Williamsburg AleWerks Bitter Valentine

Brewed by Williamsburg AleWerks
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Williamsburg, Virginia USA

Serve in Shaker, Snifter

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22oz bottle, thanks maniac. Small off-white head atop crystal clear amber body. Aroma is moderately sweet, pineapple, grapefruit, some melon, caramel. Taste is moderately sweet, pineapple, grapefruit, light catty. Medium body, some resin, light stickiness.

Bottle. Poured clear copper color with an average frothy off-white head that mostly lasted with excellent lacing. Moderate to heavy complex citrus hop aroma. Moderate to heavy bitter flavor with a moderate to heavy bitter finish of moderate to long duration. Medium to full body with a slick texture and soft carbonation and soft alcohol bite at the finish. Very good brew.

Bottle… WPB Town Hall Meeting 2012… Clear amber ale with a small, creamy, eggshell-colored head. Good retention. The olfactory highlights are dank, grapefruity and peppery hops. Medium to full-bodied with modest carbonation. Quite bitter, but pleasant and flavorful. Lots of citrusy and biting grapefruit rind. Finishes bitter, astringent and tongue-numbingly dry. Williamsburg seldom fails to impress. Bottle courtesy of ksurkin!

22oz bottle. Poured a golden color with a smaller sized head. Aromas of citrus, some fruitiness and some floral hopiness. Some resin. Tastes of citrus, some grassiness, toasted caramel, and fruity. Lighter alcohol in the finish, but overall well hidden.

Bottle (batch #2 apparently) via a trade. Pours with a clear golden hued body with a medium sized and lasting lightly off-white head that leaves good lace. Aromas are hoppy, citrus, resin, pinesol, lightly earthy, nutty. Mostly hop character but medium caramel like and nutty/grainy malt character poke through a little bit. Clean and dry smelling. Flavors are malty, biscuity, pine, resin, citrusy, lightly grassy. Very restrained hop presence. Not too sweet, in fact its nicely dry. Could use quite a bit more of a hop punch though (and this is a very fresh bottle). Dry, medium booze, this seems to need more whirlpool and or dry hopping to make it a world beater. Still good and in the right direction.

UPDATED: MAR 19, 2012 Thanks to ksurkin for this gem. Pours such a deep and remarkable copper-gold color. Fragrant and rich hops explode from the glad, citrus, resin, grassy. Flavor is amazing. Such complexity and hop flavor without any excess bitterness. Oh hell yes.

Bottle shared on the RBWG 2013 bus. Pours clear gold with a light, white froth head. This is a hop and booze bomb with tons of sweetness, lots of rich pine, earth. Big bitterness that really stays with you. Full bodied with fine to average carbonation. Lingering resinous piney hop finish, sticky sweet sugars. I’d like to try this one again at some point because it seemed pretty average to me.

April 2012 release, 22oz bottle thanks to ksurkin: Pours a clear deep golden brass with a clingy-lacing froth of off-white head. Has a fresh resinous hoppy nose with a lightly sweet malty backbone. Starts with good fullness and fine carbonation with ample sweetness and loads of juicy piney hops before a slightly drier bittersweet finish. Great hop profile, yet well-balanced.

bottle, roughly 2 months old. nose and flavor both just full of resin and orange oil and fruit gelatin and wood oil. caramel-heavy, resin-heavy pine sap and strong alcohol. medium-thick body, high bitterness, strong spice / oil / wood resin and alcohol in the finish with lingering spice cabinet character. definitely not worthy of top-10 double IPA placement, even affording a bit of improvement given freshness. the hops didn’t seem too faded, so I have to believe either people are getting something drastically different at the source or this just happens to be what people consider good double IPA.

Bomber from PUB’N. Pours clear dark straw with 3-finger off-white head that laces well. Nose is humongous pineapple, mango,strawberry, tangerine, and resiny hops. Tastes rich, very hoppy, not bitter but extremely fruit, with the big pineapple, honeydew, and tangerine flavors, a smooth and hoppy mid-palate, and a crisp and floral peppery finish. This one is a true hop lovers wet dream. Gets a bit hot late, and perhaps a tad malt light, but is absolutely delicious. This one reminds me a lot of Pliny the Elder and Sculpin.