Aroma Coma - Drake's Brewing Co.

brew3crew

Ohio

4.15/5  rDev -4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

In line at founders for CBS

A-yellow hazy body with a white whispy head.

S-nice grapefruitiness that leaves me wanting more

T-follows the nose. Nice bitterness that follows throughout. Very pleasant

M-medium body and smooth

O-very nice treat for 5 am....

Serving type: bottle

10-01-2011 09:06:14 | More by brew3crew

UCLABrewN84

California

4.22/5  rDev -2.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a slightly hazy brown color with a 2 inch fizzy off-white head that settles to a craggy small cap. Nice thick foamy rings of lace line the glass on the drink down. Smell is of lots of tropical fruits (papaya/mango especially), peach, apricot, and various citrus zest. Unfortunately the taste is not as awesome but I am getting some subdued tropical fruits, citrus zest, and some malt flavors on the finish. A medium amount of bitterness lingers on the palate after each sip and is almost like chewing on citrus rinds. This beer has a good level of carbonation with a crisp and bubbly mouthfeel. Overall, this is a good beer with an amazing smell but sadly the taste doesn't quite live up to the smell

Serving type: bottle

10-01-2011 05:48:00 | More by UCLABrewN84

litheum94

California

4.2/5  rDev -3.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

22 oz bottle. No bottling dates.

Clear, bright golden body. Tight and compact dirty white head. Clings to the glass like sea foam.

Tons of sweet fruit aromas of peach and mango. Pepper spicing. Cracker malts. Floral, honeysuckle aromas as well.

Subtle peach sweetness with a touch of honey. Dry and crackery malts mid-palate sets up the hops. A good dose of bitterness, with floral and pine hops. Hops are oily and resinous smelling.

A wonderful IPA, with great aromas and flavors. This brewery has been killing it lately.

Serving type: bottle

09-30-2011 04:21:15 | More by litheum94

baybassboy

California

4.25/5  rDev -2.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

22oz. Bomber, 6.75%abv, poured into my Duvel "Kishimoto" Tulip on 9/26/11. No bottle date, but this is a Late August 2011 release.

A: Pours a deep golden-brown. Looks pretty dark compared to most single IPA's. One-finger off white head with a mix of medium and small bubbles. Good head retention and fairly good lacing. The color is the only thing kinda throwing me off.

S: For a beer named Aroma Coma, it is not really aroma coma-ey. Still smells good, but I was expecting to be able to smell it from across the room. Decent citrus hop smell. Almost a bit of mint in there. A touch of piney hops as well. I dig the smell, but it isn't as big as i expected.

T: Hop front, small malt middle, tons of lingering hops in the finish. Again, a mix of citrus (a lot more than the nose), pine, and that same mint-like character that was in the smell. Very clean and crisp finish. Good mix of a light malt throughout and non of that "stale" character that some ipa's get.

M: The highlight of this beer. It literally feels like this beer explodes in the mouth. Perfect carbonation. Coats the mouth and lingers for minutes after each sip.

O: If I had this beer in a blind tasting, there is no way I would identify it as a single IPA. Drinks much like a double. A good beer overall (a 4.25 if I could give it that in this category; I comprimised by rating Taste a 4.5 despite thinking 4.25 would be ideal ). Will definitely seek out again before it is too late.

Serving type: bottle

09-29-2011 19:22:52 | More by baybassboy

willjschmidt

California

4.43/5  rDev +2.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Poured from a 22oz bomber into a Sierra Nevada hop tulip glass.

A: Pours a clear golden color with a very thick pure white head. Very good head retention as well.

S: Loads of hops! What else. Great nose on this one as the name of the beer indicates. Pine, floral hops, and a lot of citrus.

T: Very nice balance. A very hoppy beer spread out over a slightly sweet bready maly base. The hops are all over the place in terms of layered flavors; citrus in the form of grapefruit and tangerine, piney hops, as well as some floral elements. The finish is quite bitter, I believe from the CTZ hops.

M: Medium bodied, above average carbonation.

O: An excellent IPA. It's well balanced, very tasty, and extremely drinkable.

Serving type: bottle

09-26-2011 03:11:45 | More by willjschmidt

nataku00

California

4.53/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Bomber poured into a tulip glass. Clear dark orange, copper with two fingers of off white bubbly head on the pour. The head quickly dissipates to a collar of bubbles, with a few patches of bubbles and film along the surface. Not much carbonation visible through the glass, maybe a bubble every couple of seconds.

