Green Flash Palate Wrecker - Green Flash Brewing Co.

adam42381

Florida

4.18/5  rDev -0.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Poured from a 12 ounce bottle into a goblet. Bottled on 3/13/13 printed on bottle.

Appearance: Pours a medium golden color with yellow-orange highlights and a 2 finger fluffy off-white head. Very good lacing throughout.

Smell: Sweet candied fruit, pineapple, bitter citrus, a touch of pine. Extremely hoppy with just a touch of malty sweetness in the background.

Taste: Lemon zest up front followed by pine in the middle before ending with a blast of grapefruit rind at the finish. The alcohol comes through a little as it warms up. Aftertaste is extremely bitter and long-lasting. The name definitely rings true on this one.

Mouthfeel: Medium-to-full-bodied with a good amount of carbonation. The hop oils really coat the entire mouth.

Drinkability: Decent drinkability. You probably wouldn't want multiples due to the fact that your palate probably can't handle more than one bottle.

Overall: Very good beer overall. Quite possibly the most bitter beer I've tried to date with the possible exception of Moylan's Hopsickle. I'd recommend this one to the true hopheads out there.

Serving type: bottle

05-26-2013 23:42:07 | More by adam42381

joeseppy

Illinois

4.06/5  rDev -3.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Aggressive pour yields a one inch head that is dense and has some staying power. Cloudy golden amber and scattered lacing.

Tropical fruit nose dominated by melons and papaya. Pine nuts and light malt playing second fiddle.

Extreme hop front followed by intense sweet malt to the back. Pretty straight forward; hop and sweet.

Mouthfeel is chewy in a sweet danish fashion and carbonation holds.

Aggressive sweetness from the malt is distracting; love the bitterness though. Tastes more like a barleywine. Not going to purchase again but worth a try if you are curious enough.

Serving type: bottle

05-26-2013 04:17:40 | More by joeseppy

Somebody_Else

California

4.78/5  rDev +14.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75

Why I love this beer:

I love how the beer slowly changes character as you drink it and it starts warming slightly. How it goes from a crisp, almost unbalanced hoppiness only to evolve into a delicious biscuity presence toward the end. And how I can continue to recycle the sticky hops flavor from tongue to nose long after the liquid has been swallowed. I have fallen in love with this beer. Most definitely on my top 5 list.

Thank you, Green Flash!
___

Amendment:
I like this beer better than just about anything. I really Really REALLY like this beer. That is all.

Serving type: bottle

05-25-2013 00:32:47 | More by Somebody_Else

SebD

Ontario (Canada)

4.01/5  rDev -4.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance: It has a nice deep hazy/orange color to it. It has a nice off-white head that dies down moderately and leaves very nice lacing.

Smell: The aromas definitely give out hints of resiny pine, citrus, grapefruit and sweet caramelly malts.

Taste: Like the aromas, it has a some resiny pine, grapefruit, faint citrus, caramel and bready malts.

Mouthfeel: It has a medium carbonation with a nice overall balance and feel.

Drinkability: It's a very smooth drinkable beer accompanied with good flavors and aromas.

Serving type: bottle

05-23-2013 20:46:56 | More by SebD

SpruceMoose

Australia

4.23/5  rDev +1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

It's bollocks-freezing weather down here in Oz, and thus it was inevitable that I'd make the trek to one of my favourite locals, Acland Cellars, to acquire some super-strong crafts for the evening that awaited me. Something dense, I said, like a barley wine or an imperial stout. The clerk grimaces as he hands me the bottle; the title "Palate Wrecker" staring menacingly into me. At first I'm perplexed as to whether I should fear or admire this creation by notorious San Diego brewers Green Flash, but curiosity meant that I knew this beer would certainly need to be reviewed.

Good luck, the clerk tells me as I walk out into the frostbitten streets. Keep calm. Relax. Deep breaths. Here we go.

Serving Type: 12 oz bottle poured slowly into a 500ml Hobgoblin tall pint glass.

Appearance: The pour generates a modest head with a cloudy golden body, similar in shade to Sierra Nevada Pale Ale with the intriguing density of a Belgian ale. Bubbles race frantically up the glass and contribute to the head, which laces evenly as it lowers itself deeper into the glass.

