Hardcore IPA - BrewDog

paxton1978

United Kingdom (England)

4.83/5  rDev +32%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

I'm reviewing this because i really didn't like the first hardcore, but this is amazing. Beautiful golden colour, great head with nice retention and the taste really stands up to the double IPAs i've had from the states. It's great to see a brewer go back to the drawing board with a beer and make something so great- this really gives me high hopes for future brewdog ventures!

Serving type: bottle

05-09-2010 00:13:39 | More by paxton1978

MrHurmateeowish

New Hampshire

4.6/5  rDev +25.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

550ml brown bottle purchased at The Liquor Shoppe in Tygsboro, MA. Pours a bit hazy golden amber body with a half inch of off-white head that dissipates rather quickly. Grapefruit and toffee equally share the aroma, hinting at a good malt backbone for this DIPA. Orange, lemon, grapefruit hit the palate first, with toffee and chocolate malts shortly thereafter to help balance and bring some complexity to the show. Full-bodied with moderate carbonation. This is a very easy drinking DIPA and is disappearing much faster than I'd like. This beer is phenomenal - bold but balanced, complex yet approachable. I'm impressed.

Serving type: bottle

07-24-2009 23:11:37 | More by MrHurmateeowish

JamesS

Indiana

4.55/5  rDev +24.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Pours a light copper color with some decent head and lacing throughout. Great scent, very hoppy with great citrus (orange and slight melone) tones right up front. Great taste, a huge thick maltiness up front that goes into a citrus and pineapple flavor afterwards; great balance for a high ABV beer. Smooth for such a thick, high ABV beer. Excellent beer.

Serving type: bottle

08-04-2009 02:07:16 | More by JamesS

donniecuffs

New Jersey

4.55/5  rDev +24.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Had this at the Gotham Cask Festival last week. I noticed that some pretty passionate negative reviews have been written about this beer, but I must say that the Cask I sampled...if only that batch...was divine.

The beer poured a nice orange/copper, with a thin head, expectedly no carbonation, and good lacing. The aroma was an inviting mix of pink grapefruit, mango, peach, and honey, with very subtle hop bitterness. The flavor progression impressively started with a round full-bodied bouquet of the aforementioned fruits, which dissolved to a nice hop-bitter finish, and a dry mouthfeel aftertaste. The body overall was medium, but the flavor progression with each sip made this an excellent experience. If I didn't want to try some of the other great Casks on hand, I probably would've drank this one all night.

Serving type: cask

09-25-2009 06:30:06 | More by donniecuffs

cdpike

Michigan

4.53/5  rDev +23.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

On cask at The Pub in Lexington, KY.

Poured a beautiful deep reddish amber with plenty of nice creamy foam. Nose is big on citrusy, piney hop glory. The smell is terribly inviting and backed with some caramel sweetness and a bit of alcohol. What a flavor this beer has! Lots of thick chewy malt and a good bit of alcohol up front with an aggressive hop finish. This is quite complex and balanced. The cask adds a bit of spicy funk that is just delicious. Additionally, the cask temperature and light effervescence make for a wonderful experience. What a great beer on a breezy Sunday afternoon! Perhaps the cask added more than meets the eye based on the other (less than stellar) reviews here, because this was one of the better beer moments for me in recent memory.

Serving type: cask

01-31-2010 15:59:42 | More by cdpike

Naerhu

Japan

4.47/5  rDev +22.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Thanks to RobBeer for bringing this out to Japan. Shared with Mumbles and Ryan.

A really great ale, loads of bitterness balanced with hops. Not much sweetness or yeast, just pure hops on a solid malty backbone.

Nothing over the top despite the 9% alc. Completely integrated. Awesome.

Serving type: bottle

04-06-2008 13:58:16 | More by Naerhu

GratefulBeerGuy

New Hampshire

4.47/5  rDev +22.1%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Deep and hazy amber, nice glow with a large, clumpy, tan colored head...sticky icky lacing all over.