Really aromatic, per the name as I can smell it as soon as I opened the bottle, straight from the fridge. Big sweet citrus, orange and grapefruit, and tropical fruits, papaya and mango. Bitter citrus peel, light fresh pine needles, balanced by a nice caramel malt and baked bread sweetness as well.

Tropical fruits hit the tongue first, the papaya, pineapple, light mango, sweet orange and grapefruit, then very bitter citrus pith and pine. The malts come through mid tongue to try to balance it out, caramel and bread, but the balance leans on the bitter side toward the finish. Dry finish, with lingering light bitter citrus pith.

Light to medium body with a slight presence of carbonation, barely there to softly tickle your tongue, but not enough to leave a slightly oily feeling on the tongue. This is more of a hop bomb than many IPA's I've had, with a great light lingering hop bitterness that doesn't completely overwhelm my tongue. Another excellent IPA from Drake's.

Serving type: bottle

09-25-2011 01:55:23 | More by nataku00

MrVonzipper

California

4.97/5  rDev +14.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Peachy-caramel color with a frothy eggshell colored head with good retention and pretty good lacing.

Brilliant nose which actually smells pretty similar to Citra DIPA (my favorite DIPA). Beautiful mild citrus, pineapple and sweet floral hop notes with a nice mildly sweet maltiness.

Flavor is just exceptional as well with fantastic balance. Again like the nose there is an excellent hop character with wonderful floral, light pine and citrus, pineapple, peach and mango notes and a perfect malt balance.

Mouthfeel is light, fresh and fairly crisp and lively with med-high carbonation.

Overall I was blown away by this random pick up. This is now my favorite IPA just beating out Just Outstanding IPA. This has amazing hops character through and through and deserves to be ranked and hyped up there with RR, Alpine and Kerns big IPAs. I absolutely recommend picking up one of these.

Serving type: bottle

09-23-2011 20:59:36 | More by MrVonzipper

madvermin

California

4.95/5  rDev +14.1%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Haven't reviewed in a long time, but Drake's has managed to get me back on here with a beer for the ages.

Appears dull gold, hazy and orange. Head is white and foamy, fluffy and light. Retains well and doesn't lose its pure white color for a while. Color could be brighter, but no big complaints.

Aroma lives up to the name of the beer - I have never smelled an IPA better than this one. Mandarin orange, sour grapefruit, lemon zest, a touch of basil and mint, with a caramel sweet backbone, this beer is exhilarating to smell. Hint of weediness on first sniff that dissolves into the fruit. Brilliant.

Taste follows with enormous citrus flavor, a touch of dull soft hoppy bitterness and a tempered malty ending that is enhanced by the dryness of the hop character. Minty citrus keeps going and going and going, and the Caramalt does a good job of smoothly transitioning the citrus to the dry end. Ridiculously smooth and easy. For the style I can think of nothing better...there are beers with stronger flavors or more unique flavors, but none I can think of that meld everything together better than this.

Crisp without being overly dry, juicy without being sticky, this beer is a perfect IPA. Single IPAs are probably my favorite style these days just for their mouthfeel, and this beer reminds me why with a perfect feel to go with its phenomenal aroma. Drinkability is unmatched by just about any other single IPA I've had, and only blind pig really comes close. Simple sensational beer from Drake's and I'm elated that they are bottling this at all.

Serving type: bottle

09-23-2011 07:30:50 | More by madvermin

MADhombrewer

Oregon

4.45/5  rDev +2.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Thanks to Arbitrator and Ramnuts for this. Poured from a 22oz bottle into a Hair of the Dog tulip. No bottle date that I could find.

Appearance- Hazy orange color with a white head with a hint of yellow to it. Good lacing. 4.5/5

Smell- Lots of grapefruit and tons of pineapple. Some orange and bits of lemon in it as well. 4.5/5

Taste- Starts out smooth and ends with a big bitterness. 4.5/5

Mouthfeel- Good mouthfeel, but a little on the "slick" side. 4/5

Overall- This is a great beer! It is full of tropical fruits. I really like dry and piney IPAs but it is good to have a fruity one every now and then for something different. I will have to check out more of this Drakes brewery when I can. 4.5/5

Serving type: bottle

09-22-2011 04:04:25 | More by MADhombrewer

Mark

California

4.8/5  rDev +10.6%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 5

One of the best smelling beers ever. My favorite IPA of the moment and maybe ever come to think of it. It won a taste test of IPA's my girlfriend and I conducted. It defeated most notably Russian Rivers Blind Pig. Huge aroma of pine, taste the same, great drinkability. Just a stupendous IPA. Seek it out.