Smell: A hophead's paradise; intense aromas of citra and cascade (and perhaps even Goldings?) hops are immediately noticeable, and serve as a signal of what is to come.

Taste: The first swallow produces an intense bitterness that lingers not only on the tongue but all around the mouth. It sits there right after your first sip and stays around until the second. As a hophead, I'm naturally in heaven. Some booziness is noticeable after the first few sips.

Mouthfeel: Denser than your average IPA. Carbonation is moderate and the body is gentle despite the intense flavour. Overall very pleasant.

Overall: Hopheads would love it, maltists would scoff at it and lagerboys will run hysterically from it. Green Flash Palate Wrecker is a unique beer with plenty of character and much to offer the hop connoisseur. This is indeed an intense double IPA, and chances are you'd either fall head over heels for it or dismiss it as another overhopped generic American IPA. Regardless, my palate has been wrecked.

Serving type: bottle

05-20-2013 10:31:52 | More by SpruceMoose

Moose90

Colorado

4.25/5  rDev +1.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Bottled on 12/17/12
Tasted on 05/17/13
Shit, this is old...Hope for the best.

A – Dark copper orange color. Head is tall initially, but fades to the anticipated thin layer. Lacing is rocky and sticky. Carbonation is adequate, not too high, nor too low.

S – Holy cow, big, sweet, dank, piney, resinous, malty, caramel, bright. Lots going on here. Citrus fruits, orange, lemon juice. Cannot wait to take a gulp of this.

T – Quite sweet, and the hops have faded for sure. The hop notes are here somewhat, they are peppery, white onion, and fresh pine. Interesting. Sweet overall, quite viscous, some more notes of orange and lemon come through, like a lemon curd, or orange marmalade. Balance here is what makes this great, with all the complexities, it is very smooth, drinkable and great.

M – A big beer, for sure, though it remains crisp. It is undoubtedly sweet, but not so much so that it kills you. Just short of a BW. For a IIPA, wow, just wow.

O – I grabbed this at the first chance I could. Too bad it wasn't very fresh, but hey, this is still a great beer. Will seek it out again to try it fresh. With some age it develops a big caramel sweetness, but the peppery, piney hops are still there to cut through it all.

Serving type: bottle

05-18-2013 04:22:35 | More by Moose90

BarryMFBurton

Indiana

4.43/5  rDev +5.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Part two in my Green Flash excursion this evening: next up is Palate Wrecker.

Finally, a bottle date: “Bottled on 12/18/12.” Damn, that’s old. Ah well, so was Le Freak, and it was still alright. To beer with a high life expectancy!

A: Deep hazy orange with a hefty head of beige bubbles. The foam is thick and fizzy, popping at every opportunity, though falling pretty slowly. Low amounts of retention but high amounts of lacing, climbing everywhere in a chunky web.

S: A magnificent testament to the glorious, aromatic hop – a noseful of pine, lemon juice, orange pulp, and sweet wildflower that promises to wreck your palate upon first sip. Smells hoppy enough to peel paint. Not much else can be found under the cloud of hop oils other than a straw-like, barnyard graininess, a rustic quality that grounds this huge IPA in a place of natural, homegrown sentiment.

T: Rides in bright with a swift metallic tinge as puckering hop notes of citrus oil and grapefruit rind send fire across the taste buds – a spicy, peppery bitterness, but bright and fruity nonetheless. It has a certain bright air to it, a charm that only juxtaposition can bring: that is, bright hops over an orange marmalade and lemon drop not-so-thick-but-still-pretty-viscous sweetness. There’s something to this beer that other DIPAs don’t have…Ruination is set apart by its crispness, Hopslam by its thick honey/resin combo, Dreadnaught by its syrupy residual sugars. It seems that Palate Wrecker is unique because of its extremely drinkable balance; it has a certain mixture of stinging hops and grainy afterbite, a bready wheat flavor that gives this a finish that is unbelievably mild.

