Springfield Mueller Hop Monster

Springfield Brewing Company’s Mueller Hop Monster was brewed to celebrate SBC’s 9th anniversary and pours up heavily with a tannish head that briefly tops the deep copper-orangish amber body. The rich, malty aroma shows some nice caramel, candied honey (e.g. Bit-O-Honey) and some nuttiness (e.g. toasted pine nuts). Some citrusy & piney hops remain, but are subdued by a superior maltiness that has taken over. Hints of bourbon, cherry tobacco, and warm vanilla wafers add to the overall complexity. Alcohol noted. The generous flavor starts off with some some caramel sweetness that’s complimented by a solid winter barley (i.e. Maris Otter) maltiness that eventually gives way to a moderate, but nicely balanced bitterness which creates a smooth, slightly chewy, and warming finish. This medium-full bodied anniversary ale is clean with a lovely nougaty creaminess that masks the strength well. The draught version tasted more of an English IPA whereas the bottled version seemed more indicative of an American Strong Ale. This is one of those beers that defies categorizing and actually gets better with age. Try pairing this one with a piece of SBC’s famous Bourbon Pecan Pie a la mode or make it a dessert unto itself. Here’s to ’The Wizard’ and his Hop Monster with The Strength of 9! CHEERS! Beertracker

Bottle poured a copper color. Piney, Citrusy hop aroma. Flavor is a little disappointing, not a lot of hop bitterness. Sweet malt and some citrus hops are present, just not like I had expected.

Bottle: Pours hazy copper, massive white head. Aroma is very strong hops, grapefruit, pine, alcohol. Flavor is HUGE. I’ve had some IIPA in my day, but this one is border-line brutal. Massive hops begin fruity, but quickly meld into an intense spice that pretty much wipes out your palate less than 1/4 through the bottle. To be honest, the regular IPA is much better. This thing is just intense, no way around it. Malts make their best attempt to balance, but let’s not fool ourselves.

I thought this brew was excellent. Had it on tap at the brewery in Springfield, MO. It was a brownish yellow in color, nice aroma, excellent head. If you are a fan of hops, you want be disappointed. Being a GA boy, it reminds me a lot of Big Hoppy Monster from Terrapin. The hops are super strong and prevelent, but doesn’t cross that line making it overberring. This is an excellent brew that far exceeded my somewhat low expectations.

I got this bottle from ADJ. 500 ml swing top bottle. Not really much going on here. Light pine and apricot aromas with some sweet caramel character. Pretty bitter, but the malt and hop character are very muddled. Kind of a fruity yeast character. Semi dry finish. I’ll take a pass on the next.