Lupulin Maximus Imperial IPA - O'so Brewing Company

emerge077

Illinois

2.53/5  rDev -35.1%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

1-23-13
Best by date: 12-9-12
Sadly this batch is a shell of its former self. No hop aroma, instead it smells very sweetly of caramel/pastry icing. Very solventy taste with oddly astringent off flavors. Something is very wrong here, and seemingly not intentional. I had a 4-pk. this a month or two ago and it seemed less hoppy than previously, but wasn't this bad.

Loved this beer when it first came out, but sadly will have to avoid it in the future.

***

12-01-2009 4.33/5
What the... ? There's a whole hop cone in the bottle... is this a hophead's answer to Cave Creek Chile Beer?

Different label, fairly sure this is the fresh 2009 batch.
edit: Approximate Release Date October 14th 2009

Pours into a Bells tulip a lovely dark reddish copper, very smooth, even surface of sticky foam. After a couple sips it leaves an impressive crown of lacing all around. In goes the cone *plupe*

Huge tropical fruit nose, juicyfruit gum, mango, tangerine, cantaloupe, starfruit. Whoo! On par with Hopslam and Dreadnaught based on the aroma alone.

Catty, resiny hop flavor, some residual pale malt, but basically a hop delivery vehicle. Sweet and tropical with some traces of cantaloupe. Fairly soft feeling and mellow, despite the solid residual bitterness. Alcohol is slightly apparent in the taste, but overall its a minor issue. Supple slick feel that dries out in the end, leaving a leafy green hop bine impression in the aftertaste. I could put back a couple of these... Wish I had more than a single 12 oz. dammit.

Edit: Seems to be issues with inconsistency... unless known to be fresh, I won't take a chance on old bottles after getting burned a couple times.

Serving type: bottle

01-24-2013 15:53:17 | More by emerge077

martyl1000

Wisconsin

4/5  rDev +2.6%

05-18-2013 21:42:11 | More by martyl1000

Dactrius

Wisconsin

4/5  rDev +2.6%

05-06-2013 02:38:47 | More by Dactrius

jreindl

Wisconsin

3.5/5  rDev -10.3%

04-20-2013 06:36:38 | More by jreindl

drunkciclista

Wisconsin

4.75/5  rDev +21.8%

04-20-2013 02:11:25 | More by drunkciclista

clausm76

Texas

4/5  rDev +2.6%

04-10-2013 02:55:02 | More by clausm76

barnzy78

Illinois

3.9/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12oz bottle, pours a hazy, rusty-tangerine color with a frothy, off-white head that holds good retention, and leaves nice, thick lacing on the glass. Aromas are fresh pine & citric hops, earthy, sweet bread; caramel malt noticeable on the nose as well. Huge bready malt backbone with loads of caramel, followed by fresh, dank, piny hops with pungent grapefruit pith. Super creamy, maybe a little too full, but the creaminess is nice. Finishes bitter with lingering pine. Overall, it's a nice unique DIPA. Not sure that I'd get it again, but I did enjoy it.

Serving type: bottle

04-09-2013 12:13:01 | More by barnzy78

TheSSG

Illinois

3.9/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a HUGE, dense, frothy off-white head oozing in hop resin that has insane persistence and clings desperately to my glass. A WHOLE HOP CONE IS IN MY GLASS! Nice, resiny hop aroma blends with the sweet malt to make for a candied citrus rind aroma (but not that sweet). Straw and a slight burnt sienna color. Starts off bitter and bright with HUGE notes of hop resin. As the bitterness builds, it becomes dry and notes of grapefruit and citrus rind. The bitterness lingers and lingers. This almost tastes sticky it is so resiny.

Overall, I like this. It's very hop-resiny, which I don't typically like, but this works pretty well.
If you like your hops RESINY and sappy, then this is for you!

