Alchemist The Crusher

Brewed by The Alchemist
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Waterbury, Vermont USA

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

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UPDATED: JUL 27, 2009 In short: A intense but highly drinkable IIPA with a bit of everything.
How: Tap at brewpub. Summer 2009 batch (HUGE improvement over the first batch of summer 2008)
The look: Clear light orange body topped by a small white head
In long: Highly aromatic hoppy nose with a bit of everything from citrus fruits, grapefruits, pine-tree cones and all. Body has plenty of pale malts with dry bread and social-tea cookies. Far from rich and round caramel yet I found this mostly neutral malt backbone totally appropriate to let the hops avalanche express itself. Hopping is bold and aggressive. Same elements as in the aroma (citrus fruits, grapefruits, pine-tree cones and all). A nice dryness sensation. Strong bitterness. A huge improvement over the sugary brew with unexpressive hopping that was the first batch. This is a beer for those who like bold in-your-face hoppy brews, this is The Crusher, not The Polisher.

On tap at Alchemist.
Appearance : Clear pale amber with a small head.
Aroma : Nice leafy and fruity hops. Nice white sugar. Nice malt too.
Taste : Lots of malt with leafy hops. Nice white sugar.
Overall : Quite straight forward but VERY good. Not so hoppy for a DIPA but I like that. It leaves room for the malt to shine. Very drinkable and very clean. Nice malty-sweet finish. Nice notes of white sugar mixed with the fruity and floral hops.

On tap at the brewpub. Poured a hazy yellowish gold with a white head that dissipated slowly to the edges and laced nicely. Aroma was full of a combination of pine and citrus with a backing sweet grain/cookie note. Flavor began with pine, which was joined by a lighter citrus note (oranges) and had a sweet grain backbone. The pine was intense throughout.

En fût. Verre de 12 oz dégustée directement à la brasserie. Arôme: Très forte odeur d’houblon résineux et d’agrumes. Apparence: La couleur est blonde voilée. Présence d’un mince col mousseux et d’une fine dentelle sur le verre. Saveur: Goût de pins et de pamplemousse avec une pointe de caramel. Durée moyenne de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est moyen avec une texture légèrement huileuse. Moyenne effervescence en bouche. Amertume d’houblons en arrière goût. (Rating #2536)

Taster at the Vermont Brewer’s Festival 2009. Pale golden with a thin white head. The aroma is gorgeous. Bright zesty, citrusy hop aromatics. Pineapple, mango and a fresh resinousness over a lovely sweet crackery maltiness. Lots of orange peel as well. Creamy and hoppy and eminently drinkable. Excellent stuff.

My Bottom Line:
This soul-lifting Double IPA’s fluffy mouthfeel is the perfect propeller for green hop resins and their angelic citrusy fruitiness, a perfume and flavor profile supported by biscuity pale malts and tickled by alcohol.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A sheet of foam decorates the hazy straw yellow, lacing admirably.
-This 2009 batch obviously did not yield the same results as what my Montreal friends had last year. Too sweet and not aromatic enough? This was pretty much the opposite.
-The aroma on this one is pure hop heaven. Citrusy, sandy, resinous, grassy, alleluia!
-The resinous bitterness is strong, but levelled with the aroma and flavor profile.

On tap at the brewpub.

Pours a cloudy dark gold color with a medium offwhite head. Strong aroma of piney hops and caramel malt. Solid flavor of almost aggressive piney hops, there’s a decent malt back-bone in there along some sweetness and alcohol, there’s moderate bitterness in the end. The body is light to medium with a liquorous texture and gentle carbonation. I liked this quite a lot.

Sampled at brewpub. Pours a light golden/copper color with a white head. Aroma of citrus, pine and some notes of grapefruit. Flavor is light malts, pine, grapefruit and a hint of caramel with a strong bitter finish.

Draft at the brewpub - Poured a orangish amber in color with a medium foamy head that faded to a small rim around the top of the beer. Aroma is strong of grapefruit/citrus hops and little else. Flavor is dominant with grapefruit and piney resinous hops. This is, perhaps, the hoppiest beer that John has produced... a true hop explosion. Really good, but the lack of a malt understructure detracts from the excellence here. Could use some additional aging... might mellow the hop "bite"... I *really* like this beer!

Objectively speaking: Rather alcoholic, gritty and rough IPA.
I like: Very hoppy indeed, but not as aromatic as other Alchemist IPAs.
I dislike: Strong bitterness is accompanied by a certain yeastiness that makes it less bright than I’d hoped. Soapy edges. Rather timid malt character.