Ninkasi Tricerahops Double IPA

Brewed by Ninkasi Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Eugene, Oregon USA

A very good IIPA courtesy of Mr. Stitch. Aroma and taste were very good. All hops with a malty backbone that doesn’t try to be equal. Pour was a medium gold with lots of bubbles and a one finger off white head. Taste was mostly bitter grapefruit hops with some thin earthiness and a dry aftertaste. Decent carbonation and very drinkable for a 9% beer.

courtesy of fishingnet. Pours golden, white head. Aroma is hoppy, floral/pine hops. Taste, hoppy, sweet citrus flavors, with light fruit notes apricot/pineapple. Extremelly smooth and easy to drink, well balanced.

Pours a dark orange. Sweet, pine, citrus fruit nose. Caramel sweetness, heavy hop bitterness. Goodness.

22oz bottle. Opaque copper pour with a thin off-white head. Malty and bready aroma with piney hops. Citrus and pine hop flavor with a touch of sweet malt balance.

Bottle. Pours a clear copper with a one finger off white head that leaves good lacing. Aroma of citrus and floral hops followed by a sweet malt backbone. Taste is the same as aroma. Medium mouth feel with a moderate to strong amount of bitterness and well hidden alcohol. Very good

Sampled February 2009
A solid pour produces a three finger thick, light tan color that forms some nice lacing on the sides of my 25cl tulip glass. The beer is brilliantly clear and shows a nice red color, when held up to the light it shows a red copper color. The aroma smells quite smooth with a focus on bright fruit and caramel. Aromas of ruby-red grapefruit, bergamot, lots of lychee and candied orange creams. a touch of cracker like malt rounds out the finish. The aroma has a nice hop-fruit focus to it, a touch of pine / herbal notes would be nice and the overall volume of the hop character could definitely be turned up quite a bit more. This is quite nice though and is a pleasure to smell for a couple minutes.

Served lightly chilled (near 60ºF / ºC) the beer has a certain dryness to it that is offset by the sweet tasting hop fruit notes. Flavors of lychee, candied grapefruit zest, perhaps a touch of pineapple, a nice mix of essential citrus oils and even some nice, off-setting pine needle flavors and a touch of menthol. The malt is definitely secondary here (as it should be); it adds some accentuating caramelized notes that accentuate the hop fruitiness and there is a touch of cracker-like grain to the finish as well as a touch of chewy bread crust flavors that peeks through from time to time. This is quite smooth in the flavor, the bitterness is quite mellow with only a touch of a bite (at least comparatively to other Double IPAs). This has a medium’ish body to it that is just about the right lightness for a Double IPA; it has that quaffable quality to it that is critical for the style.

This is a nice Double IPA, it could use a touch more vibrant hop character for my tastes, but that might just be a freshness thing. This is quite hoppy, and quite a nice beer. I definitely like that the beer is fairly light, and does not have the heaviness that some Double IPAs have.

For not having been around long, Ninkasi brews a great beer and knows how to work with hops. If I recall correctly, the brewer used to be at Steelhead Brewing, and I think he has one-upped his former employer, at least. The Tricerahops, besides having a killer name, is quickly becoming one of my standard IIPAs. I tried it on cask at the Horse Brass in Portland recently, and it proved itself worthy, for sure. If you see it on cask, don’t pass it by.

22 oz bottle. Pours a slightly hazy orangish gold with a tight bubbled beige head that left some heavy lacing. The hops on the nose are a bit muted, floral with a bit of citrus sneaking in, and there’s a bit of caramel and crystal maltiness. The hops seen to be pretty muted on the flavor as well. Fairly bitter with some pithy citrus rind, there’s no brightness to this at all. The malt base is fairly thin for being 9%, I’m actually pretty surprised that this is that big. Mostly comes across as light caramel and a bit of a crystal malt stale iced tea quality. Finishes fairy thin in body with a weakly bitter leafy hop note. Fairly active fizzy carbonation. Not too big of a fan of this one. Their regular IPA was much better than this and I had higher expectations.