Valley Brew Uberhoppy Imperial IPA

Brewed by Valley Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Stockton, California USA

Poured from a 22 oz bottle. Hazy amber orange, foam fading to a lazy, lingering beige film. Glowing tropical fruit and dank weed aroma. Strong pale malts. Caramel, sugar cookie, brown sugar dough. Pears. RIchly balanced hop and malt flavors; some floral bitterness dry in front, with a warm earthy pungency of yerba tea and citrus rinds seeming quite thick and syrupy beneath. Really fresh, vibrant and consistently soft. Never a sharp or astingent moment, and an amazingly restrained alcohol presence. Citrus character is recurrent throughout, but lends little dryness, rather seeming thoroughly acidic, quenching, and summery; glowing in the sharp juiciness of tropical pineapple and mandarin orange, moreso than the bitter acidity of grapefruit or the silky texture of mango. Soft, full body showing lots of sticky resinous hops and no residual sugar. Long, bittersweet yerba tea and honey finish; a beautifully rendered, hop forward yet delicately balanced and thoughtful example, right there with the very best. Thanks Dave!

From a bottle shared at the Grand Tasting during RBSG 2008. Mild hops with a very nice malty creaminess to it. I was really bummed to find out this was the only bottle. It was a great treat to try it.

Draft at the brewpub. Nice orange / yellow / like a sunset, no head. Aroma is some tropical hops, citrus and oranges. Flavor is nice sweet malt, citrus hops, earthy bittering hops in the end. Really reminded me of double bastard.

Thanks to Redlight for this awesome brew! Hazy orange light amber color. Insanely hoppy citrus aroma, pungent. The aroma of sex panther "singes the nostrils". Crisp tasty malty body with a huge citrus hop bitterness. Great balance and wonderful display of hops. Excellent.

Tasted at PP bottle shop with weeheavy (who got this great bottle from aspidites), bikesandbeers, deftim13, Tim, and shawn. Nice big hoppy aroma when you pop the top, reminiscent of pure hoppiness. Big 2 finger head forms in the glass of mixed bubbles, mostly microbubbles. Lying underneath is dark amber color, much darker than I normally see in an IIPA. Tasting reveals a heavy malty backbone, possibly loaded with melanoidins, which also darken the beer. YUM! I love the caramelization. Bitterness is mild, especially after a few sips and your tongue is desensitized, then it becomes easy to drink. I think my favorite of the night.

Courtesy boboski. This one poured a deep burnt orange almost copper color with a small white head. The nose is all hops in this one. Huge aroma of grapefruit hops, oranges, and other citrus fruit. The hop intensity is just crazy on this one with a nice mixture of fresh fruit. The flavor is very big as well of grapefruit and oranges along with the piney and floral hops. There is a nice solid malt backbone as well with some caramel sweetness to help balance out all the hops. A really nice balance to this one. This one is medium bodied that goes down smooth with a nice resiny hop taste in the finish. Really well done.

Courtesy boboski. Experimental 12-bottle, non-dry hopped version! Pours a thick, cloudy, dark burnt-orange amber color. A small, foamy, off-white head leaves behind minimal spots of lacing. Immediately, a huge nose of fresh orange and grapefruit hops explode from the glass. The hoppy intensity is cut slightly by notes of cream and citrus chiffon. Surprisingly, the nose is almost completely void of any sort of discernible malts, with its sweetness coming almost exclusively from fresh fruit. The flavor is excellent, though not quite as impressive as the nose. Ultra hoppy, with grapefruit and orange again providing fresh citrus intensity. Caramel and toffee are present this time around, though they play second fiddle. Excellent balance. Medium full bodied and very smooth. Awesome brew!

Pours a clear dark copper/ golden orange color with a one finger off white frothy head that slowly fades into a nice thick ring and foam cap that lingers throughout leaving chunks of soapy lacing in it’s wake. Resinous citrus pine hop aroma with some nice floral notes and sweet caramel malt backbone. Citrus fruit notes of pineapple and grapefruit. Very hop forward with a chewy resinous bitter hop mouthfeel. Slightly creamy body with lots of floral and pine notes accompanied by clean crisp citrus flavors. As in the aroma, there are some nice pineapple and grafefruit notes. Possibly some lemon. Very drinkable with the ABV almost completely masked with only the slightest heat in the cloying dry pine finish. Highly recommended.