Hardcore Chimera
Finch Beer Co.

Hardcore ChimeraHardcore Chimera
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From:
Finch Beer Co.
 
Illinois, United States
Style:
Imperial IPA
Ranked #1,481
ABV:
9%
Score:
90
Ranked #8,251
Avg:
4.05 | pDev: 9.63%
Reviews:
141
Ratings:
975
Status:
Active
Rated:
Sep 09, 2022
Added:
Jul 28, 2014
Wants:
  39
Gots:
  406
Hardcore Chimera is an American style imperial IPA brewed with Citra, Simcoe, Columbus, Cascade and Mosaic hops. The beer won a silver medal at the 2014 International Beer Festival in Rhode Island. Ringing in with over 80 IBUs Hardcore's intense aroma and flavor of passionfruit and citrus is balanced out against a hearty grain bill that lends to Hardcore's deceptively drinkable 9% ABV.
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Photo of JohnniEMc
Reviewed by JohnniEMc from Pennsylvania

3.81/5  rDev -5.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
It's a foamy pour from a pint can into a clear glass liter mug, something that's become the norm. The foam is stark white and it recedes unevenly and without any consistent glass lacing. This mess takes place on top of a liquid that's only slightly more golden amber and just a little more opaque than an American adjunct lager. The smell is of hops and it better be. The label brags about five varieties of American hops being used to make this. Obviously, it's too bad there wasn't enough barley malt, American or otherwise, to complete this one. Hops are there to smell, but they're green and unsupported to taste. The hops are complex enough, with citrus, pine and even some resinous aspects to them. There's a maltlike sweetness, but it's shallow. The body is too light to carry the not so much over the top hops and relatively high ABV adequately. Overall, this isn't hoppy enough to give a hop lover a pass for its faults. It's faults start with a counterbalance to the hops that adds nothing but some sweetness. The body is too thin to carry the alcohol and the less than poignant hops effectively. This can be consumed occasionally, but there likely will be better nearby.
Sep 09, 2022
 
Rated: 3.97 by Knapp85 from Pennsylvania

Jul 11, 2021
Photo of Jugs_McGhee
Reviewed by Jugs_McGhee from Colorado

2.82/5  rDev -30.4%
look: 3 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3
16 fl oz can (batch 1310):

Really generic and muted. I've had year old IIPAs with more hop pungency and depth of hop flavour. Floral, a bit fruity...there's just nothing to this. But hey, it hides its 9% ABV pretty well, so I give it credit there.

Why brew this? So damned mediocre.

C / AVERAGE

***
09/19/20 2nd can:

C / AVERAGE
***
09/21/20 3rd can:

Consumed before its best by date, so I know it's not old going in...

IBU 81.29. 9.0% ABV. Imperial IPA. "...brewed with Citra, Simcoe, Columbus, Cascade and Mosaic hops."

Formats: 16 oz CAN / 4 - PACK, CASE: 6/4, DRAFT 1/6 BBL.

APPERANCE: Pours a cloudy yellow body beneath a sleek off-white head. Coating and frothy; ~6-7 minute retention (which is impressive at 9% ABV). Heads appears soft and silky...quite attractive in terms of head but not so much so in terms of body since it lacks the cleanliness and vibrance of a properly filtered IIPA.

AROMA: Mandarin orange, tangerine citrus, lychee, maybe passionfruit. Generic pale malt sweetness.

TASTE & TEXTURE: Coating and smooth on the palate, yet warm booze-wise. Warm tangerine and booze-ridden Mandarian orange syrup are emphasized, but none of Mosaic's signature subtle blueberry flavour, Simcoe's occasional onion/garlic/allicin flavour, or Cascade's bright floral hops paired with scintillae of grapefruit ever emerge in the mix. It seems dominated by Citra's less intriguing flavour elements with a bit of generic floral hop character from the C-hops in there too.

Not grassy, piney, grapefruity, resinous, juicy, or overtly tropical. Hop profile is rather dull considering the hop varietals utilized; I mean so many IIPAs I've had this year alone have captured the synergistic magic of Mosaic and Citra when used together...this has none of that, nor does it commit to Cascade even to the extent Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale does. Seems like a waste of its hop varietals, frankly.

Too boozy to be balanced. It's Mandarin orange and lychee flavours come with a concomitant syrupy texture that isn't very pleasant, tugging the beer towards an almost slimy mouthfeel. There's some bitterness to its orange-adjacent citrus flavour, but in terms of depth of hop flavour it's lackluster. And showcasing hop varietals is the point of an IIPA as far as I'm concerned...not merely disguising ABV in a loud cacophonous brew (not that this beer's 9% ABV is well disguised anyway).

OVERALL: I don't care much for it or see any reason for it to succeed in competition with the IIPAs that are more widely distributed, less expensive, and better tasting (e.g. Lagunitas' Sucks) and I don't think it rivals the best local or regional expressions of the style available in either my market (New Orleans, which has Parish's Ghost In The Machine and Tin Roof's Santeria) or Finch's hometown (which gets Bells' Hopslam and has myriad Pipeworks and Half Acre beers that make this a shrug in comparison). Average at best in the current IIPA landscape.

C- / BELOW AVERAGE
Sep 19, 2020
 
Rated: 4.11 by DCH from New York

Apr 03, 2020
Photo of GIftofgod4u1
Rated by GIftofgod4u1 from Louisiana

5/5  rDev +23.5%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
One of the best ipa’s out there.
Sep 19, 2019
 
Rated: 3 by smaddock from Massachusetts

May 20, 2019
 
Rated: 4 by bdiiorio from Connecticut

May 01, 2019
 
Rated: 4.04 by RollDamnTide from Florida

Apr 14, 2019
 
Rated: 3.81 by Mickt465 from New Hampshire

Mar 28, 2019
Photo of GateToWire
Reviewed by GateToWire from Maryland

3.4/5  rDev -16%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Clear when poured. A bright orange with some very light haze.
Very little head
Has lots of orange and citrus with some nice but hidden malt notes
Not overwhelming on the hops & has a nice delicate but lingering finish.
Enjoyable but nothing here to wow you.
Mar 19, 2019
 
Rated: 4.25 by Nurt20 from Illinois

Jan 26, 2019
 
Rated: 4 by adam36 from Illinois

Jan 09, 2019
 
Rated: 4.04 by KMcGrath from Massachusetts

Dec 04, 2018
 
Rated: 4.1 by Phil9250 from New Hampshire

May 06, 2018
 
Rated: 3.77 by Ronl12 from Massachusetts

May 06, 2018
Photo of Almighty1
Rated by Almighty1 from Massachusetts

3.85/5  rDev -4.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Not as hoppy as expected, pretty hot at 9%. Still great tasting!
Apr 15, 2018
 
Rated: 4.21 by stanale from Illinois

Apr 14, 2018
 
Rated: 3.52 by jrc1093 from Connecticut

Apr 09, 2018
 
Rated: 3.62 by Zazzi82 from Tennessee

Apr 07, 2018
 
Rated: 3.87 by antimasone from Massachusetts

Apr 02, 2018
Hardcore Chimera from Finch Beer Co.
Beer rating: 90 out of 100 with 975 ratings