Anderson Valley 20th Anniversary Imperial IPA

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

Bottle Pours a cloudy golden with a creamy off white head. The head lasts well. Makes for spotty lacing. Aroma is good citrus, sweetness, some pine and figs. Has a good carbonation. The flavor is good. Subtle hoppiness with a good sweet blend. Enough bitterness to make this work. Well mixed and very tasty. Has a medium body. The texture is oily. Has a real nice finish with a great aftertaste. This is a really tasty brew. Just plain good.

Anderson Valley Brewing Company--20th Anniversary Imperial IPA--India Pale Ale--2008 Release--22 oz. Bottle--8.70% ABV--100+IBU’s? (4.95 / 5.0) IPA--Imperial--Mild lacy head. Clear thin bright dark gold color. Huge floral Cascade Hop front. Cloying sweet crisp rich creamy caramel butterscotch body. Balanced rich Hop spice mild citrus clean smooth end. Almost Perfect! Sampled 3/17/2008. $7.99 Each.

The pour is a cloudy amber with sediment galore floating around. The aromas is big malt and the flavors are big, sweet malt with some fruitiness and some fruity hops. However, this is an average Imperial IPA. A tasty beer, but certainly not in the upper echelon of the better Imperials. Sort of a disappointment.

In the bomber bottle from Gravity in Olympia. Pours orange with a thick off-white head. Intense aroma of citrus and piney hops. A syrupy rich IPA that produces orange flavors blended with chocolate. delicious.

This is a middle-ground Imperial IPA in my book. And I am not saying that in a mean way. This is a solid hoppy offering with a little more punch than their Hop-Ottin. Like most AVBC offerings it is very balanced.

Pours a golden light amber. Light fluffy head. some lacing on the glass. some hop aroma, citrus. Pretty good taste, moderate body, a little light? Good hops, tho not quite as bitter as expected. Fairly crisp tho. Fairly drinkable tho. OK offering.

Bottle:   Fiery amber, heavy with floaties, good carbonation, moderate sized head, white and frothy, nice lacing.   Aside from the floating sediment, it looks great!   Standard hop resin on the nose.   Straight forward, other than perhaps a touch of citrus peel.   A little hot on the tongue.   Certainly hoppy, some resin like astringency, enough to make it known it is a bigger beer but not enough to really detract.   Good as is, certainly a little green.   I bet 6 months would do this beer real good.   Decent malt base, but could stand to be a touch maltier to balance the hop side of things.   This will appeal to most hop heads tho, and it should.   Body and mouthfeel are moderate to full.   Had it been maltier... you get the idea.   A little fusel alcohol on the finish.   I think with time that would mellow.   Certainly a tasty beer, better than most others, and one that I wouldn’t mind aging for a little bit.

22 oz. bottle from The Party Source. Pours a cloudy orange color with lots of visible sediments and a thick off-white head. Aroma of grassy hops, earthy notes, alcohol, pine, and citrus. Flavor of caramel malts, grassy hops, citrus, yeast, spices, and earthy notes. Earthy is probably the one adjective I’d use for this above all others. The alcohol is not well masked but isn’t overwhelming. Medium bodied, and not as bitter as I expected after smelling it. Pretty solid, but not as special as a 20th anniversary brew could be.