Dogfish Head Brewing Co.Grade: B-
Appearance: Pours a golden yellow with a deep orange tint at the bottom half of the glass. The weak white head reduces to respectable lacing.
Smell: Sweet caramel malts and fruit citrus. Zesty hops are there, but take a backseat to the big alcohol aroma and sticky sugars. Not very complex.
Taste: Booze, booze and more booze. At 18% ABV (No, that is not a typo. This IPA is 18% ABV!), I am not surprised. A lot of caramel sweetness and subtle hop bitterness. This thing is really sweet and boozy. Some floral notes show up at the finish, along with strong alcohol warmth. Damn, this brew is sweet!
Mouthfeel: Like a liquor, it is thick and full, almost like a very thin syrup. The carbonation is moderate, but lets the thick body take center stage.
Drinkability: Very low. Besides the monstrous ABV, this brew is too sweet and boozy to have more than one. It leaves the mouth extremely sweetened and sticky.
Overall: This beer has been on my wish list for over a year now and is almost what I expected. I expected a sweetness from the high amount of malt and sugars to build the 18% ABV, but the hops are not as pronounced as it should be for an Imperial IPA. Luckily, I bought two bottles, with the other one going into my beer celler to age for a while. It definitely needs some aging.
No comments:
Post a Comment