The aroma is just exploding with hops, acidic-pine tree needles and pineapple sweetness...smells as if the hop cones are just floating in the liquid. sugary candy with an equal amount of citric snappiness on the nose. The malt gives off the toffee-like mellow sweetness. Easily one of the hoppiest aroma's I've ever sniffed at.

whoa mama! The first thing I noticed in the flavor was the amazing balance. sure it's hoppy, actually very complex on the hoppy side, but the malt deliver's a crispy, gentle sweetness of a less hoppy ale, more like a session brew believe it or not. Lots of crispy wheat and earthy yeast flavor's, did I mention crispy, earthiness?? 'cause this thing is loaded with it, which I really dig. Very gentle toffee is exactly what the malt is like, but it never comes across as slick or heavy. The feel is full for the style, crispy but you know it's going down!! The heat is very gentle, which is a nice surprise and the amazing citric, pine tree sap and and earthiness keeps it from getting too bitter which can get to be too much for me sometimes. No problem here, the drinkabilty is really high due to the fact that the malt is in perfect balance with the hops and earthy, heary flavors abound with no effort.

This is easily one of the best DIPA's i've ever had, I had actually grown tired of very hoppy brews...until this one. I'm glad I kept a very open mind! Cheers BD!! ooops, forgot to mention this is my 900th review.

Serving type: bottle

07-13-2010 00:01:17 | More by GratefulBeerGuy

Sunnanek

Sweden

4.45/5  rDev +21.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A: Pours warm orange with a medium large off-white head that leaves nice lacings.

S: Lots of American hops, both floral as well as bitter. There's rich citric notes together with pine and pineapple, but also a well balanced bitterness. The malt is a bit in the back but the caramell malt is present.

T: The hops from the smell are as present in the taste. But there's also a more roasted malt-character - really nice. Well balanced.

M: Aftertaste is really long and rich. Bitter and warm citric at the same time. Body is medium as well as carbonation.

D: A great DIPA, probably on of the best beers from Brewdog, in stiff competition...

Serving type: bottle

07-29-2010 18:31:59 | More by Sunnanek

MountainBeagle

California

4.43/5  rDev +21%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Overall this beer is outstanding. The name does not really suit it well for west coast IPA fans. You will not be overwhelmed by hops by any means. This does not take from the fact that this is a great beer. It tastes of toffee malts and slightly grapefruit hops a beautiful combo. Highly recommend this beer!

Serving type: bottle

11-23-2009 03:22:18 | More by MountainBeagle

NewGeneric

California

4.43/5  rDev +21%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

Thanks to dansteino for the excellent selection.
Poured into a pint glass.

A: Pours a clear amber color with one finger of white head that fades moderately quickly, leaving behind plenty of solid and patchy lacing.

S: Smells quite sublime actually. Plenty of floral and citrusy hops. It really reminds me of sticking my nose into a bag of hops. Not much malt character to be noticed.

T: Tastes like fresh hops - floral, spicy, fruity notes abound. Balanced pretty well by a good solid malt backbone, without being sweet. Very good.

M: Again, well balanced. Bitterness may leave me just a little more dry than I'd like, but otherwise, very good.

D: Probably the best BrewDog beer I've had thus far.

Serving type: bottle

08-04-2010 20:05:15 | More by NewGeneric

ferrari29

Illinois

4.4/5  rDev +20.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Beer poured from bottle into a Dogfish Head pint glass. Thanks to Beerman1965 for finding this limited selection brew.

A - Beer poured into the glass with a one finger white colored head; no visible carbonation; opaque dark orange colored body; small amount of lacing formed on the side of the glass and didn't stick very much

S - Strong caramel malt scent; citrus and hops; pine cone; smooth biscuit scent

T - Beer has a slight scotch taste to it, probably from high ABV; slight hint of toffee; nice and smooth caramel and biscuit malt flavor washes right over the tongue; pine; not extremely hop dominated, which made it taste just great

M - Quick bitter aftertaste, with a slight lingering taste of caramel and hops; smooth taste and medium feel body

D - Great flavor and scent profile, I really liked this beer; I wish they would make more of it; not sure why this got a lower rating from everyone but it is definitely one of my favorites

Serving type: bottle

07-25-2011 19:00:37 | More by ferrari29

philerman

Pennsylvania

4.4/5  rDev +20.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Poured from bottle into my Great Lakes Brewery snifter. Pours a very hazy dark orange color with a decent, fastly dissipating head. Citrusy, malty smell. Very smooth taste for this high ABV that goes down pretty easy. Somewhat heavy alcohol aftertaste.

