Hopzilla Imperial IPA-Side Project v.12
10.8% ABV
Terrapin Brewing Co.
Athens, GA (AKA God’s Country)

Color:  Iridescent, golden hue with crisp white foam.
Aroma:  Candied Pine sap.

How dare you question Terrapin’s ability to over-hop a beer!  At 110 IBU’s, the hoppy side of me is very happy, but at 10.8% ABV the malty side of me is happy for the crisp, malty support.  Nice, earthy bitter finish.  I think Terrapin took some heat from hopheads for Hopsecutioner, which I love, not being hoppy enough.  This behemoth should shut them up.  I bet there are thousands of Japanese running from this beer already!  This beer is up there with Lagunitas Hop Stoopid, Oskar Blues Gubna, and Harpoon Leviathan:  All super-hopped beers that seem really bitter at first, but halfway through your first one, you realize, thisisreallygoodbeer!!!

I appear to be losing the ability to type but, moral of the story:

 A. This is the lightest, coolest color, (seriously, the color is like a hologram! Freaky!), of any Imperial IPA I’ve ever had!

B.  There is plenty of hop goodness and complexity in this brew.

 C. This is really, really good beer, and I like you.  No, seriously,  I don’t say it enough.  You know<Hiccup!> I mean, you GET me.  YouknowwhatImean???

“Whoa…No!  I think I’m gonna throw…Throw up Hopzilla! Woo-oooo-ah”
(Sang in the style of Blue Oyster Cult’s Godzilla, in case you didn’t get it.)

Just kidding, I would never waste a beer this delicious!

Seriously though, I only have one swallow left and I don’t want this beer to end.  Oh well, here goes…

Saaalut!!!
9.75 Bananas

GUBNA Imperial IPA
10% ABV
Oskar Blues Brewery
Longmont, CO

Golden Copper with white foam.
Earthy, woody-vegetable aroma.

The East Coast / West Coast feud is over!  This beer is extremely well balanced and at the Toppermost of the Hoppermost.  This is one of the best Imperial IPA’s I have ever had.  Right up there with DFH 90 Minute or (insert any great IIPA here).  This beer is way hoppy throughout with plenty of malt backbone to carry it through.  There is a strong bitter hop finish to remind you where this beer was born.  At 10% ABV you should only have one or two…I had three.  I hesitated at the price, $14.99 for 4, but this masterpiece is well worth it! 

Saaalut!!!

9.98 Bananas!

Up the Creek Extreme IPA
Thomas Creek Brewery
Greenville, S.C.
12.5% ABV

Deep ruby red color.
Smells like burnt sugar,(I mean that in a good way), candied hops.

 
Man, I love what these guys are doing.  I haven’t had a Thomas Creek beer yet that I didn’t really like!  I don’t know if everything they’re trying in this beer works, but it is super-fun trying to find out.  I think it does work.  I think it’s all there.  Obviously, at 12.5 % ABV, there is plennnnnnnnty of malty backbone, but there’s a whole lotta bitter in there too.  The wonderfully bitter finish hangs around substantially between sips.  I wonder if it should be called a Barleywine.  Whatever it is, it’s great.

Saaalut!!!

9.4 Bananas.

2 Turtle Doves
12% ABV
The Bruery
Placentia, CA

Dark chocolate brown with a creamy tan head.
The aroma screams turtle, more than turtle doves; chocolatey, nutty,
caramel-toffee malt and King Bee tobacco.

All right, this beer is special by itself, but do NOT open this bottle without some type of dark chocolate to pair with it.  I had it with a chocolate lava cake, from Domino’s.  Shut up!  Unless you’ve had one of these cakes, don’t judge!  It is a hard, crunchy brownie, dusted with powdered sugar, and filled with a dark chocolate filling.  For what it is, and where it comes from, it is amazing…Seriously.  I have had the cake with two chocolate loving beers, and it pairs perfectly.  Anyway, I digress.  This beer definitely lives up to the promises given by the aroma.  There’s chocolate, nuts, pepper, fig, caramel, dried tobacco…You name it.  Everything you would expect from a beer of this size and billing.  But make sure you have some delicious dark chocolate to go along with it.  If you don’t, call Domino’s!

Lips of Faith
Sour Brown Ale
6% ABV
New Belgian Brewing
Fort Collins, CO

Deep ruby, dark brown color.
Smells like sauerkraut and mustard, faint vanilla and charred Oak.

I couldn’t remember if I had ever tried a sour beer before…I definitely had not.  To quote Joey Lawrence from the hit show Blossom, “Whoa!!!” 

This beer is exactly what it says it is, Sour!  When I was a kid, we used to pick Ragweed and chew on the stem.  This beer tastes a lot like that Ragweed, super sour!  There are some smoky, woody and malty notes, but this beer is predominately acid sour, start to finish.  If you like beer adventures, climb on board!

