Terrapin Big Hoppy Monster

Brewed by Terrapin Beer Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Athens, Georgia USA

On tap @ McGrath’s. Pours a deep brown, kinda hazy, with a small off-white head. Sorta sweet, sorta fruity aroma. Big mouthful of rich, red grapefruit; a touch sour with a sweet finish. Too much citrus here for me, and that’s saying something. Malt does balance somewhat, but the tart grapefruit overpowers all. OK in small doses.

Bottle from Capone’s, best before date says "Vintage08BB", whatever that means. Huge sweet caramel nose with a heavy hop blanket. A little underlying toffee. Light nuttiness, exotic fruit and citrus. Clear and vibrant ruby pour with a creamy tan head. Taste is extreme hoppy, firm bitterness with a mix of cookie dough and citric acid. A little toffee and chocolate, crystal malt is there but thankfully very restrained, the malt here is very springy and pliable, allows the extremely juicy hops to soar over the top. Surprisingly, there’s some good balance here, more evident in the rich mid-body and finish. Chewy medium body, velvety and creamy, a really rewarding and multifaceted texture. Really hard to describe what’s gnawing at me here, but this is somewhat unique and craaaazy tasty. Even the hop burps are delicious.

pours a hazy mahogany with a thin brown head and heavy lacing. aroma of sticky-sweet, spicy hops and a monstrous malt backbone. flavor is more of the same: bold, spicy, delicious. well-balanced bitter and malt. strong. finish is long and balanced.

2009 bottle. Pours a deep dark amber with hints of ruby red highlights, thick mousse tan head sustains leaving swathes of thick lacing. Nose is big resin and citrus hops with sweet caramel and brown sugar with underlying lighter fruits. Flavor is dominated by caramel malts with hints of toffee and brown sugar on the periphery, light chocolate and coffee roast, high hop bitterness and moderate hop flavors of resin and citrus, fruit esters linger into the sweet finish. Full body, thick and sticky texture, average carbonation. Overall, a top tier imperial red ale with the hops in full effect both in the aroma and slightly less in the flavor, finishes a bit too fast for a beer of this complexity but amazing texture and appearance rounds out the pedigree here.

Santa sent me a 4-pack! Dark opaque brown pour with off white head that clings to the glass. Aroma of sticky resiny hops and sugar cookies. Big, juicy citrus taste with lots of caramel and bready malts. A bit of sweetness and well-rounded fruitiness. Smooth, fluffy mouthfeel. Finishes with a nice bitterness. Very cool to try, thanks santa!

Brown black with a thin creamy tan head. Aroma is citrusy hops, smoothed out by malt character. Taste is the same with prominent roast and caramel character and floral hops in the finish. $6/pint

Bottle. Pours an amber brown with a thick off-white head. Aroma of sweet apple, caramel malt, citrus and tropical fruits, and a touch of cinnamon (?). Flavor is quite malty with some fruity notes upfront and a bready malt (particularly pretzel malt) finish. Not your typical IIPA but quite good with some interesting malt flavors. I don’t get the sweet/sticky notes that other raters have reported. 8/4/8/4/14 [3.8/5]

really thick with a strong warming sensation. Alcohol and hops are HOT. Very dry mouthfeel. Lots of malt and bitterness. Pretty good in a small quantity.