Lot of people comparing this to Dogfish Head 90, but I'd put it closer to 102.5 or so.

Serving type: bottle

02-04-2012 01:23:15 | More by philerman

Metalmonk

North Carolina

4.38/5  rDev +19.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Pours a rather hazy burnt orange/gold color, typical of the style, with a dishsoapy head that minimizes quickly. The bubbles that stick to the sides of the glass and float on the surface of the liquid look like what happens when ice cream is thrown into a bowl of water. All airy and wispy, creamy and cloud-white.

Aroma is a bounty of hoppiness--lots of citrus and pine elements in the same measure, with a generous malt presence, indicating that this may not be the most-tongue ripping double IPA, but rather a well-balanced beast.

Wow...first sip and I'm thinking two things: 1) not what I expected from the hints in the nose, and 2) severely, sadly underrated. I only looked at the letter rating here on BA, and I haven't read any other reviews yet (I will very soon)...but what's not to like? Yes, the finish is particularly biting, but that's a hugely hopped beer for you. The front of the sip is particularly well-balanced between malt and hops, the malt having a gooey, soft candy-like essence; some sugar cookie dough vibes here. And the hops...well, yeah, they win out, and they're grassy, and very raw. Not quite astringent, but toeing that line. It's a simple angle of attack, really. Very much a distinctive flavor--one that this hop-lover loves. What's not to like?

Maybe the mouthfeel is a little too strange for some. While it is slick and creamy in one sense, it has a kind of flatness to it...not as in "thin" or "watery," just as in "not round." Carbonation is here, but merely to provide a little bit of body. I like the soft, unobtrusive manner in which this lays on the tongue and in the mouth. Not being a huge fan of over-carbonation in big beers, I can only call the mouthfeel "wonderful."

I will most definitely stand up for this beer. Rather than adhering to the style's confines, it breaks from the pack and does its own thing. As much as I love gigantic IPAs like this, there's no doubting that very few brewers are able to put a unique stamp on this style. BrewDog does that with aplomb. I will buy quite a few more of these next time I see it.

Serving type: bottle

01-07-2010 00:29:34 | More by Metalmonk

dgilks

Australia

4.38/5  rDev +19.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Big, sweet hop aroma. Good crystal malt profile backed up by mango, tangerine and candy-like hops.

Amber colour with a big, fluffy, off-white head. Good head retention.

So, it appears I have the old formulation of this beer but I love it. Big, hop flavour with tangerine, pine, resin, passionfruit. Strong bitterness which is relatively clean. Good malt profile to back it all up. Really solid.

Medium-low body with moderate carbonation. This works well.

A really tasty DIPA with plenty of complex hop flavour. The malt profile sits nicely in the background. Well done.

Serving type: bottle

05-07-2010 06:55:34 | More by dgilks

DovaliHops

California

4.38/5  rDev +19.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Pours an almost-clear amber color with a medium white head that dies down quickly. Scent is extremely hoppy with a TON of grapefruit... and maybe a bit of that cat piss I got when I smelled HopSlam. Yeah, I'm getting some honey and some cat piss for sure. But it actually smells great with the hops and grapefruit. The taste is very nice.... I REALLY LIKE IT! I went into this beer with all the badmouthing of BrewDog for their "extreme" brewing. This beer is wonderful. Initially I get some melon, grapefruit, and orange, followed by some sweet malts. Then you get some bittering hops at the end. The mouthfeel is great. Not too chewy for a DIPA, and a great drinkability. I'm gonna end by saying that this brewery gets a bad rep for shitty reasons. Some of their beers may be mediocre (I had Punk IPA and would never buy it again), but I loved Bashah and also LOVE this beer! IMO, this beer tastes like a nice balance between HopSlam and Maharaja.