M: In all the right ways, this beer is crisp: a bit of bubble to its dryness, but not enough to overwhelm. And in all the right ways, this beer is sweet: a meaty thickness, but not enough weigh it down. Let’s just tell is like it is: truth be told, I drank half the bottle before I realized I was doing it. This is one hell of a drinkable DIPA.

O: One of my favorite IPAs of recent memory – and that’s not just because I’ve wiped out my recent memory with beer. Green Flash has bottled pure hop essence in a container that can barely hold it, as I found out with just a single whiff. I can honestly say that this is one of the hoppiest beers I’ve ever had, which is a distinction I don’t take lightly. I think the last time I awarded that was for Stone’s Ruination…and this is even hoppier. If this were available without a huge drive, I’d be drinking this All. The. Time.

Serving type: bottle

05-17-2013 00:52:43 | More by BarryMFBurton

RickS95

Indiana

3.69/5  rDev -11.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

22 ounce bomber

Pours a light copper orange, a soft apricot color. There's little head in the pour, unless you give it a bit of a swirl, and then you're left with a finger of dingy white head and a spotty lace.

It's got the style down pat in the nose. A combination of pine, grapefruit and pineapple. In the nose there seems to be enough malt in the background to hold up to the hops. There are layers and complexity because you can smell the citrus, as well as sweetness.

The taste falls a bit flat. The complexity is gone, the layers nowhere to be found. There's a biscuit, malty taste, but all is overshadowed by the hops. Unfortunately, I don't taste much West Coast influence. There's some pine, some earthiness, but no citrus...nothing for balance.

I don't have a problem with hop bombs, but there needs to be some complexity and balance or the beer is simply uneven and not all the good to drink. This is all hops, and not really in a good way. While I appreciate the name, it's a bit hard to drink because it's just all hops. The malt in the nose doesn't come through and the beer is just bitter from beginning to end, with a dry finish. Your tongue/palate never get a break.

Not all the easy to drink. After a few sips, you can't feel anything and your taste buds are shot for the immediate future. I like the ABV, but it's not an easy sipper

Serving type: bottle

05-13-2013 02:31:49 | More by RickS95

Bosoxfan20

Missouri

3.31/5  rDev -21%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25

Poured from a 12 oz bottle into a Speigelau IPA glass. Hazy dark copper/light amber. Vigorous side pour gives way to a foamy 2 finger white head. Decent retention and lacing.

S- Big citrus and floral hops. Grapefruit, tangerine. Sweet caramelized/honey comes though.

T- hop forward as expected. Borders on acidic, green apple type flavor. Very bitter. Name makes total sense. Could have used a lil more malt that I smelled. Some astringency, and a lack of continuity with the flavor.

M- Mid body, very dry. A little too dry maybe. Alcohol present. Creamy only for a second, then goes back to super dry.

O- Name make sense. Nice look/smell, but failed to come together in the end. Thought this would be more like Ruination, but its not. I enjoy a really hoppy beer, but this one missed the mark.

Bottled on 12/17/12
Consumed on 5/11/13

$11 for a 4 pk

Serving type: bottle

05-12-2013 06:28:11 | More by Bosoxfan20

nataku00

California

3.75/5  rDev -10.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

Bottle poured into a tulip glass. Beer pours a dark copper with a finger of loose off white foam. Head dissipates quickly to a thin collar along the edges with minimal lacing. Not much carbonation visible.

Nose is pine and grapefruit, caramel, and a bit of alcohol.

Taste follows the nose, big hit of pine and grapefruit bitterness, mellowing into a caramel malt sweetness and alcohol. Lingering grapefruit bitterness on the tongue with some malt sweetness.

Medium body, a little syrupy with low carbonation that lightly tickles the tongue. A bit of alcohol warmth in the back of the throat that lingers after a couple of sips. Not exceptionally bitter, mostly a decent DIPA.

Serving type: bottle

05-11-2013 03:50:28 | More by nataku00

rangerred

Tennessee

3.99/5  rDev -4.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Poured into a snifter out of a 22oz bomber.

Pours a hazy dark orange with a one finger white head. Head fades to a thin wispy cap with some thin lacing on the sides of the glass.

Aroma is full of pine with a hint of tropical fruit along with some apple and peach. Malt is pretty much absent with only the faintest hint of bread.

