XS Old Crustacean
One hard drink. A fierce pour from the expensive flip-top XS bottle produced a deep red brown barely carbonated lacing-no real head to speak of. Not much aroma other than piney hops and alcohol. Not much taste other than bitter hops and alcohol. Trying to taste the sweet malt qualities was hard to do-the chewy bitter hops just overshadowed everything. The aftertaste of hops lingered many minutes between sips. Even as the brew warmed up it still just was hops hops hops. Like unto pulling fresh buds off of the vine and chewing on them. I like hops-but this is just overkilled. You gotta have some sweet along with the bitter. Maybe this is one of those brews that needs a year or five in the cellar before it is mellow enough to drink. I loved Rogue's Imperial IPA. This was a tad over the top.