Back Road Hop Monster IIPA (Specialty Ale)

Formerly brewed at Back Road Brewery
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
LaPorte, Indiana USA

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

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From a party pig Steve needed me to have (he has underrated taste!) gotten from the brewery stating "Hop Monster" so I gotta believe it is no longer retired. Thanks Steve and ck1!! Pours a muddy unclear orange brown with no carbonation or head (pig related??). Aroma is citrus fruit and resin, with a bit of wood. Taste is bitter fruit and resin. Some caramel back, adding sweetness. Alcohol showing up too. A bit thick; not sure if it is from the pig or not. Finishes with some length - with bitterness and sweetness. A solid east coast double ipa with maltiness and hoppiness.

Bottle as an extra from someone (Mike?). Decent aromas of hops in the beginning, but really this begins to actually smell like garbage as it warms. Like, old nasty trash. Seeping with a mysterious dark yellow-brown liquid. Not cool. I prefer my beers not to smell as such. The taste does not really exhibit that, but one can’t help but smell as you sip. This really isn’t a bad beer, but that flaw is glaring enough that I can’t possibly give this a score over 3. I likely won’t even finish it.

Name: Hop Monster IIPA
Date: 04/29/2005
Mode: Draft
Source: Tasting, Dark Lord Day, 2005

clear light amber, big fresh citrus hop aroma, big hop flavor and and long bitter finish, single thought, another me too double ipa

Aroma: 9/10; Appearance: 5/10; Flavor: 5/10; Palate: 5/10; Overall: 10/20
Rating: 3/5.0
Score: *4
-------- /> The score was calculated based upon the notes and an old scoring system.

Thanks to BBB63 for this one. It pours a hazy amber with a very thin head. The aroma is oily/hoppy with pine & citrus notes. The flavor is palate-scrapping hoppy.

This pours a slightly hazed dark amber body with a creamy beige head that coats the glass in sheets. At the base of the aroma are rich malts and caramel. The hop bitterness is a bit of a mishmash, pine, grapefruit and herbs clashing together to create a sharp earthy scent. They become more clearly defined in the taste, each bitter flavor blending in more friendly fashion with the others. The strong malt backbone works hard to support the onslaught of the hops, but they win out in the end producing a prolonged bitter finish. Sounds nice, too. A good DIPA.

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12oz bottle thanks to BBB63. Cloudy orange with a smallish head. Aroma of tropical fruit (pineapple) and oily resin. Good tropical fruit taste with a fair amount of caramel balance. I’m surprised this isn’t rated higher. Maybe they’ve tinkered with the recipe since 2005.

UPDATED: MAY 14, 2007 Bottle drunk on 4/18. Hazy orange/amber color. No head. Malty citrus hop aroma. The taste was the same with light caramel notes. Thicker body. Pretty good.

On tap at the brewery. Poured a haxy amber color witha bit of a white head. Really kind of an earthy mushroom aroma. Lots of spice and herbs wish candy sweet malt. Pretty bitter. Kind of astrigant too. Just okay at best.

Sampled from the growler BBB63 brought to the DL release party back in April. Golden-orange colored with a thin white head. Aroma is very citrusy - mandarin oranges, grapefruit and some spruce. Smoothly carbonated, could use a bit more body, seeing as it an IIPA. I thought this was quite nice

Out of BBB63’s growler at the DL release party. Deep orange color with a thin cream colored head. The nose reminded me of those candied grapefruit rinds. It seemed a little thin for an IIPA with flavors mostly of grapefruit and citrus hops.