The taste and mouthfeel is where this beer really begins to impress. A huge punch of resiny pine along with a very impressive palate stripping bitterness. A very tiny amount of bready malt is in the background but is completely buried by all the hops. A very dry mouthfeel for a IIPA which is a wonderful change from the usual.

Overall, this is a pretty delicious IIPA. While it is not something I would drink on a regular basis, it is a nice change up and one of my favorites in the style.

Serving type: bottle

05-10-2013 00:20:12 | More by rangerred

Vec2267

Florida

3.45/5  rDev -17.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

A - orange / gold, clear, white head, great retention and lacing

S - pine resin, some sweet citrus/floral notes

T - pine resin, citrus pith, bitterness

M - medium, rich because of the blast of flavors, not syrupy

O - not enough balance, tons of hop bitterness without anything interesting/enjoyable

If you buy this expecting a balanced, enjoyable beer you will be disappointed. There are better hop bombs that manage to provide a more balanced, enjoyable experience. The best part of this beer is the smell.

Serving type: bottle

05-07-2013 02:33:24 | More by Vec2267

chefhatt

Pennsylvania

4.25/5  rDev +1.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

I poured this one into a glass. It has a amber color body with a 2' finger of white head. The smell has a carmel note, with a great blast of citrus hops. The taste has a great hop bit up front then a little malt on the back of the tongue. i love the bite from the hops it hits your tongue like a rocket. The moutfeel is great, leaves a nice little after taste on the tongue. Over all this is a great DIPA

Serving type: bottle

05-06-2013 19:34:34 | More by chefhatt

macrosmatic

Florida

3.95/5  rDev -5.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Reviewed from notes. Poured from a 12 oz. bottle into a Russian River pint glass.

A: Pours a hazy, brownish copper with moderate carbonation and a two-finger white head.

S: Sweet and mild caramel malts, citrus rind, as well as some grassy and flowery hops.

T: Bready and slight caramel malts, bitter hops with hints of citrus rind, resin and spices - but bitterness is the overwhelming hop impression, and it lasts into the hang.

M: Chewy mouthfeel, somewhat heavy body, moderate alcohol presence, relatively low carbonation sensation.

O: This was solid, but the amount of bitterness from the hops was quite high without having much in the way of other flavors the hops should have imparted. I'll probably drink another but I'm not going to run out to grab it.

Serving type: bottle

05-05-2013 22:49:49 | More by macrosmatic

Rcraft

Maryland

4.09/5  rDev -2.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

A: Quickly foams to a 1-2 finger head, but recedes to a thin layer around the edges with slight lacing. Orange-amber in appearance, a bit transparent in good light.

S: While you can definitely smell the piney hops, it's not the most pungent aroma. I had to get a few whiffs in a snifter to really gather the variety this brew presented (but that might just be my nose?). Definitely more piney than fruity, I would say - with some citrus mixed in, of course. The longer I try to smell it, though, the more I can pick up.

T: Solid through all temperatures. You can start this one out very cold and get good flavors, and finish your glass a while later a bit warmer and it still has an enjoyable taste. Good balance.

M: The hops/bitter sticks with your mouth for a while if you aren't eating anything. Very pleasant to me. Nothing extraordinary but definitely present.

O: You're looking to pay ~$14 for a 4-12oz pack. For the price, it offers a decent experience. I'll probably have it again for occasions but I'm not going to go out of my way to find this. Solid DIPA!

Serving type: bottle

05-05-2013 09:05:06 | More by Rcraft

Zach225

Arizona

4.7/5  rDev +12.2%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.75

Appearance: Poured into a tulip glass. Pours a burnt orange/amber with a hefty, fluffy head of about 2-1/2 fingers. As it settles it displays respectable head retention for 9.5% as well as some lacing. Swirling in the glass as it goes down it displays some mild alcohol legs.

Nose: It's like walking into a hop store. An army of different hop aromas surround your nostrils like an assault. Leading the pack are huge notes of ripe pineapple, grapefruit, papaya, orange, garlic, and onion skin. More subtle notes of earth, spice, and sweet flora are present within the onslaught.

