Double Simcoe IPA
Sampled through "I Want That" BIF 2 and mikesgroove. Impressive in the glass. A clear bronze colored ale with a very tall off-white to tan colored head that recedes slowly. Top of the class in looks. The scent is exceedingly spicy and hoppy in aroma pretty much like having fresh crushed hop buds shoved up your nose. Strong grapefruit, menthol, mint, eucalyptus, melon, pepper, cherry and orange. Probably more scents in this but as I mentioned this is STRONG smelling to the point that this stuns your sense of smell after a few minutes, it is that strong. The flavor begins neutral in sweetness and very strongly hopped and bitter, there is a long lasting woody flavor. After the taste buds adapt to the shock of the hops there isn't that much subtlety or depth of flavor here, possibly because the hop level is high enough to be noticeably numbing to the mouth like clove oil. Mostly bitter and woody to the taste there is some sweet and citrus flavors here. Mild caramel in the malt and menthol and mint on the alcohol fumes it tastes like the IBUs were push a little bit beyond a threshold here to the level of stunning to the senses. The mouthfeel is good. Not as drinkable as could be hoped from the outstanding aroma and appearance of this beer. The flavor needs a little tuning to be among the best of this style. This is so very close to the best of its class that it only needs a slight toning down of the bitterness levels to allow more hop subtle flavors to emerge rather than stun. After on glass of this my sense of taste is quite thoroughly stunned for the night and I can't really taste anything else less powerful than this beer of a painfully spicy hot pepper. Remarkable and VERY close too truly great.