beer_name: Eleven
text: Weyerbacher's Eleven really takes things up a notch! This brash and bold ale pours a mostly-clear (it's just so viscous that you could never really see your fingerprints through the glass), gold-orange-copper body beneath a massive head of frothy ivory lace. The head retention is excellent and it leaves walls of thick, craggy lace about the glass. The nose is surprisingly restrained for a self-proclaimed "triple" IPA; but there are some piney and gently citrusy/fruity/minty hops there; and to a certain extent, the huge head holds the aroma back by containing it. The head is beautiful though! In the mouth, an over-abundance of malt leaves it stunningly dextrinous and creamy (almost chewy!), but a zesty carbonation is able to liven the tongue and cut through its maltiness, keeping it from becoming sticky. The hops and alcohol hit you straight away at the first sip, but the pillowy soft, gently sweet, and mildly caramelish malt follows, softening the blow. The hops are pungent, softly piney, minty, sublimely fruity (or is that from the yeast?), leafy, and perhaps spicy - but that's hard to tell as a swish of alcohol enters fairly abruptly and never does get the hint to go home. After a few sips you'll start to feel the warming in your mouth, throat, and belly; and not far beyond that your palate will become dulled. The bitterness is rock solid, but not abrasive, and the huge maltiness balances nicely. Where are the hops though? You just can't pick them out in the mix. Nor can you really taste the malt, for that matter. The bitterness, hop acidity, and alcohol are always present though. It's just muddled... As it warms, however, it becomes much clearer and far more enjoyable. The alcohol is still there proclaiming it's strength at every opportunity, but the malt and hop flavors start to balance and make sense. If you view this as a super-strong English-style IPA it makes far more sense than what you might expect from an American double-IPA. And, I think, at cellar temperature, I'd quite enjoy a half-pint of this after one of two "regulars". Overall impression: an over the top beer that's been fired so high into the sky that it's lost touch with earth. Massive and bold, but somehow lacking finesse.