Taste: A more full-bodied, "sticky" IPA. Upfront, a rush of bittersweet. Massive hop bitterness attacks your taste buds with just enough mild, caramelly-sweet malt balance to keep it in check. Mid-palate the hop flavors start to dig through the initial slam of bitterness, which remains all too present, to keep you from getting too comfortable. Big, juicy tropical fruit and citrus rush over your mouth as you start to swallow. There is a comfortable amount of warmth in the throat from alcohol, and the beer finishes long and ornery and refuses to let go. It doesn't clean up and refresh you (that would not serve its purpose), it lingers with bitterness that doesn't give in and dank, garlicky citrus.

Overall: I have returned to this beer on several occasions both on tap and by the bottle because I do truly enjoy it. As a beer lover who can't say no to the hop-head inside this beer is irresistible. If you are looking for a relentlessly bitter, but still well constructed Double IPA then look no further. It is like being taken on a tour of a hop factory. It is quite respectably well accomplished for a beer of such aggressive characteristics. A word of advice to those who truly want to explore this IPA's complexities; be weary of temperature. Do not drink Palate Wrecker too chilled, enjoy it in the 52-56 range to really go for a gnarly, roller coaster of a hop ride.

- Cheers!

Zach

Serving type: bottle

05-02-2013 06:50:22 | More by Zach225

ProudBeerSnob

New York

4.51/5  rDev +7.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Finally found this bad boy at Hegedorn's (a local indie grocery store). Poured from a 22 into a tulip glass. Nice light copper color, but head is sort of sparse.

Aroma is wonderful. Piney citrus notes as expected. Tastes good as well.

Overall, a quality brew. I will seek it out again.

Serving type: bottle

05-02-2013 01:32:44 | More by ProudBeerSnob

take_it_sleazy

Vermont

4.28/5  rDev +2.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Been looking around for this baby. Poured from 12 oz. bottle to Good Nature snifter.

A: deep, amber orange color. Light shines through in a beautiful way. Enjoying this one outside. Head about one finger thick that disappears quickly. Thin, lacy ring along the outside meniscus of the beer. Carbonation looks beautiful, as bubbles continuously rise to the top of the glass throughout enjoying this one.

S: so much going on with this one. Citrus, lemon, grapefruit, orange zest and sweat. The hops are definitely strong throughout, but are well balanced with the seemingly ten other things going on.

T: malty and refreshing rolled into one hoppy Goliath of an IPA. Bitterness up front that mellows over time. Definitely picking up some piney, resiny characteristics as well. Lives up to its name.

M: beer does well here. Pretty standard for the category, I think. Nice medium to light body that's very drinkable. Carbonation is wonderful and lingers for awhile.

O: not for the average hop fan. The bitterness will definitely turn some people off. However, if DIPAs are your thing, you are in for an interesting and delicious ride.

Serving type: bottle

05-01-2013 18:24:00 | More by take_it_sleazy

THANAT0PSIS

Wisconsin

4.1/5  rDev -2.1%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Green Flash Palate Wrecker

Appearance: This bitter behemoth pours a brilliant, clear, deep amber color, like a particularly beautiful sunset. There are hues of orange and gold throughout the pour as well. The creamy, bone-white, dense head cascades nearly over the top of the glass with even a gentle pour; the retention is ridiculous. The lacing is beautiful, as if tiny spiders wove it all over the glass. Carbonation is evident, but does not seem to be overpowering. This is a perfect looking IIPA.

Aroma: Grapefruit and resinous pine dominate the aroma. Behind the immense waves of bitterness rides a barrage of tropical fruits along the lines of slight pineapple, mango, and indiscriminate citrus. There is a surprisingly strong malt backbone hidden under all the hop aromas that gives an enticingly sweet caramel aroma. For an IIPA, one would expect stronger aromas. What is there is good (if mostly one note), but there just is not enough of it there. Perhaps this beer is not as purposefully imbalanced as the name would lead one to believe…

Taste: …or not. It easily earns its moniker. Lots of grapefruit rind, pine resin, and aggressive bitterness hits hard, fast, and never lets up. There is a bit of the pineapple, mango, and citrus flavors hiding somewhere in the beverage, possibly sheltering from the roving astringent menace. Sweet caramel malts underscore the taste and are present in each swig, but never really get a chance to shine. This is a hoppy, bitter beast with no designs on being balanced. It succeeds in laying waste to all palates that may stand in its path.

