Hales Aftermath Imperial IPA

Brewed by Hales Ales
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Seattle, Washington USA

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

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After a bunch of different sorts of big IPA today, this one is, well, different. A great deal more malt: almost akin to HopDevil. THe malt is fruited up and well-bittered by the hops, but I'm surprised by how prominent the malt is. Never have I encountered such a malt-driven Imperial IPA. Almost a candy apple character.

From tap at the brewpub. Pours hazy yellow with a small white head. Aroma is dense hoppy, light malty note. Thick malty, orange fruity and dense grapefruity. Smooth and fruity finish.

22oz bottle. Chunky, thick orange tan. Steady, creamy beige head. Thick, resinous hop aroma. Piny, deep burnt caramel notes. Smooth yeast tones add another layer of depth. Despite the moderate ABV, this one comes off just as thick and rich as an 11% beer can...not really an alcohol burn as much as a rich, malty body. Relatively standard for the style, in a good way. Lots of hop depth. Nice.

Bomber. Pours a solid burnt orange and ruby color with pillowy white head. The aroma is a potent blend of floral hops, ruby red grapefruit, pine and malt. The flavor begins with a strong dose of resiny hops, grapefruit and toasted malt along with some pine resin, candied citrus and alcohol toward the back end. The body is a little bit sticky and syrupy with aggressive carbonation. The finish is all hops bitterness and citrus with a booze burn at the end. The overall flavor is packed with hops goodness but the alcohol burn prevents it from being a top notch DIPA.

22oz. Bottle: I’ve had about a dozen of these, and now I am finally going to rate it. Aroma of caramel malt, hops, pine, citrus, tangerine, nectarine, oranges, and some crystal malt. Poured orange in color with a small, off-white head that diminished but lasted around the edges. Cloudy. Sparkling. Full of tiny, small, and large particles throughout. Fair lacing. Flavor is heavily bitter and light to medium sweet. Tastes of malt, hops, slight caramel, citrus, orange, nectarine, light pine, slight resin, and some grapefruit. Medium body. Average texture. Average carbonation. Bitter, lightly sweet, hop, caramel malt, citrus, finish. 8.4%ABV is completely hidden throughout.

Bomber. Poured a lovely shade of rich orangey amber with a well-retained, sticky off-white head. The aroma picked up peppery, pine, and grapefruit zest over sweet caramel and a pinch of honey.. warm, welcoming, and well-balanced. The flavor found tacky sweet caramel and assorted lighter-skinned fruits at the core.. quite bitter on the edges, with black pepper and pine leading.. a touch of citrus on the finish over lots of residual sugars.. some greener boozage at the end.. solid stuff. Medium-plus bodied and grainy on the palate.. kind of meaty, in a decent way.. I’d drink this again.

22oz bottle. Pours a cloudy reddish amber with a creamy beige head, looks a little like swamp water. Floral, citrus and herbal hops in the nose. Slightly sweet and not very bitter on the palate. Ok.

UPDATED: FEB 6, 2011 Chuhhh Ching! This is supurb! Big mango aroma. This tastes like a mellow Dreadnaught. 8.4%? a little weak for a double ipa, and borders on too sweet, but damn this is tasty. One of the best IPA finds in a year or so. I think it was like $6 a bomber. Not too bad. Rerate. Drank two of these tonight for superbowl. $4.99 for a bomber. A citrus hop bomb. One the most delicious IPA’s i’ve had in years.

"Summer Warmer", huh? This just hit the shelves at the local QFC. 22 oz. bottle. Head is thin, at first. It eventually dissipates into a wispy head. It has a nice orange and copper color to it. It’s quite pungent, considering that I can smell it even though it’s a couple feet away from my nose. Lots of grapefruit coming through. The citrus hops are very fragrant. A slight booze aroma comes through. This has a pleasant aroma. Pleasant citrus and grapefruit hop flavor. The taste is quite subtle and tame. It’s not exceedingly bitter for no reason. It has a nice, clean, and oily texture. This has a soft carbonation. Imperial? Other than the ABV, I don’t think so. If this were just a regular IPA, I’d be all over it, but I was expecting this to be a bit more robust. However, this does sit on that margin between imperial and not. I’m really liking this brew.

On tap at Bottleworks, pours orangey amber with a white head. Wonderful aroma of piney hops, caramel malts (just enough to balance), grapefruit and mango. The flavour is no less hoppy, with citrusy hops, balanced perfectly with caramel malts. The palate is fruity and leaves a sweet caramel finish. Delicious - really well-made.

Sweet juicy pineapple citrus couple with gritty pine. Bright clear copper, thick gummy meringue head. Big sweet burst of gummy sticky hops, lots of pine, and though it calls out the cascade, seems to have a simcoe thing going on. Easy on the palate, fairly light. Too easy. I could drink this all night. But it wouldn’t be a long night. Finishes balanced on the tongue, not too fiercely bitter. Sometimes that’s OK