Serving type: bottle

07-24-2010 09:14:11 | More by DovaliHops

beer2day

North Carolina

4.38/5  rDev +19.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Orange gold pour with 1-finger thick head. Not much in the way of retention, but very nice thick rings of lace. Slightly cloudy with fairly active carbonation.

Nose is fairly bready and yeasty with floral hops contributing. The hop contribution increases substantially as the beer warms.

Sweet hit with a smooth creamy finish. Hop burn kicks in very late. Floral, herbal tastes with pine on the back end. Alcohol packs a serious punch with a nice burn, too.

Feel is very nice. Decent malt body against the growing hop profile.

One of the best from Brewdog.

Serving type: bottle

08-24-2010 01:46:11 | More by beer2day

twilight

Germany

4.35/5  rDev +18.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Very high scores for this brewery out of Scotland. The 4-pack was purchased at the Berlin International Beer Festival from the BrewDog stand. I even asked the guy at the stand that I didn't want the four pack that hadn't been in the sun, and he obliged by opening a bunch of boxes to find this one.

Beer pours amber orange with just a very slight head. The nose is all citrus with hops hops and more hops leading to a floral scent when overinhaled. The taste is very citrusy with a forefront of bitter hops and much grapefruit with a slight acidity in the bitter aftertaste leaving a palate of herbal goodness on the tongue once the beer is gone. The malt backbone is there, but it's not very strong. If anything, it's a good malt backbone because you don't notice it, nor the lack of it.

I know I could not drink this all night, but a damn fine sipping beer it is. The floralness and the hops just overwhelm leaving you with a nice sensation afterwards. Perhaps it's not Hardcore in comparison with some of the beers out of the US, but for Europe it is plenty hardcore.

Serving type: bottle

09-10-2010 18:19:30 | More by twilight

Garin

Alberta (Canada)

4.33/5  rDev +18.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Appearance: Crystal clear coppery gold, with a creamy, thin, lasting head with nice lacing on my glass.

Smell: earthy, trans-atlantic hops aromas abound! It's a DIPA that isn't citrusy. Interesting. Caramel? Toffee? Malt? It's all there, but I'm so shocked by the non-C hop aromas that it's hard to focus.

Taste: solid, biscuity caramelly malts back the whole thing up. Bitterness is present, but not overly so. Floral and earthy hops permeate.

Mouthfeel: smooth, warm, ever so slightly viscous.

Drinkability: This is utterly brilliant. I'm a huge fan of ESB and old-school IPA. I also love the American interpretations of them, but this seems to be a distinctly British-style DIPA -- there isn't a resiny pine or citrus flavour anywhere to be found. It's a reinterpretation of the DIPA style, and I think it's amazing.

Serving type: bottle

07-06-2009 02:04:29 | More by Garin

Spineypanda

Texas

4.33/5  rDev +18.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

The appearance is a medium gold, slightly cloudy. Smell has a nice hoppy, floral scent and a bit of spice.

Taste is great, its not overly bitter, but just enough that you know it is an IPA. Nice sweet finish I find common in Imperial IPA's but not as sweet. Aftertaste is a bit like green plants. Mouthfeel is nice... less carbonation common to scottish beers.

Love it and would definitely buy again.

Serving type: bottle

10-10-2009 00:21:40 | More by Spineypanda

foxbat2500

California

4.33/5  rDev +18.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Bottle from BevMo. My 2nd Brewdog beer. I like this one better than the Punk IPA. More bitterness!

A = Yellow with a bit of orange. Lighter than I would expect.

S = A lot more subtle than I expected. Some orange I guess.

T = Nice and complex. A quick hit of toffee or with maybe some vanilla. Then the hops hit.

Lingering bitter aftertaste makes this a bit of a sipper. I'd like to give this a shot off tap. I am sure it loses something in bottle form all the way from the UK.

