Anderson Valley 20th Anniversary Imperial IPA

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

Bomber bottle from Jon, mucho thanks bud, and served in my GL IPA tulip:

Deep coppery sunset hue topped by a frothy off-white head and left excellent lace upon the glassware.
Aroma has notes of caramel and bready malt, resiny and piney hops, pink grapefruit and star fruit, sugar cane, clove and grains of paradise, and a mineral water vapour.
The taste starts moderately bitter and fruity before a rush of bready malt and grainy character comes to play, very balanced, perhaps too balanced. Nice hop spice and mineral finish adds to a complexity of palate.
The mouth feel is rounded and sharp on one side, soft and smooth on the other, matched the flavor profile exactly.

While some people want their DIPA to be bold and brash, I want mine big yet balanced and that is exactly what Anderson Valley delivers here. Mikey Likey A Lot, YuMmY iN mY tUmMy!

Pours a clear golden with a small off-white head. Light to moderate sweetness, quite bitter. Heavy hops aromas of pine and resin with hints of grapefruit. Some alcohol notes. Medium to full bodied. Soft carbonation. Longish bitter finish. Very good.

Golden-amber color with a medium head. Aroma is very sweet with canteloupe and citrus. Flavor starts out very sweet with mounds of sugary malt over top of some citrusy-floral hops that seem a bit "burnt" for the lack of a better word. Not bad, but it fits the disturbing trend of Double IPAs to get away from the wonderful "celebration" of all things hoppy and just ends up being a big mess. I like these guys, but this one is kind of a time waster.

Courtesy of Styles

Bottle: The aroma is very fruity with citrus, faint pineapple, caramel, and mild grapefruit. It pours a transparent golden-amber with a moderate off-white head. The flavor starts very fruity with moderate caramel. The finish has mild citrus hops with a light grapefruit aftertaste. Medium bodied with mild carbonation.

Bottle from Wildberries, Arcata. Pours a slightly hazy medium orange-copper-goldwith a fine, thin white head. Lots of malt in the aroma--both grain and malt sweetness with high alcohol that leaves the fruity hops and spicy fermentation notes as secondary characteristics. The flavor is not overly hoppy with some grain but mainly alcohol sweetness. There is some fruity richness mid-palate with some citrus. The body is a little overbearing without the requisite aromatic fullness from hops that one would expect from a double IPA. Instead, this drinks a lot more like an imperial red or a barleywine.

This is a beer that I got to admit that I would have loved when I first started drinking IPAs. It is a beefed up version of Hop Ottin. Very bitter, C hops in their glory. Gold color, crisp and translucent. I still love the the citus aroma from this one, like many IPA’s. The palate is totally dominated by the hops - this is a real hop brute. Its probably too bad that they didn’t make this beer four or five years ago, it would have really stood out, now it is one of a dozen or so with a very similar profile. Hops heads will gather around it, most others will realize they had this beer before.

Pours with a foamy, off-white head covering a murky, red dominated, orange body. Good lacing left on the glass. Aroma of grapefruit, tangarine, pine, and a bit of brown sugar. Taste is malt strong, and not much citrus or floral hops in the aroma. A bit of bitterness in the finish. Water like mouthfeel, with some light, playful carbonation.

Bottle from Party Source. Poured a clear copper color with an average frothy off-white head that mostly lasted with excellent lacing. Moderate to heavy complex citrus hoppy aroma with a alcohol tone. Medium to heavy body with a slick texture and soft carbonation. Medium to heavy bittersweet flavor with a medium to heavy bitter and small alcohol bite finish of moderate duration. This is a good beer.