Lupulin Maximus Imperial IPA - O'so Brewing Company

Thickfreakness

New York

4.97/5  rDev +27.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Review #50... I just happened to pull this one out of the fridge (Thank you hopscrazy)...

A- Poured into a tulip glass... beautiful blonde foamy head sits atop an orange/yellow brew... wait a minute... somethings floating in my glass! A whole hop cone! Now that's presentation!!!

S- Smells like I just peeled a grapefruit! Tons of fresh citrus flow. Amazing blend of pine, fruit, and a hint, just a hint of sweet malt. Lemon zest and fresh squeezed orange juice! I have never had a IIPA this amazing on the nose! It KILLS Pliny!

T- OMG... this is it! All others can go home and work on their game! The freshness of the citrus, the bitter pine... that hidden malt backbone that brings it all together... Damn!!! I have never had an IPA that had it's shit together like this one does! Not Surly, RR, Troegs, Ithaca, or Southern Tier... This is unreal, and absolutely fabulous! I wonder if it's having the hop cone in the bottle for that long? Awesome idea indeed!

M- Bitter like an Ex... yet loving and caring like your new girl! This is without a doubt an unforgetable beer! One of those life changing beers for me...

O- It's almost perfect! Awesome all the way around! I'm pretty sure this is what Zeus drinks in the summer!!! This brew will make you forget all about Pliny... Move over PtE... Look out PtY... there just might be a new sheriff in town!

Serving type: bottle

04-15-2011 05:18:36 | More by Thickfreakness

facundoCNB

New Jersey

4.85/5  rDev +24.7%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

A - poured a beautiful deep amber with a slight amount of head.. and a full hop cone dropped out of the bottle. HOLY FUCK.

S - floral hop smell, lots of sweetness (honey, caramel) .. this smells like no beer i've ever smelled before - but more like a candy

T - pure sweetness. sugary, fruity and bready. bananas, caramel, toffee. a bit of a butterscotch taste. a bit of a rubbery bitterness to even out the sweetness, makes this perfect.

M - very heavy beer - smooth flowing but a bit creamy as well. sweet on the palate, bitter aftertaste.

O - i have NEVER had an IPA this delicious. received it in a trade with a friend as a random throw-in. if this is a run of the mill beer for wisconsin, then i have a LOT to learn and a lot of beers to acquire.

Serving type: bottle

03-15-2012 17:11:51 | More by facundoCNB

vette2006c5r

Wisconsin

4.74/5  rDev +21.9%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.75

Lupulin Maximus Imperial IPA pours a dark copper color with a nice small lacing head, and the best part a whole hop cone floating in the top. Very hoppy floral aroma. The taste is very bold and strong hoppy flavors. Good full flavor, could use just a hint more carbonation. Overall a fantastic IPA, love the hop in each bottle.

Serving type: bottle

03-03-2013 04:29:09 | More by vette2006c5r

beergurujr

Illinois

4.63/5  rDev +19%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

12 ounce bottle poured into a standard duvel tulip glass. temp about 55F.

terms:
A=appearance
B=bouquet
T=taste
F=finish
O=opinion

A- pours nicely with good but small head. there's those hop cones- two of 'em. brussels lacing, quite nice.

B- soft hop and malt. very nice balance, nothing too over the top one way or another.

T- great balance between bitter and sweet; full body lets you know this is a strong beer. one of the finest balanced beers out there at this time, considering it's 9% ABV.

F- malt gives way to hops. not harsh however; reminds me a bit of popering's hommel ale from belgium, but bigger.

O- this is a really fine beer. o'so has found it's voice in this ale.

Serving type: bottle

12-16-2009 02:58:40 | More by beergurujr

CheeseTurds

California

4.53/5  rDev +16.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

Mmmm...O'so. A brewery I didn't even know about until a year ago has really impressed me with a solid lineup and a few exceptional beers. I think this one may be my favorite of theirs.

Poured the bottled directly into a pint glass. It's got a nice reddish color with a bit of haze swirling around. I think that may be residue from the hop cone.

A fruity smell rises and hangs around.

This beer is sweet and malty. There is good head retention while not having a lot of carbonation in the beer itself. It's pretty easy to imagine what this beer would be like on cask. I wonder if O'so has ever done casks of this. It would be great.

The drinkability of this beer is high. Easy going down, great taste, pleasant aftertaste, and an inconspicuous 9% ABV. This beer has some great qualities while not being an "extreme" beer in any way.

Everyone else has noted the inclusion of a whole hop cone in the bottle. My hop palate isn't fine tuned enough to know what the hop flower has added to the beer. I'd like to try the bottle side-by-side with a draft version to see if there's a notable difference.

