Hop Dam Triple IPA - Hoppin' Frog Brewery

metter98

New York

4/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: The beer is clear amber in color and has no visible carbonation. It poured with a finger high beige head that only died down a little and never completely faded away.
S: There are light to moderate aromas of grapefruit and pine resin hops in the nose.
T: Like the smell, the taste has flavors of grapefruit and pine resin hops along with a moderate amount of accompanying bitterness that particularly linger through the finish. There are some hints of caramel malts. The pine resin seems to become stronger as the beer warms up.
M: It feels a little more than medium-bodied and crisp on the palate and has a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: Considering its strength, this beer is rather drinkable because the alcohol is well masked from the taste.

Serving type: bottle

12-23-2012 00:55:46 | More by metter98

riemster

Ohio

4/5  rDev +0.3%

06-17-2013 18:54:53 | More by riemster

ChrisMon02

Ohio

4.25/5  rDev +6.5%

06-15-2013 23:43:36 | More by ChrisMon02

ali1987

Florida

3.75/5  rDev -6%

06-15-2013 01:25:42 | More by ali1987

kylehay2004

Florida

4.25/5  rDev +6.5%

06-15-2013 01:21:48 | More by kylehay2004

goblin7704

Ohio

4.25/5  rDev +6.5%

06-11-2013 16:55:34 | More by goblin7704

woodchip

North Carolina

3.75/5  rDev -6%

05-31-2013 00:27:29 | More by woodchip

moonknight31

California

3.5/5  rDev -12.3%

05-21-2013 14:22:23 | More by moonknight31

InspectorBob

New Jersey

4/5  rDev +0.3%

05-20-2013 19:44:30 | More by InspectorBob

pixieskid

France

3.5/5  rDev -12.3%

05-17-2013 19:57:32 | More by pixieskid

Ivegotmule

North Carolina

4.75/5  rDev +19%

05-11-2013 23:11:53 | More by Ivegotmule

Lanstrum

Ohio

3/5  rDev -24.8%

05-11-2013 01:03:39 | More by Lanstrum

tectactoe

Michigan

3.31/5  rDev -17%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25

Thanks to Ataraxia for this extra. Hop Dam pours a completely opaque color that lies somewhere between light-copper and swampy-brown. Murky to the core and obviously unfiltered, the off-white cap retains well for a brew with higher alcohol content and leaves an extremely generous amount of fat and sticky lacing along the sides of the glass. Even once the beer is gone, some white lace remains near the top.

I stick my face into the glass and my nose is hit immediately with a bunch of sweet malts. I find this problem (although I don't know if it should be considered a "problem" per se) often with "Triple" IPAs or IPAs that are "over the edge"... the malt bill must be large enough to stand up to the crazy overload of hops, and in turn, the beer becomes more of a sweet malty concoction rather than a hop-heavy bitter bruiser. The initial whiff of Hop Dam seems to be leading me down this road.

There are definitely some sticky citrus aromas, along with a light pungency of pine and floral hops, but there's no mistaking the huge malt backbone in this one. Lots of caramel, toffee, and butterscotch aromas that actually outplay the hops by quite a bit. Very sweet and almost candy-like to the nostrils. It doesn't smell bad, but I don't know if I wan't my IPAs to smell like this exactly.

As expected, the first sip induces a great amount of bread, toasted caramel, and super huge toffee flavors into my palate. The beer is quite heavy; sticky and thick and borderline chewy, which plays even more into the hands of the heavy malt bill. Hops are sadly secondary, but they do eventually surface once the initial malt-shock mellows out and subsides. They have a lightly citric, but mostly earthy character.

The bitterness provided by the hops barely puts a dent in the sweetness from the malt. I wouldn't go so far as to call Hop Dam "cloying", but I certainly don't want my IPA to be this sweet. Once the taste of the earthy, dirty, mildly-citric hops fades, the aftertaste is left with the leftover malt flavors. The palate finishes with big-time caramel and toffee that coats your taste buds to the (not-so-bitter) end. A little more lively carbonation would have help the thick, sticky mouth feel on this one.

It's not like this beer was offensive or tough to put down, but it doesn't really qualify as much of an IPA to me, let alone a "triple" IPA. I don't care how many hops actually went into the brew kettle - when a beer contains this much malt sweetness coming through in the final flavor profile, you are out of IPA territory. In my opinion, just a "meh" beer on almost every front - nothing exciting happening here, especially not for IPA lovers.

Serving type: bottle

05-06-2013 16:14:04 | More by tectactoe

Chaney

District of Columbia

4/5  rDev +0.3%

04-27-2013 18:43:37 | More by Chaney

Jonbw

Mississippi

3.75/5  rDev -6%

04-15-2013 19:30:36 | More by Jonbw

AJStank

Ohio

3.75/5  rDev -6%

04-08-2013 23:16:22 | More by AJStank

JDizzle

Indiana

4.5/5  rDev +12.8%

03-28-2013 01:26:04 | More by JDizzle

Jamison85

Indiana

4.75/5  rDev +19%

03-27-2013 04:58:22 | More by Jamison85

ejimhof

Pennsylvania

3/5  rDev -24.8%

03-23-2013 17:52:21 | More by ejimhof

alevaza

Virginia

4/5  rDev +0.3%

03-20-2013 22:31:35 | More by alevaza

Morey

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +0.3%

03-19-2013 23:27:49 | More by Morey

Thorpe429

Illinois

3.75/5  rDev -6%

03-16-2013 12:22:34 | More by Thorpe429

Huhzubendah

District of Columbia

4.26/5  rDev +6.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

The beer is golden and fairly clear with a small white head. The aroma is great, offering a big dose of citric hops, followed by alcohol. Pineapples and mango. Good flavor. Bold and aggressive. Aroma is a step above the flavor. A solid offering from Fred and Hoppin' Frog. Best shared.

Serving type: bottle

03-16-2013 02:17:14 | More by Huhzubendah

SnatchyMcPants

Indiana

3.25/5  rDev -18.5%

03-15-2013 23:57:02 | More by SnatchyMcPants

jplopez21

Illinois

4/5  rDev +0.3%

03-05-2013 00:56:25 | More by jplopez21