BrewDog Hardcore IPA

22.4oz bottle, BB 07/07/09. Small off-white head atop hazy amber body. Aroma is moderately sweet, pineapple, some berry, light bread. Taste is moderately sweet, grapefruit/pineapple, some honey, light alcohol, bread. Kind of seems like hop extract was used. Medium-full body, low carbonation, some acidity.

Batch - 207 / BBD 2/2/10 - Pours orange-ish light amber with a small off-white head. The aroma has sweet toasted malt, light caramel and minor toffee, but no noticeable hops - bad sign for an IIPA. Medium slick body with minor carbonation and a bit of a sickly feeling. The flavor starts with bread-like toffee malt with a definite smoothness to the taste. There are some slight woody hops, but that’s it. The finish has some medicinal and mineral traits. This doesn’t really strike me as a double IPA.

7/7/09 recipe. Pours a hazy, deep golden color with a small white head. Aroma has a strong orange citrus, light mango, very light grainy note and some light grassy hops note to finish. Flavor has an upfront orange citrus which rolls into a slightly biscuit toasted note with light sweet caramel and grassy hoppy ending. Very heavy body, low carbonation, oily texture and a low amount of lacing is left behind by the beer head. As a whole, the brew is pretty sweet with a good hop note. Alcohol is hidden pretty well but the beer seems to lack some balance in the hops characters. Still a good beer overall though.

Bottle, had been sitting in cellar temp for 3 months, so maybe I’m asking for trouble . . . . pours clear gold-tangerine with a mild head. Aroma is orange marmalade, tea, and soft caramel. Not particularly strong either. Flavor is fitting of an English IPA: rounded, strong malt presence, herbs and mild fruit notes. What impresses me most about this beer is twofold: it covers the alcohol extremely well, and provides soft toffee-caramel smoothness while retaining a tame hop bitter finish. Finish is overall charmingly sweet. Unfortunately, with me living in SoCal I cannot rightfully say I prefer this (albeit slightly aged) version of a DIPA to those of most West Coast breweries.

old batch. pours a golden orange with medium white head. aroma is floral and piny with a bit of citrus and a decent sweet malt. drinks the same but has a nice hop bite that keeps it crisp and clean. very tasty

New batch: strenght is the key to give character to a beer I see. Delicious hops. Grapefruit. nice bitterness.

33cl bottle, batch #037. Pale hazy golden, tiny white head, mostly disappearing. Sweet and exotic nose, loads of sweet grapefruit, passion fruit, little resin, hint of flowery honey. Flavor has a tad more straightforward hop profile, sweet pale maltiness, clean yeast, lingering soap ’n’ sap bitterness in the finish, slighly numbing. Nearly full bodied, homebrew-like yeasty palate. Some similarities with Hopslam on the nose, sadly that soap gets a bit overpowering later on. Not the most balanced one, but alright.

Poured from bottle into Nonic Imperial Pint. Slightly cloudy but bright golden orange with very little head. If this really were a DIPA, I would dock it for lack of head. However, as I will get into below, I do not think this is a true DIPA, so I will consider the look as pretty good for an English Ale. Aroma of semi-sweet tea-like malts and English hops. Some alcohol detected. Smells like a strong English IPA. Slightly sweet malts with notes of fruit, caramel, toast and tea. Nice English hop counterbalance that is somewhat metallic. Very bitter at the end. Low carbonation and medium, but slightly creamy and chewy, body. Pretty smooth and very dry. Warming. Easy to drink, as it seems like a kick ass English IPA. Never would have known it was 9%, other than the warming sensation. As DIPA is a very American style, and this beer is not at all American (other than the level of bitterness), this is not really a DIPA. Maybe it could be called an English DIPA, but this is the only example I am aware of. Really, it seems like a cross between an English IPA and a Barleywine. Regardless, comparing it to a typical DIPA, with all of its citrus and pine hop taste, is not really fair. This is a unique beer.