Serving type: bottle

02-05-2010 05:19:06 | More by CheeseTurds

kickapoodude

Alaska

4.5/5  rDev +15.7%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pow, right in the kisser! This is a very intense brew. They call it a Imperial IPA, but the high alc. and hop content (16 pounds for 156 gallons) makes this taste almost like a barley wine, or, more aptly, a hop wine. The mouth feels satiny like an imperial stout, and the head is strong and sticky and lasts all day long. Tastes of alc., anise, cilontro, and all the fruityness and bitternes of hops across your pallet. I drank the big bottle on an empty stomach. Whoa.

Serving type: bottle

12-03-2008 15:38:19 | More by kickapoodude

Bighuge

Minnesota

4.47/5  rDev +14.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Dark looking murky auburn body. Deeper color than most DIPAs. Thick and creamy nicotine stained head with a hop cone floating around in it. Nicely done. Big, fresh bouquet of hop flowers and bitter hop resin. First sip brings waves of flavor. From the onset, you can tell this is high quality. Full body and lightly carbonated. Balanced very nicely for a DIPA. This one borders on Barleywine territory and that is high praise in this instance. It's very easy drinking and full of flavor. Caramel malt base with a nice reserved piney and slightly citric hop presence. The bitterness is quite refined. This is a good one. Seek it.

Serving type: bottle

12-23-2009 06:59:38 | More by Bighuge

mandoskippy

Wisconsin

4.43/5  rDev +13.9%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Got the last two four packs at JR liquor in Stevens Point tonight. I have been reading about this beer and needed to try it. The color is a dark amber with hop cone in it. The hop cone is a nice touch and was even small enough to emerge from the bottle into the glass. Nice. There was a three finger head that slowly receeded to a cap on the beer. Lots of lacing as well.

The smell was good, very descriptive of the taste which was very good. A little sweet but not as syrupy as some DIPAs. I liked that. The mouthfeel was great with a little alcohol burn. I the drinkability was also good, however, I feel like this could get me hammered! All in all a great beer.

Serving type: bottle

12-30-2009 04:24:08 | More by mandoskippy

vitrael

Wisconsin

4.43/5  rDev +13.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

A: Herr herr herr, may contain hop cones? Mine had two, which I could not avoid pouring into the glass. Unfiltered light-colored and slightly cloudy with minimal head and lacing.

S: Instantaneous huge fresh hop smell when I opened the bottle. Citrus and spice.

T: I am a fan of this kind of IPA that does balances a serious hop bill by pulling no punches on the grain bill. Very big sweet and bready malt flavors alongside a nice hop bitterness and citrus, pine, and spicey hop flavors. A very well-balanced beer that I would compare with DFH 90 minute IPA, although with slightly less sweet and earthy malt characteristics. Extremely praiseworthy and definitely the best part of the beer.

M: Definitely way undercarbed. Thin. A little disappointing.

Cute gimmick, and I'm glad I bought the bottle because the flavor was fantastic, though it came up lacking in a few other ways. Regardless I would buy and drink again.

Serving type: bottle

04-14-2011 02:03:11 | More by vitrael

seeswo

Ohio

4.38/5  rDev +12.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Holy Crap! This beer has the best warning label of all time!

...and they are not kidding...this beer pours through a hop cone. Check the top of your beer for a little leaf making its way though into your beer.

That all being settled, Lupulin Maximus is a IIPA with a hand-packed hop cone in each bottle. Probably around 9% ABV, it pours a golden brown with hops and sweetness on the nose. ...and, it's really good. Slightly citrus in its hop flavor, it kind of reminds me of a sweetened, 9% furious. It's not that sticky, piny hop, west coast, big IPA flavor. This beer might not be good at all in 3 weeks. Go and get it now. Delish.

BTW, I've had one since I wrote this review and it has fallen off quickly. Shoulda had it fresh, I guess.

Serving type: bottle

12-15-2010 06:30:22 | More by seeswo

charlzm

California

4.36/5  rDev +12.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Consumed on January 23rd, 2013 in a standard pint glass.

Beer pours a fairly clear deep honey color. That is, until I turn the bottle upside down at the end of the pour. I was trying to get every drop out of the bottle, but the whole hop cone in the bottle neck was partially obstructing the pour. Resulted in a somewhat cloudy beer. Head is off-white and two fingers tall, subsiding very slowly and leaving a sticky, nearly-uniform sheet of foam on the sides of the glass.

Aroma is... (wait for it)... hoppy! Mainly minty with herbal and fruity (mango, peach, pear) notes.