Serving type: bottle

03-30-2013 02:16:24 | More by TheSSG

MostlyNorwegian

Illinois

3.25/5  rDev -16.7%

03-29-2013 12:23:32 | More by MostlyNorwegian

polishkaz

Massachusetts

3.75/5  rDev -3.8%

03-28-2013 00:23:16 | More by polishkaz

Gotti311

Wisconsin

3.75/5  rDev -3.8%

03-25-2013 13:31:20 | More by Gotti311

UWBadgerFan4Life

Wisconsin

3.5/5  rDev -10.3%

03-23-2013 20:18:17 | More by UWBadgerFan4Life

SerialHiker

Illinois

4.26/5  rDev +9.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Appearance: Pours a hazy caramel brown with a touch of golden orange…a thin layer of off white head did form and remains…could be more…(3.5/5)

Smell: Tons of bitterness…strong dank, woodsy, piney hops aroma…this thing is very much a hops driven wagon…caramel malt balance out things a bit with some nice sweetness and borderline creaminess…a very strong, almost intoxicating hops explosion…(4.25/5)

Taste: Whoa, this is heavy handed with hops! Tons of fresh woodsy/dank/earthy hops up front…it’s not overly bitter, just strong (and powerful) with hops flavor…bitterness does come in after I swallow, but again, not as strong as I would expect with all this hops flavor…there is a noticeable sweet caramel presence that rounds out the overall flavor and sweetens this runaway hops freight train…robust, rich, mildly creamy and flavorful…Yum! (4.25/5)

Moutfeel: Medium to full body with tons of carbonation…fluffs up bringing woodsy/dank hops flavor and slight bitterness to the palate…it’s got a bite to it that touches the outside of my tongue and a heavy hops feel on the back of my tongue…chewy, mildly creamy and somewhat smooth for such a strong brew…(4.25/5)

Overall: This is a wonderful brew…I’ve been delving deep into the imperial india pale ales lately and this one is stands out in strength and flavor categories…it doesn’t rely on any of the citrus or floral fluff to stand on, it’s straight up robust earthy/dank hops hitting the palate…a true palate wrecker…one thing I loved about this beer is that there was a hop cone in the bottle! I’ve never seen that done before…it was floating at the top of the bottle when I bought it, a sign of freshness I presume…I have to admit, I was excited to try this brew and it hasn’t disappointed…if I see this again, I will definitely buy it again…(4.5/5)

Brewreport.blogspot.com

Serving type: bottle

03-21-2013 01:36:49 | More by SerialHiker

durlta

Iowa

4/5  rDev +2.6%

03-20-2013 03:21:40 | More by durlta

kendrahayes

Iowa

4/5  rDev +2.6%

03-19-2013 17:53:39 | More by kendrahayes

wmobley

Wisconsin

4/5  rDev +2.6%

03-13-2013 20:36:46 | More by wmobley

Zachtheporter

Wisconsin

3.75/5  rDev -3.8%

03-12-2013 18:33:36 | More by Zachtheporter

ac22rush

Illinois

3.25/5  rDev -16.7%

03-12-2013 05:01:05 | More by ac22rush

chugalug06

Colorado

3.23/5  rDev -17.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25

Yep, there's a whole hop cone...not sure how this makes me feel.

Murky red with 1 1/2 finger foamy off-white head.

Off scented aroma, a lot of sugary aroma present.

Bready, creamy, thick, sweet and sugary, drinkable, slightly dank, dry, lower carbonation, missing bitterness and bite..

Not sure how I feel about this brew... It's mixed on too many levels for me to quite make up my mind.

Serving type: bottle

03-12-2013 03:24:16 | More by chugalug06

Vonerichs

Illinois

4.2/5  rDev +7.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Deep golden yellow with a slightly hazy body. Outstanding frothy and dense white head, leaving considerable patchy lacing.

Pine tree and floral hop aromas with bready malt.

Resinous pine tree, tea leaf, and floral hops with a nice balance from bready and caramel malt. It's bitter, but still has great balance to it.

Mouthfeel is soft and medium body. Slight alcohol burn and a little bit astringent.

I was expecting this to be a decent IPA, but found it to be pretty damn good. I'd definitely buy it again.

Serving type: bottle

03-12-2013 02:12:56 | More by Vonerichs

JakeMorgan13

Illinois

3.5/5  rDev -10.3%

03-10-2013 22:17:16 | More by JakeMorgan13

DrGonzoDDS

Illinois

4.75/5  rDev +21.8%

03-10-2013 08:02:20 | More by DrGonzoDDS

Rand_ale_Thor

Wisconsin

4/5  rDev +2.6%

03-10-2013 07:30:24 | More by Rand_ale_Thor

rsuske

Illinois

4/5  rDev +2.6%

03-09-2013 22:42:31 | More by rsuske

Summer78

Illinois

3.75/5  rDev -3.8%

03-07-2013 02:02:54 | More by Summer78