Full Sail Slipknot Imperial IPA

This one has a nice looking golden/amber body with a light-med head. Aroma is sweet with some floral and citrus hops. Flavor has a fairly heavy hop profile with citrus, flowers, and vegetables and some sweeter caramel maltiness. Tasted a tad off, even burnt for a DIPA. Not bad, but perhaps a bit smoother (and fresher, my fault for hanging on to it for awhile) would be preferable.

I popped the cap and was instantly impressed. I always (unfairly) knock Full Sail for not using Pacific Northwestern hops when they are a PNW brewery. I don’t know why but this bugs me -- a lot. So here I was bracing myself for a real West Coast style beer with a horribly wrong hop mix. From the first whiff I knew I was wrong. I’m pleasantly surprised and the rest of the beer, appearance, body, bitterness all are good examples of a big West Coast IPA -- on the light side for imperials and thankfully without cloying sweetness or tacky sugary feel. Solidly built. Hits the mark and avoids errors. Well done Full Sail!

On tap at Pizza Port Carlsbad. Medium bodied, subdued bitterness IIPA. Hazy amber color, light head. Medium amount of grapefruit citrus and hay. Well-carbonated and pretty sessionable when served cold. Kind of lackluster, but enjoyabled

Medium amber colored pour with a big foamy white head. Aromas of citrus, caramel malt, and pine. Pretty similar flavot, with a sweet maltiness really coming through more than I would like. I would probably rate this higher as an IPA, but it’s pretty weak for an IIPA. Still, not bad overall.

Bottle from Bevmo La Jolla. Pours with a golden amber body topped by a thick, quickly disappearing head with good lacing. It’s slightly sweet yet hoppy with grassy and piney notes, as well as some alcohol esters. Medium bodied, smooth and a touch dry.