3.9 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
12 oz bottle from Bello Vino in Ann Arbor, MI (late December 2006 -- last 6-pack!) consumed from a Corsendonk Christmas Ale glass a bit below cellar temperature. Hazy, soft orange-amber in color with a small-bubbled lasting off-white head that forms a trace of lacing.....apricots are the first fruit to hit the nose, followed shortly by sweet grapefruit, caramel and a touch of cinnamon, orangepeel and honey rounding out the medley of dessert treats after several sniffs, certainly well-done if fairly predictable.....I get virtually no alcohol apparent on the tongue, very dangerous as this is juicy and redolent of lightly fermenting fruits, perhaps infused with light maple syrup and honey, hop bitterness surprisingly restrained (well, not so considering the brewery perhaps but I would have expected more for it to be called an IIPA) although a fairly strong impact is made at the end when intense citric tartness and powerful hop oils finally do threaten to overwhelm the palate, but never do as it remains juicy and fresh and quaffable to the very end. Somewhat hard, prickly carbonation works well against the overall soft fruitiness of the beer. While I don’t find this amazing it is certainly one of the easiest to drink and most likeable of 9% beers I’ve had, and that’s saying something.
3 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 12/20
UPDATED: APR 17, 2008 Bottle from ucusty. Pours a hazy off orange color with a thin head and decent lacing. Aroma of big citrus and pine with an underlying touch of honey and malt. Hops upfront with citrus (grapefruit, orange, tangerine) and pine. Secondary flavors include honey, and some caramel malts. This is almost insanely drinkable. After the hops come a little lingering honey chewiness. Pretty good, almost great, but I would rather have a Pliny.
Second bottle I had was oxidized. Hops were flat and dull and the flavor was actually unpleasant. Because I tasted it up against Uber Hoppy and Pliny and it didn’t stand up, I am lowering the score.
4 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
Bottle from Lonetree. Clear orange with a fizzy white head. Grapefruit caramel and toffee aroma and taste with some nice sticky citrus notes to the finish. Great brew.
4.2 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
Poured a hazy golden color with a medium sized white head. Nice huge hop foward aroma of citrus, pine and some oranges. Malt finds it way through. Great mix of citrus and piney hops with sweet malt. Malt backs it up enough to let the hops be strong but not unbalanced. Moderately bitter semi-dry finish. The alcohol hides well with just some warmth within. Very drinkable and dangerous.
4.2 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 16/20
12-oz., courtesy the generous crackings of BitBucket. Pours a nice medium-dark copper with a fairly thin, bubbly/sudsy white head that wanders off after a while. Big nose of orange and grapefruit, very Simcoeish. Some pine in there as well. Lovely nose. Assertive (if not insane) attack: medium high body, active carb, big bold hop flavors (there’s that citrus and pine again). Some sweet caramel malt goodness but nothing too competitive; this is the hops’ serve and few IIPA malt volleys are big enough to break it. Tingly, lingering sweet-bitter finish. Great balance and structure throughout. Wonderful stuff. Wish I could drink it all the time.
3.9 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
Bottle shared with HogTownHarry, biegaman & mds -- courtesy of biegaman. Pours a hazy yellow-orange with a small diminishing white head. Aroma: Whoa baby, it’s hop-time! Lots of fresh citrus and piney hops. Flavour: Hops, hops and hops. Long bitter finish. Medium bodied. Pretty one-dimensional but I really liked it.
4 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
Bottle. Medium golden amber, high light gold head. Aroma is intensely hoppy-- tons of citrus rind, some coniferous perfume. The palate has the same sticky malt structure as the 25th anniversary, but the hops form a better marriage here. For starters, they are much more assertive, contributing more citrus and resin notes. And importantly, the bitterness is more apparent, which nicely offsets the malty sweetness, bringing the focus back to the hops. Fantastic!
4.3 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 17/20
(Bottle, Oliver Twist, Stockholm) Amber colour with frothy off-white head. Fruity nose with dark notes of hops, grapefruit, orange, pine needles and resin, slight hints of coriander. Very complex. Fruity, hoppy taste with apricots, grapefruit, orange and heavy notes of hops. Very complex, rather vinous and surprisingly balanced. A huge IPA and a serious hop monster. Brilliant! My kind of beer.
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