A pickle faced Saaalut!!!

9 Plantains, (sorry, this beer is too sour to even be compared with bananas!)

Santa’s Private Reserve Ale

Rogue Ales

Newport, Oregon

Dark Amber color.

Sweet malt aroma with a touch of Spruce.

This beer is Christmas.  There are plenty of nice, warming Winter Ales out there with their heavy malt, their warming alcohol, and their cloves and spices.  All of these ales do comfort in Winter, but this offering from Rogue is a Christmas Beer.  It is huge and malty, warming and delicious, and stirred with a Christmas tree.  They used just the right type and amount of hops to remind you that this is Christmas, this is a Christmas beer.  I now understand how Santa gets it all done in one night…He’s gotta get back home to this!  I have a new holiday beer.  Go get yourself one…or six.  I’ve seen it available in 22’s and six packs.  Where are the half gallon growlers?  Now there’s a festive holiday gathering.  This is a wonderfully well balanced beer that leans toward the hoppy side. 

Saaalut!!!

9.5  Bananas!

Yellow Snow IPA

Rogue Ales

Newport, Oregon

Pale golden color, cloudy from dry-hopping.

Citrusy, piney hop aroma.

I knew what I was getting into with an IPA from Rogue, but whoooweee!  That is hoppy!  I know there is malt in here somewhere, but this beer is all about the hops.  It’s hops in the front, middle and back.  Not for the hop dabbler, this is full blown bitter.  I know there is plenty of alcohol in here, (a little tipsy after half a 22), but them boys out’in the Northwest know how to manip-ulate their hops.  Good stuff, but not for the feint hopp-ed.  As it warms in my glass, I’m starting to see where the name came from.  If you can’t get enough hops, then try this…You will.

Saaalut!!!

8.7 Green Bananas

Dank Tank VI
Wet Dream
7.5 % ABV
Sweetwater Brewing Co.
Atlanta, GA

So the guys at Sweetwater made this great beer and threw in lots of fresh-ass Chinook hops, straight off of the vine.  This is called wet hopping.  Most beers are made with dried hops, using wet hops brings in a more earthy, woody flavor.  This is a nice, malty red ale loaded with Chinook hops from the front to the middle to the back.  Great hop aroma up front, sweet and bitter first impression.  Woody hop flavor throughout with a piney, white pepper finish.  Delish!  This is a hop lover’s dream.

Saaalut!!!

9.2 Bananas

He’brew Jewbelation
Bar Mitzvah 13th Anniversary Ale
Shmaltz Brewing Co.
Saratoga Springs, NY
13% ABV

Dark brown to black with brownish tan head.
Big malty mess, chocolate and molasses aromas.

Mmmm!  If you like big malty beers with good hop balance, you’ll love this.  Sweet molasses, dark chocolate, with a lingering hop bitterness reminding you this is a beer.  I believe Yahweh had a hand in creating this one.  Go get yourself one!

L’Chaim!!!

9.75 Bananas

Recently, I took a much cherished visit to 5 Seasons Brewing Co. North.
I don’t get to go here very often, but when I do, it’s worth the wait!
Here are the beers I had…

Cask Aged Dark Star Licorice Stout-dark chocolate bitter, yeasty and nourishing.

Oktoberfest Lager-great hoppy marzen, loaded with malt and plenty of hops powering through.  This is the best of both worlds!

Big Red-smooth amber ale, kind of finishes like unsweetened tea.  Good Fall beer.

Amberliscious ESB-I used to be avoid Extra Special Bitters, until I started getting into hoppy- bitter beers.  To my surprise, ESB’s really aren’t that bitter, but they are usually pretty special.  This one is no exception.  Lots o’flavor, and it does actually finish with a good hop bitterness.  Earthy butterscotch with great hop finish.

Plan B IPA-2 years ago, I couldn’t have finished this beer.  Now I love it!  This is a freakin’ hop bomb!  Citrusy-Skunky,(in a good way), aroma. Sweet malt flavor mixed with grapefruit hops and hops and hops, with a bitter pine hop finish.  This beer could’ve carried itself from Britain to India!

Decadent Brown Ale-dark brown chocolate-nutty brown ale with plenty of hops breaking through.  This ain’t no Newcastle!  Deliciously Decadent-10 malts/10 hops, (Deca)= Mmm, mmm good.

Belgian Red- Bubble gum/candied apple with warming alcohol.  Probably shouldn’t have had the big brown before this one, still very good.

Alright, obviously all the beers were wonderful.  I recommend you get the sampler, so you can try all the draughts available.  I had Veal Bratwurst and Green Tomato Gyoza to eat, and they were both delicious.  Take a trip to Alpharetta, Sandy Springs or Atlanta.  It is a wonderful experience to try original, fresh, handcrafted beers, that you can’t get anywhere else.