Alphadelic IPA - Hop Valley Brewing Company

Spikester

Oregon

4/5  rDev +1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Hazy amber gold with a very fat one finger of white head. Very good amount of lacing. Aroma is all floral resinous hops. Taste is big bitter pink grapefruit with a very good slug of sweet malts. Mouthfeel is good with just enough carbonation. Medium dry bitter finish. Drinkabilty is good for the style. Well recommended.

Serving type: bottle

01-04-2011 05:45:50 | More by Spikester

Beerenauslese

California

3.73/5  rDev -5.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Bottle opens without a hiss. Poured aggressively to produce a half inch head, body is clear gold, with a little chill haze, topped by a white head which quickly dissipates to a fine ring, leaving some lacing.

Smells of floral and earthy hops, and some soapiness.

Tastes of bitter hops, grapefruit rind, and nuts. There is a little sweet malt structure to harness the alpha hops. Bitterness is pretty intense and stays that way for a long bitter finish.

Body is light, as is the carbonation level, giving this a rather flat mouthfeel.

A bitter ale, it certainly lives up to its name, more like an extra special bitter actually. But it is rather one-dimensional for the American IPA style. At 6.5%, it is drinkable, if you can take the alphadelic nature of it. For alphadelics anonymous.

Serving type: bottle

06-08-2011 00:26:16 | More by Beerenauslese

loren01

Oregon

4/5  rDev +1.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: Pours a clear amber color, 1 finger width head with a good amount of lacing down the glass
S: Smell is slightly malty but mostly citrusy type hop scents. I would say the smell is just average for an IPA, nothing too spectacular
T: Nicely balanced beer, good tasting biscuty maltiness followed by a nice bitter citrusy hop flavor
M: Medium bodied beer, smooth goes down easy. Finishes slightly dry
D: Very drinkable beer, nicely balanced out surprised its only 6.5%, seems like it would be more than that. The 90 IBU's are pretty balanced out.

Serving type: bottle

05-15-2011 00:12:01 | More by loren01

djeucalyptus

Oregon

4.2/5  rDev +6.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

pours a coppery grapefruit juice hue with a decent frothy one-finger head that leaves behind ample lacing.

aroma is bright with citrus. grapefruits, lemon. hints of lime. citron. a hint of malt cracker comes through, but the powerhouse of citrus shines.

Whoah. citrus. grapefruits. maybe a hint of pineapple. a touch tropical, but still some interesting earthy, green hops to balance it out. enough malt and sweetness to keep this one from tasting like pure hops. although it's deliciously hoppy.

mouth is smooth, ample carbonation. moderately full body. enjoyable and great for the flavor. nice to have a strong IPA that's not heavy on the carbonation.

this is one impressive brew. interesting hop profile, heavyhanded on the hops but in a deliciously intentional way. Incredibly drinkable... probably a good thing I don't have a few more. Worth seeking out!

Serving type: bottle

12-16-2010 08:21:07 | More by djeucalyptus

Hoptometrist

Oregon

3.8/5  rDev -3.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Served from a can into a nonic pint glass

A- Poured a hazy bright golden color with a big fluffy white head with tight bubbles that leaves big clingy lace

S- Big piney hop aroma, lots of citrus, big astringency, and big sweet malts. Very aromatic

T- Huge sweet caramel malt flavor, some big floral hop character, citrus hop and kind of a sweet orange marmalade flavor as well, and finishes with lots of nondescript bitterness.

M- Pretty smooth mouthfeel, effervescent carbonation, dry finish

O- Great aroma on this beer, lots of nondescript bitterness, astringency, and malt character. This is good as it is, I wonder how fresh it is though.

