Alchemist Heady Topper

Brewed by Alchemist Pub and Brewery
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Waterbury, Vermont USA

Draft, EBF: Clear orange, light white head. Strong orange aroma, woody creamed grapefruit, lots of pineapple. Very intense vegetal hops though the malt backbone is present, if not up to the typical imperial IPA level. Floral and citrusy bitterness. Well made in the style, but too aggressive citric bitterness for nothing to my tastes. Oily medium body, light carbonation. One more, one less… / Re-rate from a pint at the brewpub: Extremely aromatic, zesty orange hops with a nice supporting biscuity maltiness that smoothens the upcoming hops onslaught, bitter yet tactful and sensitive. Better than the 3.3 I had initially gave it.

The Lure:
Gorgeous grapefruit and oranges make the mouth water and the mind not care about the shyness of the malt underneath. Great lacing around an obviously unfiltered authenticity.

The Festivities:
Addictive citrus fruit and hop resin cooperate marvelously in this well-brewed and quite quaffable all-hop affair. Biscuity malts clings to the yeast. Superb hop bitterness follows the multi-faceted hop flavors, and lingers ad vitam eternam. A tad more malt sweetness and complexity would definitely propel it to stardom, but this is already fantastic as is.

Transcendence:
Millions of sunrays uplift the spirit.

XBF05: Clear dark orangy yellow, with a large white rocky head that leaves good lacing. Huge spicy pine, citrus, resin aroma, full bodied with lively carbonation starts and ends heavily bitter with a touch of acidity at the end. An excellent example of an IIPA.

Sampled at Etreme Beer Fest 05, Good nose, citrusy, grapefruit/orange. Maybe a little pineapple. Toffee/carmel. Tad hazy orangy yellow color. Bitter flavors. Grapefruit mainly, little metallic, little plasticy. Lite creamy mouthfeel, thinner bodied, bitter dry finish. Good brew, though I was expecting more by what I’d read about it.

Original Rating (8-3-8-5-17=4.1): Extremely fruity aroma - orange and grapefruit hops nose battles with yeasty esters. Clear, light amber coloured with decent off-white head that lasts nicely. Bitterness is masked by the opening sweet fruitiness but creeps up from the sides of the tongue. Citrus y hop flavours mingle wonderfully with sweet malts and yeasty esters. Alcohol is not at all apparent in the flavour although it is gently warming. Medium body and smooth creamy mouthfeel. A pleasure on the tongue. More please. On tap at the Vermont Brewers Festival.
Rerate (7-4-8-4-14=3.7): Orange, grapefruit-citrus, resinous hop nose. Opaque yellow-tan coloured body is topped with a low, fine bubbled, white head that recedes to a partial cover and rings with lace down the sides of the glass. Very strong hop bitterness and assertive, tart, citrus character - this one is all about the hops although sweet malt character is evidenced underneath. Medium body with moderate carbonation. Sampled on tap at the brewpub with beerbuzzmontreal, MartinT, Rastacouere and Yowie.

On tap at Vermont Brewers Fest. 3 oz sample. Citrus grapefruit aroma with some C-hop notes. Maybe a touch of sourness in there as well. Transparent copper with an off-white head. I like my IIPAs a little darker. Start is slightly sweert leading to hops in the middle and a slight alcohol burn to go with it. Finish is extremely smooth and a pleasant slightly sweet. Very drinkable and somewhat balanced. Enjoyable.

Sampled at the VT brewers fest. I think I smell hops. Cascade, and something a little funky...I can’t quite put my finger on it. Kinda musty. Advertised at 120 IBUs this is not as hoppy as I expected. Average at best because of this funkiness.

Draft - Golden amber in color with almost no carbonation. In spite of the advertised IBUs, it did not have the sharp hops bite or very intense bitterness that I expected. Alcohol not at all apparent. A good, but not great beer.