Serving type: bottle

01-27-2010 06:25:57 | More by foxbat2500

smakawhat

Maryland

4.33/5  rDev +18.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Appearance of a cream colored head poured from the bottle into a pint glass. Off red copper color to brown, on a borderline opaquenss but still with some see-through quality. Some decent lacing.

Bouquet of faint grapefruit but also sweet maltyness. Tasting of a lemon front giving way to equal but stronger grapefruit and hop characteristics. Aftertaste is a very surprising sugary almost maple sugar sensation.

Body in mouthfeel just about right making for an easily drinkable great Imperial IPA.

Serving type: bottle

11-10-2010 17:38:50 | More by smakawhat

mzrebiec

Pennsylvania

4.3/5  rDev +17.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

The beer pours a hazy dark amber with a thin head that lasts all the way til the last sip. The nose is of straw, dried fruit, and earthy hops. The flavors are very complex with a start of caramel malt and a dominant finish of spicy earthy hops. The finish is long and enjoyable.

This beer was poured from a bomber that has been aged for 20 months.

Serving type: bottle

08-15-2010 19:42:01 | More by mzrebiec

LiquidCucumber

Ohio

4.3/5  rDev +17.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Best by 26/07/11 on bottle.

A - A dark, cloudy amber with traces of orange. Pours with a small head that leaves lacing all over the glass. Exactly what I want this style to look like.

S - Fruity hops right up front; mostly citrus but also carries scents of fruits not usually found in IPAs such as raspberry. You can discern a bit of malt in the background of this one as well.

T - A blast of bitter, American hops. Followed by sweet caramel and a tingle that signals the departure of this hop-laden beverage from your mouth. Somehow they managed to bring out the frutiness and the earthiness of the hops in this brew, far more complex than many other DIPAs I have tried.

M - It is a thick liquid which seems quite a bit lighter due to the higher carbonation in the beer. The tingle from the hops are a love/hate juxtaposition in the mouthfeel and drinkability.

D - It's a DIPA at 9.2%, a person can only handle so much of this stuff. I love the Centennial/Columbus/Simcoe hop bill so much I could get really carried away with a few of these. The only thing that hurts this beer overall is the high price. But it's still cheaper than many bombers of comparable DIPA.

Serving type: bottle

10-05-2010 01:06:26 | More by LiquidCucumber

phantomwyse

Massachusetts

4.3/5  rDev +17.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: Pours out the color of frozen honey. Highly opaque Frothy off white head fades to large patchy bubbles.

S: Starts off very malty. Smells a lot like breakfast pastries, scones, croissants, tea biscuits. There is a heavy hop undertone, but it's very muted - typical aromas of pine and grapefruit. Some bubblegum and rock candy. Fruits like figs and dates.

T: Very well balanced. Oily hops up front initially, big pine and spoiled orange juice. Malts fill in big, very similar to the aroma. Lots of sweetness, sugary plums, dates, and grapes. There is that hint of bubblegum, too.

M: Medium to full bodied with a syrupy smoothness.

D: These is a hefty beer. Thoroughly enjoyable, but a knockout in all aspects.

Serving type: bottle

10-23-2010 01:03:08 | More by phantomwyse

pershan

Maryland

4.28/5  rDev +16.9%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Had this from a firkin at Frisco Grille in Columbia, MD.

The beer poured a hazy copper with a thin, white head into a chalice. The aroma was an amazingly huge hit of hop essence: pine needles, citrus, grapefruit - it had it all. The flavor did not dissapoint, with a big hop wallop up front, followed by a clean malt profile blended with a fairly intense, warming hop flavor (with hints of bourbon also), finishing off with the lingering taste of fresh-baked bread and a very strong hop bitterness. The bitterness seemed to actually intensify the more I drank - one of the hoppiest beers I've ever had, start to finish. Nice fluffy lacing all the way down the glass. Hard to believe this was brewed in Scotland - a great over-the-top DIPA hopfest.

Serving type: cask

10-23-2009 15:24:34 | More by pershan