Columbia River War Elephant Double IPA

Brewed by Columbia River Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Portland, Oregon USA

Serve in Shaker, Snifter

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Nose of dough and caramel some fruity citrus and pine hops. Fairly standard PNW IIPA. Pours hazy golden brownish amber nice creamy head. Flavors of dough and caramel, toasted malts, earthy bitter notes as well as citrus and pine. Somewhat medium bitterness, good balance, citrus finish. Pleasant.

Deep nice copper coloured body with a thin, tan head. Aroma of bright piney and grapefruity hops with a bit of honey and sugars in the nose. Medium-bodied; Strong hop flavour at first with a good malt backbone and some light alcohol flavours. Aftertaste shows a nice subdued hop flavour, but not much at all and fairly mild for the style. Overall, a decent Imperial IPA, but not strong at all, which is why I don’t mind it - fairly light in general and very light for the style. Nice to try, however. I sampled this 65 cL bottle purchased from Belmont Station in Portland, Oregon earlier today for US$7.27, sampled in my hotel room on 25-April-2013.

Bottle at Pizzaria in Portland, OR. Nice golden body with slight head. Nose of hops and hops and citrus. Really sharp and nice. Taste is also lots of hops and fruits in there.Nice citrus bursts and other fruits. Nice bitter finish. Well done.

Draught at the brewery during Zwickelmania 2013. Good citrusy nose. Hazy honeyish straw color. Citrus, lemony initial / hops dominate throughout mid palate and final. Very good body, thick and pleasant mouthfeel. All hops for this one. Fun stuff.

Bottle pours a golden brew with an off white head. Scent is hoppy and caramel. Taste is citrus and caramel but way more citrus.

22oz bottle. Poured a golden color with an off white head. Yep, this one was nice and hoppy. Unbalanced for an IIPA, but for a hop head like me, I enjoy it! Floral, tropical fruits (especially in the finish), and citrus.

Skunky, grassy. Bitter and harsh. Tastes like a lager. This was our least favorite at the 2012 Concordia Alehouse Imperial IPA blind tasting contest.

Thanks to Joe P. for driving a couple cases of different beer from Washington back to mitten! This is one of the few that I didn’t recognize. I love elephants but I hate war and thats about how I feel about this beer. Pours a hazy orange with a little frothy off-white head. Smells very sweet with citrus fruits and jungle fruits. Initial mouthfeel is fantastic and a hop wallop with a fresh crispness and thats when things go awry... Wow I love bitter but this thing goes off the track at the finish. Crazy bitter with no flavor component. This beer isn’t awful but the finish is R-R-rough. Fix that and this thing is a winner. Prost to Portland(ia).

22 oz. bottle, pours a hazy golden orange with a small white head. Aroma of pungent juicy citrus hops and some light tropical fruit presence. Flavour brings out a truckload of juicy citrus hops, a little bit of mango and pineapple, and barely any malt detectable. Extremely bitter and unbalanced towards the hops, but in a tasteful way. Highly drinkable and refreshing. Excellent.

Bomber. Bitterness throughout with a sweet malty background. Maybe some mango and apricot flavors mixed in. Off balance finish.