Green Flash Imperial IPA

Brewed by Green Flash Brewing Co.
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Vista, California USA

A very good IIPA. Aroma was nice but there is something off about this beer. Strong hops with not much else, but also dirt. Pour was a nice medium gold with a foamy 1 finger white head. The light color of this beer gives it away. This is a hop bomb with little regard to malt which is just the way I like them. Taste was strong bitter hops through and through but with the underlying dirt/dust taste. Strong bite on the back of the throat and sides of the tongue. Very thick mouthfeel but the strong carbonation coupled with the strong alcohol burn/hop bite lets me know I won’t be tasting food for a day. My taste buds are shot.

pours a dark orange syrup sunset colour ... great foam ... lacing is ample and creamy ... has a very clean hop bite ... with a nice after hop lacquer ... very upfront ...’’book of the dead’’ ... you can taste and feel the 101 IBU’s ... system check : lots of sticky pine needles left in the mouth, big tasty shoulder shuddering (msCoop) ...

On draft at O’Briens. This one arrived a clear amber orange with a slight haze in the bar light. Aroma is hop dominated, grapefruit and pine with subtle malt sweetness. Flavor is also mostly hoppy as expected, bright citrus and pine, malts are toasty and mild, but enough to hold up the brash bitterness. Medium to full body and crispy carbonation. Quite enjoyable.

Nice large white head of fine bubbles. Light carbonation. Huge spruce and piney hops in the aroma. Smells like you have your nose stuck into a fresh cut christmas tree. Hint of stinky cheese in the background with some light malts. Color is a bright orange. More pine and spruce in the flavor with a late swallow dry puckering bitterness. Tangy and resinous. A little sweetness but not a lot of malt body. Hint of watermelon rind in their also. Yes, I am weird. Nice warming from the alcohol. Finish is strong bitterness and lingering alcohol and pine needles. Take a bite off a white pine tree and it will be similar to this brew. This is not a bad thing though. Just a huge hopfest of a brew and one that should be enjoyed fresh.

Pours bronze into a snifter. Offwhite head quickly subsides to skim surface. Grapefruit, pine and resin aromas. Sweet crisp malt upfront and a lasting citrus rind finish.

Bottle from Shawan Liquours in Cockeysville, MD. Pours amber with a white head. Great aroma, like this was made with wet hops. Aroma is sweet and herbal with notes of fruit loops cereal. The hops take center stage on this one. Mixed complex hop profile of light tropical fruitiness and mixed with some grassy bitterness. Very nice backdrop of mildly sweet pale malts. Finish reminds me of a harvest ale, with a pleasant leafy and citrusy hop bite. Good beer that I would have no problem purchasing again.

Bottle. Hazy dark honey body with a thick ring of bubbles and a small island of bubbles. Nose-metal, cinnamon, nutmeg, light mint, very candy like. Taste-light chocolate, medium alcohol, low bitter, sweet tea, very light pine, very light citric/grapefruit, kefir lime, fairly high pH, pineapple, lightly buttery. All in all, all of the usual IPA flavors are there (citrus, pine, grapefruit, etc.) but everything is very muted. No one flavor profile dominates. If I was blindly tasting this, I wouldn’t think that it was a IIPA, more like a IPAX1.5. Since I am quickly tiring of IIPA’s, I rather enjoy the laid back nature of this beer. Unique, and I am going to give it a relatively high score based upon it’s restrain and uniqueness. Nose becomes more like an English barleywine as it warms.

I like when they put the IBUs on the bottle, but try not to look until after tasting. This deep amber beer with its big frothy white head had some kick-ass hops going for it in the aroma and taste. The intense hoppiness gave a burn in the mouth that was very rewarding. What malt sweetness present was inconsequential. This was a hophead beer. Am I becoming one? Shit! Look what that did for Cornfield! Seriously, this was right up his alley and was much enjoyed even by this stoutie. Excellent beer.