Rock Bottom Bellevue Hop Bomb IPA

Brewed by Rock Bottom Bellevue
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Bellevue, Washington USA

Had this at Elliott Bay. They billed it as being served on "nitro cask", so I have no idea what they meant by that. It poured a hazy amber. The aroma had a lot of tropical fruits like passion fruit and guava. The best way to describe the body would be "corpse". I mean there was no carbonation at all and the beer was 100% lifeless on the tongue. Flavour, what little could come across my tastebuds, was slightly fruity and standard American hops. But there was nothing holding it up. Any malts were lost in the "nitro cask"-ness, as was alcohol and most of the bitterness. Whatever this beer might taste like under normal circumstances, "nitro cask" needs to be one of those experiments long forgotten that we can all laugh about...like next week.

On tap at Rock Bottom, Seattle. Gold with thin white head. Sweaty sox hop aroma, some grassiness. Thin in mouth, aroma is ok but lacks malt structure. Some intense hop on end, but overall a poor effort.

Draught Small whitish head, very fast gone; golden coloured beer. Very hoppy nose; USA hops à la Amarillo. Quite bitter, near metallic hoppy, but malt bill is inexistant. Grassy hops, rather than citrussy. Once again, the RB disease: watery, light MF, lacking desperately basis. All is said.

Amber colour wiht a thin white head. Nice sweet cascadey aroma. Lots of pale malt, grapefruty and a bit of pineapple as well. Very light resin. Very well-balanced, moderate bitterness. Fruity apple and peachy flavours mingle with the tropical hop notes. Juicy and tasty.

Served in a shaker, this beer had both a very delicious appearance and a unique one: of lemonade. WIth a bright, glowing lemon yellow color and a deeply murky yeast-cloud body, it screamed refreshment in a way that only true hefeweizen and fresh squeezed lemonade can. Intensely sweet bubblegum/sugar hop nose, with a gritty, wafting hop particle cloud reaching up into your nose... the hops are likley simply cascade or amarillo, but there are amazingly fresh and try to keep your nose in this beer for hours. This IPA is all sweetness up front, with grapefruit bitterness which unfortunately drop out quickly in the middle of the tongue, leaving me confused. Very sweet, biting bitter up front, full of wonderful pulp-like citrus juice flavor, but just dropping off the face of the earth near the end. I would still drink this regularly, it was enjoyed.

Draught @ WABF 2008. Pours a slightly hazy golden color with a small white head. Malty hoppy grapefruit aroma. Malty hoppy bitter grapefruit flavor. Hasa long hoppy bitter grapefruit finish.

GABF 2006: Clear golden color with a small off-white head. Nice fresh citrus hop aroma. Good backing of caramel malt. Citrus and piney hop flavor with a sweet malt finish. Moderate hop bitterness on the finish.

Draft at the brewhouse. Good medium amber color and a hint of a head for a minute. The nose hits you with beautiful raw, botanically correct (i.e., just like a hop field) floral hop nose. The attack starts with delicious citrus hops and just enough malt backbone to keep it from keeling over with the weight of the alpha acids, then washes to a light clean finish. This is a tasty IPA but not sure it deserved such a high finish at WBC this year.