Sweeter than expected and not as bitter as I would have thought. The taste up front is sweet and indistinct malt. The midtaste is essentially the aroma, dominated by an oily, minty note. The finish is a long, lingering, oily mint note with only a touch of bitterness.

Mouthfeel is slightly thick, oily (are you getting the idea yet?) and enhanced by creamy carbonation.

This is one hop bomb I can wholeheartedly recommend!

Serving type: bottle

01-24-2013 02:18:55 | More by charlzm

ZAP

Minnesota

4.33/5  rDev +11.3%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

A-Orange colored

S-Very unique...almost like a pinneaple upside down cake...I get a lot of tropical fruits and a white cake batter element....mix em together and I get the pinneaple upside down cake..very fruity aroma with papaya, and pinneaple most prominent..outstanding

T-Very flavorful use of hops...next to zero bitterness at first...just a lot of juicy fruit flavors...then on the finish a nice dose of drying bitterness invades....

M-A little thin for a DIPA but it has a muddied feel like a DIPA....medium bodied and too light bodied for the style

D-Wow. I know my Wisconsin beers but this brewery is new to me. I like what I am tasting so far. Will have to investigate further. This is not an all-time great but it is very good and definitely one I would buy again.

Serving type: bottle

12-24-2009 22:32:12 | More by ZAP

BudzandSudz

4.33/5  rDev +11.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A - Gorgeous light brown with 1.5 fingers worth of thick, golden head that never settled and left monstrous curtains of lace down the glass.

S - Citrus and Pine hop notes are predominant, but a nice malt subtlety and some sort of almost raisin smell that I can't quite pick out. This is basically what Christmas SHOULD smell like.

T - Fairly dry, and extremely hoppy. Not much to say beyond that. Nice warmth from the hops and alcohol upfront with a nice malty backbone, and a serious bitter bite and dry finish on the way down. Love it.

M - Feels like an IPA. Not cloying, not too dry, just nice carbonated deliciousness.

O - Excellent IPA. It's no Pliny the Elder or anything, but I love it and will definitely choose it over most other IPA options at my local beer store.

The biggest downside is the hop in the bottle. I think it's a clever idea and guarantees a serious dry-hop flavor to the beer, but it's obnoxious to pour and I keep getting bits of hops in my teeth as I drink.

Serving type: bottle

11-26-2012 00:24:42 | More by BudzandSudz

jera1350

Minnesota

4.3/5  rDev +10.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Pours out of a 12 oz. bottle with whole hop cone inside a deep dark orange body with a dense cap of creamy tan foam that is sticky as hell and clings in globs to the glass.

Juicy and citrusy hop nose with a touch of pineapple, alcohol and malt sweetness behind. Very fresh hop like scent.

A balanced attack of hops and sweet malt with notes of honey, agave and caramel. The hops deliver a moderate bitterness with tropical and citrus fruits, some pine and earthiness also. Warm alcohol rears its head mildly at the end.

Full body, lower carbonation that is very soft. Alcohol warmness trickles down the chest cavity following consumption. Sticky/resiny feel on the palate.

Really digging this beer. A really great take on a DIPA. This is one that I will certainly grab again.

EDIT: Had a second bottle from the same four pack and it was noticeably less hoppy and the malt was a bit of a muddled mess. Nothing like the one that I reviewed above.

Serving type: bottle

06-15-2012 01:56:56 | More by jera1350

WastingFreetime

Wisconsin

4.28/5  rDev +10%
look: 3 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours out an coppery amber with minimal haziness, mild lacing and a single finger of short lived head... and of course a floating hop flower, the gimmick of this brew. Actually, it *is* kind of fun to pull out the hop flower and suck the delicious essence out of it like some kind of demented beer vampire....but I digress.
Has an excellent blend of spicy, earthy, herbal, grassy, pine, and tropical fruit in just about the same proportion both in the scent and in the flavor, but maintains a large hefty caramel and toffee malt presence to counterbalance. This brew is one of the sweetest IPAs I've ever had that still manages to feel balanced against the bittering included within. (I've had sweeter IPAs but they weren't what I would consider "well balanced") Body is on the hefty side of medium which does well to support the bold flavors, only has a small amount of rising alcohol heat towards the finish... overall this is quite a lovely IPA.

Serving type: bottle

02-02-2012 01:32:34 | More by WastingFreetime

Jparker37

Wisconsin

4.26/5  rDev +9.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

12oz bottle poured into an Imperial pint glass.

A - Tall and tight off-white head holds beautifully. The pour goes right through a whole cone hop in the neck of the bottle resulting in a hazy amber beer. Tons of sticky lacing all the way down.

