Drakes Hop Salad

Brewed by Drakes Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
San Leandro, California USA

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

I had this at to double IPA fest. It is one of the best doubles that I have had. Too bad you can’t get this in a bottle anymore.

Hand bottled courtesy of my man RD. I’ve begun to expect from Drake’s what I expect from Pizza Port- tremendous hop bombs that are over the top w/ hop aroma and flavor. With a name like "Hop Salad", I expected much and this beer delivered much. Tons of resiny, piney, garlicy, citrusy hop flavors. Another excellent IIPA from Drake’s. I love this brewery.

UPDATED: APR 3, 2007 I adore the name of this beer. Deep amber pour, translucent, with sunburst orange hues. Off white head is creamy and slow to recede. Aroma bursts forth from the glass with notes of booming grapefruit. More miniscule notes of toasty malt, pine needles, sun ripened oranges, slight perfumy remnants of esters and a distinct saltiness round out a marvelous and captivating nose. Magnificent and forceful aroma. I would like to note that I had to make a conscious effort to stop sniffing and start drinking, the aroma is that much fun. Blasts of hops with profound bitterness and focus charge forward in the flavor. Delicious! Malt is plentiful and nicely evenly toasted. Doughy and sugary notes blend well with the profuse bitterness. Citrus is muffled by the intensity. Onion powder spice from the Summit hops works well in this recipe. As the glass warms, cinnamon and vanilla spicing glimmers through, providing thought provoking and even more unexpected complexity. Oddly, a slow soft fade-out of flavor and hop bitterness arrives before the finish, this just gets better! Now it seems balanced, for a brief moment, near the end of each sip. This is a mind-bending, brutal, barbaric IPA. Finishes very dry, lightly acidic, very oily and rich with loads of lingering bitterness and creamy rye notes(interesting). The finale is a stinging hop bite that would tear through the most torturous Thai dishes with ease. Palate is very lively and well carbonated, moderately smooth, medium-full to full bodied. This beer is awesome. I have been totally caught off guard, much to my delight.

UPDATED: APR 25, 2007 Tapped at Hollingshead Deli in Orange Calif. Good gracious this was delightful! I had not had a beer in a week, so my palate was ready for something delicious and this was fantastic. Quite aromatic in aroma and the flavor was thick, hoppy with some apricot tones. I wanted 6 more of these but I live 40 miles away. I had a Stone Ruination afterwards, which is a huge Staple type beer for me (in other words I love it) and the Drake was more rich full and complex. Is this available in bottles???

UPDATED: MAY 21, 2008 Steve from Valley Brewing had a keg of this @ his brewery and tapped it for a few of us. Even though this was over a year old, everything was still firing on all cylinders! Wonderful hop aroma with pineapple and citrus in the nose and flavor, which also showcased a smooth caramel malt backbone. The mouthfeel was a bit viscous and the finish was clean. Beautiful.

Cask. Onslaught of hops. Bitterness keeps pace but malt falls way behind. Though it is very bitter. Great floral of hop, almost tastes like a wet hop. The low carb keeps the hop nice and forward. Very pleased.

Bottle. Cloudy amber colour with a little white head. Lovely aroma of citrus, melon and peach. Also fantastic flavour of hopas such as melon citrus and bitter finish, very nice tasty and great.

Bottled. Orange coloured. Unclear. Dense light brown head. Pines, sweetness, herbs, flowers, spice and light caramel in the aroma. Nice. Flavour is awesome and quite balanced. Pines, flowers, herbs and spice. Loads of fruity and caramelnotes. Full bodied. Totally dry. Has a very heavy piney bitterness in the end, though its countered by a subtle sweetness making this an extraordinary experience and a worhty DIPA no. 50 in my book.