Mouthfeel: The body of this beer is nearly right where it should be: light-medium, not syrupy, but also not watery and overly thin; maybe just a little bit more malt to this one would have filled it out to make it flawless. The carbonation is perfect and pairs with the hoppy astringency to become a mouth-ravishing juggernaut. The alcohol is never evident on its own, but makes its presence known as the glass empties. The beer is surprisingly drinkable, but the sheer bitterness of it makes it almost a sipper, where the light-medium body would lead one to believe it was sessionable.

Overall: This sort of reminded me of what Hopslam used to be prior to 2013, albeit far more hop-forward. Hop haters need not apply, as this will just end up being a drainpour. The bitterness is extremely assertive and may even be too much for even seasoned hopheads. It is not quite as bitter as Sixpoint Resin or Stone Ruination, but it is extremely close. Seek this out as it really is a great beer, but brace yourself. 17/20

Serving type: bottle

04-30-2013 19:08:53 | More by THANAT0PSIS

roundthewaygirls

Virginia

3.16/5  rDev -24.6%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25

poured into a tumbler

A: copper/orange color. no head. moderate lacing. chill head. rich color, but unassuming.

S: piney green flash hop profile. citrus. notes of a light, clean malt.

T: hops, y'all. extremely bitter. made me say "wooo." some faint citrus, specifically lemon in the finish. it may be the piney resins that give the beer a green tea quality.

M: the mouthfeel is as balanced as could be asked from a beer called "palate wrecker." the hops are sharp and overwhelming upfront, but the beer finishes clean and smooth.

O: pretty distinctive green flash hop profile kicked up a notch. interesting, but not as enjoyable as the imperial ipa. a little too in your face. palate wrecker, indeed.

Serving type: bottle

04-28-2013 03:57:10 | More by roundthewaygirls

StaveHooks

Oklahoma

4.08/5  rDev -2.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

12oz bottle served in a Dogfish Head IPA glass

A - Pours a clear copper/amber with a firm 2 fingers of cream colored head. Great heaping edges of head left with chunky lacing left behind. Great looking beer.

S - Pine jumps out with grapefruit right behind it, very hoppy aroma, sticky caramel malts, perfumey ethanol, vanilla, fresh baked bread.

T - Resinous pine sap, sweet grapefruit turns to a rindy and oily bitterness. Stone fruit and bitter pineapple come to mind. Some lemon/lime twang shows up toward the finish. The pine runs strong through the middle with the grapefruit on the sides, forming a synergistic punishment of bitterness. The caramel malt holds it's ground and adds a buttery sweetness. Finishes dry with an aggressive pine bite with notes of peppery herbs. Grapefruit sneaks in quickly in the aftertaste wiping out all other flavors.

M - Heavy in weight, but has a medium body, oily feel, medium carbonation, dry and assertively bitter finish.

And a palate wrecker it is! Just an in your face DIPA. Lots of bitterness with pine and grapefruit fighting it out. Pine comes strong up front but grapefruit pushes more at the end. It's like talking a bite out of a fresh grapefruit, rind and all. Solid malt base for the extreme use of hops. Not a very complex mix of flavors but if your looking for a hop bomb this is it.

Serving type: bottle

04-26-2013 23:05:33 | More by StaveHooks

tviz33

New York

4.21/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Poured from a 22 oz bomber in to a Ballast Point tumbler.

A- Pours a finger and a half of white suds that settle to a thin covering over top of a completely transparent orange body.

S- Bright citrus and some toasty malts.

T- It didn't exactly wreck my palate like I expected, but was rather balanced. Cracker and bread-like character balances the bitterness.

M- Medium-full and a little slick. Decent carbonation slippery on the way down like oil. The alcohol heat is only slightly noticeable.

O- Pretty solid offering. Wouldn't mind another one bit.