Serving type: can

08-07-2012 03:24:29 | More by Hoptometrist

MaltsOfGlory

Oregon

3.95/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Pours a very standard one finger white head into my standard pint glass. The head is much like the last hop valley head, a little soapy looking, somewhat fluffy, and more small bubbles, overall a better look than the Double D Blonde from hop valley, but still not a great look. Decent head retention, it's not dissipating too quickly. Very good lacing all the way throughout the glass. The body is pretty dang cloudy, basically no visibility through this beer at all. The body is a deep orange, with hints of yellow, it kinda looks like mango juice or something, if that even exists. Carbonation looks pretty small from what I can see. I'm actually going to change my opinion on the head because it lasted for quite a while, and it's got a very impressive layer of foam on top of the body and the lacing is very good. Overall a pretty good looking beer, the body is almost perfect for the style, a little odd looking, but very good non the less; and the head started off not looking good, but it's impressing me now! Very nice smell on this beer, nice citrucy hops, very fresh and crisp. Maybe it's just the fact that I haven't had an IPA in a while or maybe it's just the beer, but this smells so appetizing right now. It's just super crisp and clean smelling. The hops are maybe a tiny tiny bit smaller on the nose than I would like them to be, but it's not really a problem because it's not a double IPA. It's not an out of this world smell, but it's a very very solid IPA smell, and a good beer to turn to (I'm assuming) if you want to know what a good IPA is. This is all just going from the smell though, so lets dig in! Hmm, well the taste is for sure not as crisp as I would have liked, it's refreshing, but that might only be because it's cold. It does have a little crisp factor, but frankly I think the carbonation is just too low. As for flavors, well it is bitter, and that's good, but it doesn't really have that crisp hop kick that you look for in IPA's, it's all there, it's just not coming through the right way. Small malt, and a small sweetness. The sweetness isn't big at all, and it actually compliments the beer very well, but it's very possible that it's taking away from the crispness as well. Overall the beer is just a little bland and boring, the bitterness dominated the flavor for sure. It's not a bad flavor, it's very good, just not quite what I was hoping for on the smell. This beer still gets a 4 for taste, just because it's still a good beer, no doubt about it, but it's for sure on the lower end of a 4, rather than on the higher end. As far as mouthfeel goes, well I already mentioned it's lack on crispness, which isn't good. In terms of thickness, the body is thick enough for an IPA, but for sure not what I'm looking for, more watery than what I generally like. The beer is super easy to drink, and the mouthfeel helps with that, but that doesn't mean I don't want more out of the mouthfeel. It pains me to do this, just because it's a very good beer, but 3.5 for the mouthfeel. The drinkability is this beers best quality for sure. You can barely notice the 6.5% ABV, and it's just very easy drinking and very smooth. It's not necessarily what I look for in an IPA, but on some occasions it'll hit the spot. Take tonight for instance, it's not what I was looking for, and I was expecting something different, but I still really enjoyed it. Overall what more can I say, a very good beer, not what I was hoping for, but it works.

The lacing on this beer followed me amazingly to the bottom of the glass, I want to give this beer a 4.5 for appearance, but that beginning soapy look is preventing me. Still a great appearance. As I drank more and more of this beer the taste got a lot smaller and became more sessionable. Usually I would be displeased, but it works for this beer, it's still tasty.

Serving type: bottle

07-19-2011 10:25:02 | More by MaltsOfGlory

DiabolikDUB

Oregon

3.53/5  rDev -10.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

On-tap at Bailey's Taproom poured into Shaker glass.

Pours a hazy orange with a faint gold glow and has a straight white creamy head. Aroma is full of bitter hops, sweet malt and slight citrus zest. Flavor has a lot of the same notes as the aroma but a little watery upfront and a mild bitterness in the finish. This beer has a medium body that is a touch sticky. Decent, Not great but definitely drinkable.

Serving type: on-tap

05-21-2009 05:40:28 | More by DiabolikDUB

jbakajust1

Oregon

4.13/5  rDev +5.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a can into SN Tulip

- Pours a hazy orange with a 1 finger thick beige head that slowly fades into a persistant thick cap that remains to the end leaving massive lacing.

- Smells of hops, tons of hops, resinous, black pepper, papaya, tangerines, pine cones, alcohol, toasty sweet malts, biscuits and crackers.

- Taste mirrors the nose, crackers, pepper, papaya, grapefruit, resinous hops, alcohol, biscuits, guava, and caramel. Bitterness is deep and persistent.

- Smooth, bubbly, but not spritzy, dry bitter finish.

- Very impressive IPA, very drinkable. Dry bitter finish lasts w/ great malt backbone & lots of hops in the nose, flavor, and bitterness.

Serving type: cask

10-19-2011 18:22:37 | More by jbakajust1

LandWorld

Mississippi

3.93/5  rDev 0%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

A: cloudy deep gold pour with half inch head.

S: pine and apricot.

T: good but not overwhelming bitterness. Tastes of grapefruit. Malt is understated which is good. Does this beer have a little wheat in it?

M: very nice. If I could duplicate this at home, I would. Laces well down the glass. Carbonation is typical for an IPA.

O: a typical NW IPA. Except for color. They have to use carapils or wheat to keep the color and get this mouthfeel. First taste of Hop Valley. I like it.

Serving type: on-tap

07-25-2012 20:32:13 | More by LandWorld