Legend Hopfest

Brewed by Legend Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Richmond, Virginia USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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UPDATED: FEB 15, 2009 The 2006 12th anniversary edition of this beer is a step up in many ways. Heck, it is an entirely different beer. Hops have gone to a combination of Simcoe and Amarillo, and alcohol clocks in at 6.5%. The biscuity malts make themselves known, and the classic hop flavors are present (grapefruit, touch of pineapple, and pine) but not acrid. This, in fact, was fantastic. But I’m a sucker for most Legend beers.
Earlier Rating: 7/17/2004 Total Score: 3.9
They have been toying with this one for a while now, but this is the first time I was ever able to track down a bottle to try. Medium orange, decent head that fades slow and leaves a very nice lacing. Aroma is pure hop astringency, plenty of pine tar, a bit of grapefruit, and bitterness actually hits your nose. In the mouth, pine flavors are up front, followed by the bitter grapefruit flavor. The aftertaste is almost reminiscent of sucking on an aspirin it is so bitter. This is by no means thin bodied, and it has a good mouthfeel. But the malts aren’t just in the backseat, they are stuck back in the trunk of this beer. Although bitter to the point of being almost unpleasant (and I view Ruination as being well balanced), I really liked this. NOTE: had the cask version on 7/18/04 at CAH, malts made themselves known more, far more balanced, a hint of anise flavor in the hops. I’ll leave my original rating as so few will get to try the cask version, but I would probably bump the score up to a 4.1 NOTE: 2007 was a bit thin, just hops and not much else. 2008 has some balance back and in fact rocked.

Pours a nice golden color with a 1/4" head. Moderate aroma of herbal, honeyed hops, malt and yeast. Medium bodied with malt taste and herbal, honeyed hops. Kinda flabby like a barley wine.

Tap. Pours clear light amber with a medium head that lasts. Light aroma - faint citrus notes and a litte maltyness. Flavor is malt dominated, sweet and bready with backnotes of citrus and pine and a mildly bitter finish. Overall a good beer, but a little strong on the malt.

From the tap poured a brown color with a small amount of head. Strong hoppy flavor with a lingering finish.

Draught from a shaker. Dark orangish pour with absolutely no head...that being the fault of the bartender. Aroma and taste have nice citrusy hop character...quite strong hops for a single IPA. This is one of the few very good beers from Legend.

Had this during the 2011 Shenandoah Throwdown, bottle I found when we took a little day trip to Charlottesville. Pours a clear orange with a thin white head. Big citrus hops, soft malt and hops. Big earthy hops, juicy and earthy. Loads of hops throughout, big grapefruit bitterness permeates everything. Toast and grapefruit bitterness, long and soft on the finish.

651mL at Shenandoah Throwdown. The pour is a clear amber tea with a thicker, off-white head. Hoppy nose with butter and sweet strawberry. Taste is nutty bitter with buttery biscuit. Sharp bitterness and quite intense. Small maple syrup comes through sort of making this a "Brown IPA." Richer mouthfeel. A nice surprise.

Bottle. Pours a pale amber color with a longlasting off-white head. Has a fruity malty hoppy citrus aroma. Fruity malty hoppy bitter grapefruit flavor. Has a fruity malty hoppy bitter finish with hints of grapefruit.

Wasn’t sure what expect from this. Mine was labeled 17th Anniversary @ 7%. This beer has a huge malt forward profile. Almost cream like, with a touch of caramel sweetness. Make no mistake, however, tons of hops sneak up on the back end. Perfect birterness. Overall, this is a complex beer that is immensely satisfying. With a name like "Hopfest" I was thinking more IPA. I must say this was a pleasant surprise.

Bomber courtesy of GODiSSOUTHERN, thanks Daniel. It pours clear copper with off white head. The aroma has spicy hops, some caramel malts and a touch of butterscotch. The taste offers up similar notes with equal strength levels of spicy bitter hops, caramel malts and sweet maltiness. Seems like it may have been on the shelf for a bit.

22 oz. Bottle. Aroma- Citrusy and floral hop aroma. Appearance-Some sweet caramel. Deep amber with a red tint. Modest off white head. Taste- Piney citrusty flavor from hops. Some caramel poking through. Very bitter all the way through. Not a bad IPA.