Serving type: bottle

04-26-2013 04:39:28 | More by tviz33

TTAmod

Michigan

4.13/5  rDev -1.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25

12 oz. Green Flash-shaped bottle poured into pint glass:

A: Pours a dark, slightly hazy orange. Thick, light white head. Looks effervescent. This beer is pretty lively for 9.5%.

S: Smell is actually pretty tropical and there's a touch of roasted caramel malt.

T: Yowza. There's a bit of grapefruit and pine up front, but it's brief and soon it gives way to a full onslaught of bitter, raw, resin-y hops. There's some marijuana, pine-needle, and just pure bitterness. You really have to be a hop-lover to enjoy this beer (thankfully I am.) There's a bit of roasted caramel malt and sugar somewhere in there, but it ends very dry and with a long, lingering bitterness.

M: Actually pretty smooth, light and palatable (if you can handle the extreme bitterness.) Drinks like a beer with a much lower ABV.

O: Let me reiterate: if you don't love hops (and I don't mean those girly hop varieties, like Citra,) you will probably not like this beer. This is a real man's beer. Green Flash pretty much symbolizes west coast IPAs, and this is the best IPA Green Flash makes. My bottle is a few months old, and the hop barrage is completely relentless. I can't even imagine this super-fresh. Anyways, yeah, the DIPA scene is heading toward the more tropical, fruity, hop varieties, but this one is completely old-school and completely awesome. It's a bit one-dimensional in its hoppiness, but it's a hophead's dream.

Serving type: bottle

04-25-2013 03:00:22 | More by TTAmod

JerzDevl2000

New Jersey

4.25/5  rDev +1.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

This was yet another beer that I picked up at Top Hops a few weeks back. I had never had this before and enjoyed all of Green Flash's other offerings that I had before, even if they tend to be similar to each other and to other beers from the Golden State. Amazingly, this one stood out to me, because of how smooth it went down and how hidden the alcohol was. This was indeed strong but it never felt it and everything worked harmoniously well together, which is rare for something as bold as a Double/Imperial IPA such as this.

Everything was solid about this, from the pour on down. A nice frothy head, radian apricot hue, and a bit of amber-like translucence combined for a nice appearance , before I took a sip. The aroma was that of pine, grapefruit, and some tropical fruits and all of these were repeated in the smooth and potent taste. Almost no malt to be found here but the mouthfeel was certainly solid and this pulled off the near-impossibility of a dry-hopped strength with a wet hop finish that squeezed all of the oil, resin, and metallic bitterness of out each hop. There was even a hint of white chocolate in here, like in the Sonoran Cordillera Blanca that added a hint of tangerine and cocoa underneath everything. As everything faded in the aftertaste, just some earthiness remained and oil that didn't seem to completely harmonize with everything else.

For sure, this was a strong beer and I could feel the booze by the time I finished off the contents of the bottle that I bought. While the alcohol is not detectable via taste, it's present and gives this beer the oomph underneath everything else that went on. This won't certainly wreck anyone's palate but it will give it a good run for its money and push the edge of it out just a bit further, and given that so many hoppy beers are not that discernible from each other, what more could you ask for? Take a good hour and give this is go, there's a lot to like here for anyone who loves hops and depth in a beer.

Serving type: bottle

04-24-2013 13:19:38 | More by JerzDevl2000

raynmoon

California

3.71/5  rDev -11.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Smells nice. It has a nice dry tangerine smell to it, some sweetness. Kind of smells like my homebrews, which knocks it down a bit.

Wow, a punch of bitterness and alcohol. Alcohol only adds a puckering sting on the initial sip. A little overly bitter, with the malt staying a little far in the back, same with the hops. This definitely does wreck your palate. Bitterness lingers. It's juicy but the alcohol starts to kick into the aftertaste before any pine or tropical fruit :/

Light carbonation, slightly creamy. Works nicely.

Overall this is pretty good. I'm not the biggest fan of the hop profile in this. Seems like Cascade, Centennial maybe? I typically like a little more tropical notes in my double IPAs.

Seems sort of like a Sierra Nevada brew ha. Good but probably won't be buying much more of this soon considering Hoptimum, Sucks and Enjoy all by me.

Serving type: bottle

04-23-2013 05:40:35 | More by raynmoon