AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL17/20
adamjackson (1525) – Canaan, New Hampshire, USA – SEP 6, 2013
S – Nose is a mix of tangerines, grapefruit, zest from an orange and some pine cone undertones. I don’t get a lot of malt on the nose but you can tell it’s there. It’s quite a sticky smell that makes you snap to attention. Crack one of these before 8AM and you’re gonna snap to attention.
T – Nice taste overall. I’m not sure how the 9.2% ABV is so well hidden. There’s Ruby Red grapefruit juice + grapefruit peel along with lemony sweetness. There is a minor mineral like finish with a bunch of bitterness that sticks around like chewing on tree bark for a solid 10 minutes after you take a gulp.
M – Sweet, resinous, lingering with some clove essence.
O – It’s unfair to compare this to Heady topper but everything kind of makes you want to. Two locally distributed beers around 9% only in cans. However, this beer is lacking two things. The first is that I couldn’t drink more than a 12oz can of this..the ABV and sticky bitterness creeps up and holds on for a while. Heady in 16oz cans I can drink 2-3 in a night no problem. Heady lacks resin and brings this sweet floral citrus hoppiness that delivers time and time again. I’ll stick with Heady but this is certainly a great IPA!
