Alley Kat Dragon Series Green Dragon Double IPA

Brewed by Alley Kat Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Edmonton, Canada

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

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650ml brown bottle. Clear golden pour. Big white head. Nose is lighter than expected, light citrus and some malt, fruit/caramel sweet notes. Taste has some grain, grassy hop notes, citrus, background sweetness. Good bitter streak, long hoppy finish. Very "green" hoppy aftertaste, grassy and herbal. Medium body and average carbonation level. Good, but this hop didn’t really grab me the way I’d hoped.

Much lighter, fresher (and lower ABV) than the previous Dragons. Terrific smell of hops when poured, lighter coloured and very drinkable on a warm spring day.

Single bottle purchased from Willow Park Wine & Spirits on 03/18/2012. Colour: dark gold with white medium head. Nose: bursting hops accompanied by fresh red fruits, creme brulee, soft perfume and light caramel. Taste: medium-light sweet, medium bitter, medium-light sour. Caramel up front then dominant hop throughout the middle. Late creamy toffee that is quite delightful. Long lingering bitterness and creamy mouthfeel.

Bottle, shared with Davey. Bright looking in the glass, orange amber, thick white head, delicate lace. Aroma is VERY sweet, like candied papaya and glucose syrup. Wasn’t expecting that! Oddly, the flavours are less intensely sweet (but still bring to mind papaya candy and rockmelon) and quite intensely bitter. If this is a showcase for the Zythos hop, I’m not sure I like it. I do wish to applaude Alley Kat for all the awesome "special" brews they’ve been cranking out this past year. Whether they hit or miss, it is exciting and fun to see. Keep it up guys!

Pours a bright clear amber. Large fluffy head dies down to a thin lacing. Earthy hop aroma with malty biscuit, caramel, slight tropical fruit on the nose. Same aromas follow through to the taste adding a dry bitterness on the front and back of the tongue, very little malt sweetness to help it along; I get an mellow astringent alcohol bite at the end. Good but not as good as the previous Blue Dragon. Still nice to try a single hop DIPA from a local brewer!

Bottle at home, from my Maudite glass. I haven’t been very fond of the ’Dragon Series’ to this point, but maybe this beer will change all that. Pours clear golden/honey with a 1-finger thick white head, lacing is above average to good. Nose is honeyed malt, honeydew melon, tropical fruit, some caramel and grass here too, but not exactly overwhelming on the hops here... Flavours of tropical fruit, bubblegum, zippy bitterness towards the back... These new hybrid hops really seem to play up the melon/tropical notes and play down the traditional pine/citrus, and this is no exception, clearly. I’m really struggling to pick this out as an IIPA, this seems more like Dieu du Ciel’s Chaman, which they called an Imperial Pale Ale, or perhaps an American Strong, as this doesn’t ring my IIPA bell at all. Overall, a fairly bizarre brew, tasty enough I suppose, but not really doing it for me as an IIPA. Still, credit where credit’s due: At least Alley Kat is TRYING. No-one else in Alberta is doing fuck all for seasonals right now, and Village Brewery’s offerings are just fucking sad. Props Alley Kat, while I don’t much care for the beer, I really like the way you folks are headed.

UPDATED: FEB 12, 2012 Early sips came across very mellow and dull so I’ll let it sit and warm beyond the cellar temp. Poured out a solid amber brew with a medium sized mostly compact white head that leaves excellent lacing everywhere. Aroma is different than the usual: dusty earthiness, toasty malts, bread, mild spice and faint peach earlier on. Doesn’t have any ’off’ aromas but then again it isn’t really much of an IPA either. The taste follows suite with the smells that soothed me into an almost catatonic state. Bread. odd citrus, peach here and there in a very quiet state, odd spice and mineral or herb or something... can’t quite space it. The best 2.7 iipa on the market - I guess it is better than that but I just can’t put it up with the average IIPA. There is bitterness but it’s amazingly not killer for 100+ ibu. Interesting beer - one that I’d drink more of but if I’m looking for an IIPA this ain’t it. I just heard the sound of a bottom lip hitting the ground.

K, just had the last 2 sips after eating some Premium Plus - damn.. this goes great with that and the crackers kill the bread and help let loose the peach etc. ... extra points.

I’m guessing that Zythos is just a mellow hop, but this one was missing alot of the Imperial IPA quality for me. The pour is a clear, bright light orange with a soapy white head in a thin cap. The glass has some light lacing rings. Aromas of grass, banana, light grapefruits, a light caramel malt and a mild hop bitterness. The nose is missing the resinous and overall hoppy bitterness. First taste has a sweet and floral hop, notes of grapefruit, lemon, bread, caramel. No resinous quality at all, but has a nice bitterness on the finish with an unusual floral aftertaste. Overall, just unusual.

Pours golden with almost no head. Light slightly floral aroma. flavour is very bitter with a slight grassyness. It does taste very buttery. Not bad, but pretty good for an Alley kat brew. It tastes fine, And I like that it is not crazy strong as some double IPA tends to be.

Golden pour with white fluffy head. I get some grass and citrus in the aroma but it is understated. A touch of the malt shows through. Taste echoes the aroma with some citrusy grass and a little bit of malty sweetness. The bitterness is adequate but not as outspoken as other 100+ IBU beers I’ve had. Body and carbonation are average. No fault on Alley Kay, but I don’t think Zythos will be making my top 5 hops list....just didn’t do it for me.

Pours clear golden colour with very little/no head, little bit of bubbles on top. Smell is musty, grassy, very light citric quality, but no one particular fruit I can identify. Malt is fairly subtle, maybe light bready/grainy character. Well the hop is quite subtle here. Its taste is earthy, grassy, with a slight amount of fruit - maybe something like a pear. The malt is quite grainy, not very sweet, kind of like a rustic cereal quality. It’s actually a rather subdued beer. I mean the bitterness is there at the end, but it doesn’t seem like it’s really 100 IBU. The alcohol provides the lightest warmth in the throat at the end, but it’s almost completely hidden. The body isn’t huge, it has medium carbonation. Most of the flavour really seems quite well like earthy and rustic (I know I already said that, oh well). If it didn’t claim to be a IIPA, I wouldn’t classify it as such, but it’s still quite drinkable. *note* definitely notice the bitter as you drink the whole bomber...