S - Splendid wet feel to these hops. I get nice citrus and pine but an underlying flower like bouquet. Toasty malts also sit in the background.

T - Malt plays an important role in this beer. It comes across as very toasty with a dry feel to it. The malt carries through nearly the entirety of the flavor. Hops show up early and are citrusy here as well. The flavor finished up with a melon/pine hop note and some spicy alcohol. The bitterness is present throughout the whole flavor and although it finishes with a strong bitterness it never becomes overly sharp.

M - Semi-dry, medium to medium-full bodied, medium carbonation.

O - Excellent looking beer and also a cool perk having a hop cone in the bottle. Great freshness to the beer. Balanced yet hop forward and spread out bitterness instead of all at the backend.

Serving type: bottle

02-26-2013 02:11:41 | More by Jparker37

SerialHiker

Illinois

4.26/5  rDev +9.5%
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

cdkrenz

Wisconsin

4.25/5  rDev +9.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

The label reads:

'' When you take you first whiff of this hop monster, we hope your reaction is "wow!" or "holy cow" or at least a silent sinister smile because you know you are holding a wicked indulgence.

Only 156 gallons produced, no short cuts were taken during the process. This libation is crafted with 16 pounds of the most obnoxious hops on the planet, yet surprisingly balanced and drinkable. ''

Well, let's find out...

A - Amazing action in the pour. The head is a light-light tan and is frothy and looks to be perfectly sticky. The body is a hard orange color tampering with a hazy copper hue. It's looking me in the "eyePA" and begging to be tasted.

S - Scent is soft and subtle. It has the soapy aroma of which I would normally associate with a wheat brew. There are hints of apricot but not an overwhelming hop aroma.

T - What?... Wow! Not what I had anticipated. It has a very unique hop taste. The flavor seems to cross English hops and Belgian malts but finishes with an array of flavors. I pick up citrus, clove, licorice, and even a smokey finish.

M - The flavor is felt on my roof while the brew flows effortlessly through the rest of my mouth taking stops along the way to tantalize and offer textures varying from soft and light to coarse and grainy.

~ This 1 pint 6 oz bottle is not going to be enough. I'm going to have to get some more. Thanks to Dan's Liquor in Plover, WI I can get some more. Anyone that likes a full flavored, complex feeling, fantastic beer should definitely find this brew while there are still some available. At 9.0% ABV you won't need more than 1 or 2 to fancy a great 'head'. My thanks to O'so Brewing Company for putting this one on the shelf. Nice work!

Serving type: bottle

11-24-2008 00:11:50 | More by cdkrenz

brewcrew76

Wisconsin

4.25/5  rDev +9.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

A - My pour came to a screeching halt and then a trickle out of the bottle. What the....the scene from Strange Brew where they claim they find a mouse in the bottle comes to mind. It ended up being a whole hop cone...nice surprise. Hazy reddish copper with a smaller head due to the hop cone restriction. Sticky lacing forms down the side of the glass.

S - Caramel, toffee and fresh baked bread followed by tropical fruits, juicyfruit gum, cantaloupe and hints of pine as it warms.

T - Resiny and juicy hops that slowly burst into tropical fruits, mango, papaya and cantaloupe that lead to lingering bready and toffee flavors. Some pine as it warms.

M - Soft mouthfeel that has almost a whipped feeling on the tongue. Medium carbonation with a lingering dry, resiny finish.

D - Much better than the other O'so offerings I tried. Nice to see them turning things around. The 9% abv is barely noticeable.

Serving type: bottle

12-12-2009 02:36:24 | More by brewcrew76

mfnmbvp

Illinois

4.23/5  rDev +8.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

12 oz. bottle, no bottled on date present, but I'm pretty sure it's as fresh as can be.

A - Beautiful cloudy orange color, with a short thick and foamy white head, that disappears quickly. That hop cone plopped itself into the glass, and it just makes it look even more gorgeous.

S - Smells amazing. Irresponsibly hoppy, which is just what I want out of a double IPA.

T - Fresh, juicy, citrus hops. Extremely potent fresh grapefruit taste, this IPA is so fresh and hoppy you'd think someone had just whipped it up in the kitchen for you. A friend of mine tried eating the hop cone, and he said it tasted like a crumpled up receipt. Needless to say, I didn't try the hop cone.

M - Extra dry, bitter finish. Lovely, everything one could expect from an IPA. And the presence of the hop cone definitely helps to make it a novelty experience as well.

Overall, this was my delicious first introduction to O'so Brewing, and I'm looking forward to trying more.

