Hop'solutely - Allentown Brew Works

beermanbrian

Pennsylvania

3.45/5  rDev -8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Nice clear golden color. Thin head but that was to be expected. Tons of resinous hop oils in the nose. Candied sweetness is hiding but dosn't show itself until the first sip. Hops blast your tongue up front but the candy sugars really take over on the back end and finish. Sticky sweet mouth. So so brew overall. This is becoming an over attempted style and there are tons of good ones but this falls into the also ran category.

Serving type: bottle

02-07-2010 01:38:21 | More by beermanbrian

Bierman9

New Hampshire

4.5/5  rDev +20%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

For my second (and third) rounds at Allentown on 26JAN10, I opted to go DIPAing. And I was not let down! Had 2x of these for $6.50 per 13oz tulip.

My glass was holding a deep golden liquid, with some haze. Slow carbo meandered upwards, creating a fine, creamy white head. Foam was thin, but lasted, and left very nice lacing behind. Nose had lots, and I mean lots, of citrus. Loads! Wow. That was quite the enticement! Body was more than medium; quite viscous for the style. And as it traversed the tongue? Exceedingly smooth. Top-shelf mouthfeel, right here, folks!

Surprisingly, there was some malt evident upon tasting this sucka. It was a touch sweet, bready and toasty. Then? Hops!! And more hops! X10!!Citrus, pine, resiny character - they all coat the palate. Damn, I love this! Way, way too bad I had to up and drive on, else I'd have quaffed more of this and melted away in a lupulin-induced haze. Top-friggin'-shelf!

Zum Wohl!!

4.5
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | drink: 4.5

1207

Serving type: on-tap

02-02-2010 19:37:48 | More by Bierman9

psujesus

Pennsylvania

4.13/5  rDev +10.1%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Had this at the brew works a couple of times, i was tempted to buy a bottle at the bethlehem site at first but found out that it was on-tap here

poured into a 12oz snifter with a ruby reddish color, could def smell the booze and hop in it, tastes a bit sweet like DFH 90 without as much bitter aftertaste, being 11.5% it is a bit boozy to the tongue

at a 100 ibu's its def a usual when i go to the brew works but no more than one

Serving type: on-tap

01-12-2010 16:21:29 | More by psujesus

RonfromJersey

New Jersey

2.7/5  rDev -28%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Lot of snap, krackel, pop to the pour.

Hazy orange body, hazy like the London fog in a Jack the Ripper movie. Huge billowy off-white foam. Sporadic lacing.

Big sweet aroma flees the bottle, lots of citrus, fruity candy, and licorice. An alcohol warning signal plain as day.

Thick waves of sticky sweet malt roll across the tongue. Bitterness bombs from the top of the mouth. Finishing taste of alcohol, though not a real belly burner. There must be a lot of hops here, but they are exhausted after balancing the malt and can't dominate as expected. Still sweet through the swallow and aftertaste.

Thick slathery mouthfeel. Drinkability is ok considering the initial aroma and sweetness.

It big and huge in all ways, but despite the name the hops are the part that does't get to shine. Better a DIPA with less malt and less balance.

Serving type: bottle

01-06-2010 04:32:44 | More by RonfromJersey

number1bum

Pennsylvania

3.73/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

On tap at Purv's in Peckville. Had no idea this was 11.5% when I ordered it. Came a very vibrant burnt orange color with a creamy beige head that took some time to settle down and finish pouring. Kept nicely with a full lace.

Smell was outstanding, with a ton of juicy hop character. Lots of citrus, plus some sweet candied fruit. Very fresh, floral and juicy.

Taste didn't quite deliver on the promise of the nose. Lots of juicy hop flavor, but the trouble is that it came with a ton of sweetness and alcohol that detracted from the hoppiness. Almost a medicinal sweetness, or candied fruit maybe. Too sweet, though. Also some alcohol burn in the back of the throat. Good amount of hop bitterness in the finish, as well, atlhough this one did lean more toward hop flavor.

Mouthfeel was rich and full, very creamy, but the alcohol burn detracted from the overall feel.

Didn't know what I was getting into when I ordered this one. It was definitely a monster, but it was a nice, fresh local DIPA, and I would order it again for that reason alone. One is enough, though.

Serving type: on-tap

12-28-2009 03:31:50 | More by number1bum

tempest

Pennsylvania

3.58/5  rDev -4.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Split a 750ml bottle with friends at the Steelgaarden. Like most 11%+ IPAs, there's a lot of malty sweetness that takes away from the hops and makes it thicker than it needs to be. It drinks a bit like DFH 90 Minute in relation to the sticky sweetness. The hops are still pretty tasty with the chinook and centennial hops standing out at first with bitter grapefruit and pine, smooth flowery hops kick in and the finish is a mix of light caramel and citrus rind.

Serving type: bottle

11-16-2009 01:15:33 | More by tempest

yourefragile

District of Columbia

3.7/5  rDev -1.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

750 mL capped bottle, labeled as Fegley's Brewworks and was purchased at the Allentown Restaurant. Style on the label is listed as "Triple Indie Pale Ale, Bottle Conditioned" and from the brewery described as their West Coast Double IPA brewed with Cascade, Chinook, Amarillo, Summit and Tomahawk hops. Onto the beer...

Appearance is dull, unfiltered copper/amber with a massive, dense off white/eggshell head that slowly reduces to a finger thick cap with small bubbles and surprising thin sheets of lacing. Aroma is very strong and balanced between grapefruit hops and crystal malt. Begins with pungent hop bitter aroma, primarily grapefruit, other citrus rind, pine and finishes with sweeter malt notes and mild alcohol burn. Body is thicker side of medium, creamy and smooth with mild carbonation. Fairly strong alcohol presence in the finish as well with a lingering sticky sweetness. Flavor has a strong, rich malt backbone that provides nice balance to the impending hop presence in the middle and finish of the taste. Grapefruit and pine flavors dominate but the beer is never overly bitter. The alcohol and malt sweetness makes this more of a sipper than the hop presence. Interesting beer for the first in what I assume will be a series of bottled beers (I guess Rude Elf is next). Not sure I'd call this a great example of a West Coast IIPA, actually reminds me of the Rogue Imperial Red a little, but this is getting me excited about Allentown/Bethlehem Brewworks beers again.

Serving type: bottle

Serving type: bottle

11-07-2009 20:09:43 | More by yourefragile