Philip (436), Illinois, USA Apr 19, 2009 Bottle, Friar Tuck, Savoy. Finally getting around to rating this beer. Notes of apricot and grass on the nose lead into lemongrass, caramel, pine sol, and gooseberry. The onslaught of hops takes over on the finish. This is good, although I like my IIPAs either more fruit-forward (e.g. the mango/apricot dominance of Dreadnaught) or solid grapefruit/pine (plenty examples here, but West Coast IIPAs come to mind). This caramel notes and the sweetness a the start I find unsettling, although I can appreciate the complexity. This always seemed to me to have the flavor profile of ageing well, but the 4 year old version I had a few months back suggested otherwise. Avery’s beers in general seem like good candidates for ageing on first impression, and yet they don’t seem to stand up to the time in the cellar very well. SHANER4 (370), Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA Apr 19, 2009 bottle 22 oz(batch #9 Feb. 09) - Poured clear copper color with large cream colored head.
Aroma - huge grapefruit, mango and citrus scent. Reminds me of Dreadnaught.
Flavor - Citrus, mango, grapefruit and pine taste. Perfume flavor on tongue lingers in aftertaste.
Palate - Full heavy mouthfeel with average carbonation. Finish is dry and bitter with long piney/perfume aftertaste.
Overall - Outstanding DIPA, I prefer this over Hopslam and is close to dreadnaught but Ruination is still best in my book!! matt7215 (942), Cambridge, Ontario, Canada Apr 18, 2009 bomber froma trade with xmarcnolanx. pours clear orange with a mid white head. booze and hop resin aroma. caramel amlt structure with huge hopping but mostly resin bitterness. enjoyable but more dryhopping is needed. thanks for the bottle marc! omlooper (2), Saint Louis, Missouri, USA does not count Apr 18, 2009 fresh on tap. copper golden pour with an excellent aroma. Just an awesome beer. MeisterBrew (138), Cheyenne, Wyoming, USA Apr 18, 2009 Bottle. Hazy golden pour with a fairly large eggshell head. Great lacing. Strong floral aroma with a hint of pine. Strong flavor of grapefruit with a hint of pine. Sweet malt flavor throughout too. Very full bodied IIPA that I thoroughly enjoyed. xmarcnolanx (789), Kirkwood, Missouri, USA Apr 17, 2009 Aroma is sweet, malty, tons of pine, resin, and herbal qualities.
Taste is sweet, piny, and resinous. There is some citrus and sharp alcohol and hop bitterness present.
Finish is slightly rough, sweet, and piny.
Yum.
beerchugger (285), Colorado, USA Apr 14, 2009 This beer was very good! Poured a nice light copper color with a terrific two finger thick dense white head. The head left beautiful lacing, adding to this beer experience. The aroma was amazing. It smelled very strongly of citrusy fruit, it really reminded me of grapefruit. But it was a beautiful aroma with earthy hops coming through as well. The flavor was surprisingly smooth and sweet up front eventually giving way to some bitterness. Finish was dry and bitter. This was a fantastic IIPA. sigma23 (217), , Maine, USA Apr 14, 2009 ok this was awesome. got to have back to back tasting of 2007 and 2008. both were vastly different, due to age on the hops.
’07 pours rich copper with nice white head. aroma is tons of citrus like grapefruit, orange, lemon, clementine. drinks very bittersweet with tons of grapefruit upfront, orange and clementine peak through, and lemon and grapefruit finish. bitter citrus after taste lingers!
’08 pours rich copper with full white head. aroma is very floral and piny with a resounding resiny smell. drinks with a bitter bite and very floral. drinks gritty and resiny with lots of pine finishing. some malt is in there, but doesnt really show.
both fantastic, and even better back to back!
|