O'so Brewing Lupulin Maximus Imperial IPA ---4.5/5

Serving type: bottle

12-14-2012 16:41:55 | More by mfnmbvp

drizzam

Wisconsin

4.22/5  rDev +8.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A - Pours a cloudy opaque brown in color topped by a thin off-white head. I had one hop cone in this bottle. By the way...I think packing a hop cone (or more than one) in each bottle is really pretty cool...and it must take forever to have to hand pack all of these hops! The brew had some dark chunky sediment, likely a by-product of the hops packaged in the bottle.

S - A very sweet hoppy aroma fills my nostrils as I draw in the beautiful bouquet of this brew. The hop aromas take on a very pineapple like scent. I've had this dessert before...that cake that has a layer of pineapples lining one side of it. It smells exactly like that pineapple cake!

T & M - Oooh, this is a sweet hoppy mutha! Citric hops (with that same pineapple flavor I smelled) play nicely with a heavy sweet malt base. This is very much on the sweet end of the IIPA scale, but it comes across very nicely. There also seems to be an earthy component in there just to add a bit of complexity. Medium bodied, finishes with a bit of an earthy hop aftertaste. The 9% ABV is actually pretty well hidden.

D - A tasty treat that any hop aficionado will surely appreciate. Love the hops packed in the bottle and I hope they never stop doing that, even though it's likely labor intensive. Very nicely done O'so!!

Serving type: bottle

02-08-2011 01:02:16 | More by drizzam

bound4er

Wisconsin

4.2/5  rDev +8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5

A gift from cbbrown3 - thanks!

Somewhat cloudy, amber appearance with a fluffy, two finger off white head. I can see a hop cone hanging out where beer and head meet - wow! Smells mostly of malt sweetness - I was expecting a wallop of citrus hops. A bit of soapiness peaks out too. I agree with other reviewers - this has some barley wine characteristics. Either way, it works for me. The taste starts out with a hit of malt sweetness and then turns somewhat bitter from the hops with a lingering citrus aftertaste. Some alcohol is present on the palate but it doesn't detract from the taste at all. In fact, I find it adds to this beer's appeal. Smooth, fairly sticky mouthfeel with good carbonation. I really like this beer - it is a unique DIPA - call it a DIPA hybrid. The 9% ABV and overall "bigness" of this beer will limit its drinkability to one per session. Well done O'so.

Serving type: bottle

11-21-2009 23:02:22 | More by bound4er

beerwolf77

Wisconsin

4.2/5  rDev +8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Poured into my duvel tulip the beer is a muddy brown with orange highlights. The light tan head reaches two fingers before settling to leave spotty lace.

The aroma is pure hop goodness. Citruis fruits like grapefruit and oranges shine through. Hints of malt can be picked out as well.

The flavor is not a hoppy as I was expecting. It's got some pine and grapefruit hints but the malt and booze seem to shove their way onto my taste buds. It taste more like a barley wine then a DIPA not that that's a bad thing.

Medium body rather creamy. Dry finish.

Overall a nice beer. The hop cone in the bottle is a bit much but I get the joke. A balaced easy drinker.

Serving type: bottle

02-10-2010 01:26:45 | More by beerwolf77

cokes

Wisconsin

4.2/5  rDev +8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Most of these bottles contain one or more hop cones (I've had as many as 4 in the 4 or so 4packs I've consumed). This is my first bottle without one, and I figure it's the best one to review. Though it is fucking cool to have a couple hop cones floating in the glass as you drink.

Lightly hazy apricot bronze with a low-slung beige head with moderate retention and lacing.
The hop assault is fruity, full of tangerine, grapefruit, mango, and papaya. And a touch of herbal/piney bitterness. The backing malt is honey sweet, heavy fruit syrup. I have a soft spot for a fruit cocktail DIPA like this, and it bears some similarity to Hopslam, at least in the nose.
It brings that heavy fruit syrup into the mouth right away. Apple notes. Cider-y sweetness. A bit of toasted grain, then more sweetness via honey. Hops bring their tropical punch. Mango. Grapefruit. Peach. Pineapple. A little pine needle earthiness. There are bushels of hop flavor, but it veers sweet the whole way.
It's full-ish bodied, and the carbonation is stunted, but it persists, keeping things moving the whole duration. This veers sweet, so that's considerably important. It's never stagnant or clingy.
Yeah, it's too sweet. But I'm a sucker for stuff like this. Though I can't help but to think what a somewhat more abrasive, bitter hop counterpunch would do to compliment/counteract all the fruitiness.

And yeah, it's a gimmick, but drink it with the cones in. And eat 'em if you want, if it's too sweet for you.

Serving type: bottle

01-06-2011 10:37:40 | More by cokes

Vonerichs

Illinois

4.2/5  rDev +8%
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