as juicy as Bell's Hop Slam, but still great.
Taste.........sharp, bitter, piney. I let the beer sit across the middle of my tongue for a little longer and get a touch more of the malt backbone, but the finish is still just a *touch* harsh. If you let it sit on the tongue for while you can pick of the grapefruit, but the second you swallow it you get walloped with the pine and grass a sharp kick of bitterness that coats the whole tongue. The alcohol finishes and joins the sharp bitterness in the aftertaste. The bitterness is tempere as it warms, and the malt does a better job of coating the tongue. The warmth gets it a bit more booziness and grapefruit character and takes away from it being so bitter. Word to the wise: definitely let this warm up a touch. I mean.....you can drink it cold(er) off the bat, but give it a chance to warm up and you'll see that it certainly softens it quite a bit and makes it exceedingly easier to drink.
Well, I cant' stress it enough, letting this one get about 5 or so degrees warmer turned this from a so-so beer into a "good" beer. It goes from bitter and astringent on your tongue to a bit more soft, malty, sweet, before a more reasonable amount of hop-bitterness takes over. The hops are there, don't get me wrong. 86 IBUs and the amount of hops on here won't ever go away, the warmth just lets the sweetness to otherwise come into play to temper the hops and keep it from being too sharp on the tongue. (have I used the word "sharp" enough?......christ)
All that said, this is certainly a "good" beer, but I'm not sure it gets above that. I enjoyed it, and there is plenty going on to make it interesting to drink. A little warmth makes it easier on the tongue and somewhat more enjoyable. It's not a smooth as it could be, and it still could be a touch less harsh. Now, that could be me not being a big hop-head, or that could be a reasonable issue with the beer....who knows. The alcohol is a bout right, it's not kicking your ass but it certainly is present. Fun to drink, but maybe some bigger IPAs that I'd take/suggest before this one. There still needs to be a little more balance. Still a solid offering from a top-notch brewery.
Verdict you say???: 7/10
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