Serving type: bottle

09-21-2011 00:28:10 | More by Mark

flannelman808

California

4.28/5  rDev -1.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

This is actually labeled at 6.75 %abv

A: Pours an ever so slightly hazy hay colored hue and is topped with an eggshell white head. Large bubbles make up the head, it has a styrofoam look about it. It retains and holds its own and then dissipates out of existence leaving little trace of it's having been their (poor "long term" lacing).

S: A menagerie of hop derived notes (albeit subtle ones) meld into a fruity, zesty ever so slightly pine driven aroma.

T: Bitter orange peel and brown pine needles with just a touch of lightly toasted malty sweetness. This is an extremely good beer. It tingles the tongue with good carbonation and bitter flavors all of which meld together (think Belgian Triple) and harmonize into a light bodied (for the style) dry finishing brew.

M: Szechuan peppercorn

O: Very good stuff, this is one of the better single IPA's out there, there is no doubt about it. If your looking for a light bodied IPA packed with hoppy expressiveness (Drakes incidentally is great at making them) this is your ticket.

Serving type: bottle

09-20-2011 23:49:01 | More by flannelman808

RBassSFHOPit2ME

California

4.47/5  rDev +3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

It's about time single IPA's started packing this much hop flavor into below 7% ABV.

Top notch IPA here, had both fresh on tap and 4 bottles now.

A - Pretty standard here, very active in the varieties of glasses I've poured them in from Tulip, to Pint and 23oz Schooner. Crisp and golden. Solid head and standard lacing.

S - I'd reference this as a more pungent Blind Pig - HUGE on the grapefruit sweetness, backed up by solid Pine and Grassiness. Smells big and juicy. Better than many DIPA's out there.

T - No different than what I exlained in the nose. Tons of juicy grapefruit and pine backing it up, including nice dry and crisp grassy finish...just how I like my IPAs and DIPAs. Not much malt backbone found here but it does make it self known once you get close to room temp. This beer really reminded me of a juicier Blind Pig.

M - Superb. Almost perfect. Dry, crisp and grassy finsh that keeps you coming back for more. Hop oils linger just enough but not too much whereas you're smacking your lips after each sip. It truly is a treat for me when a IPA / DIPA can pack so much juicy hop flavor upfront while at the same time finish so dry, crisp and clean. Before you know it, the bomber is finished.

O - I mean...come on. Get rid of your yearly IPA and swap it with Aroma Coma Drakes PLEASE. There's no comparison which is better. (Oh yeah...and bottle Hop Salad while you're at it) I get the same hop fix here as I do with many DIPAs out on the market. A true testiment to the brewer here in packing this much hoppy goodness into a somewhat sessionable beer. This beer is up there with Blind Pig and Just Outstanding IMO and yes, for my palate it's better than Two Hearted and Sculpin without a moments hesitation.

Serving type: bottle

09-19-2011 03:41:17 | More by RBassSFHOPit2ME

GRG1313

California

3.93/5  rDev -9.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Pours a golden amber with a white head that fades fast.

The nose hits you with fresh pineapple right after you pop the cap and even before you pour it! Huge fresh assertive nose that actually becomes a bit more subdued with some air.

Mouthfeel is creamy, rich and inviting.

The flavor profile is gigantic bitter hops. This one can take its place among the best of the IPAs with perhaps just a hint more brightness in the flavor profile. Otherwise, it's spot on and delicious.

Finish is more pine than citrus and a bit more brightness would be nice here. Still, a first class effort. It comes off as a double and one must again look at the bottle to confirm it's only 6.75% abv and a regular IPA. Nice.

Serving type: bottle

09-16-2011 05:44:56 | More by GRG1313

IKR

California

4/5  rDev -7.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance: Golden yellow color with a moderate white head .

Smell: Pine trees and grapefruit/citrus fruit aromas.

Taste:The pine scent, grapefruit and citrus fruit aromas carry over to the taste. I get all hops with some very slight malt flavors. Very clean after taste.

Mouth-feel: Fairly light body with a moderate level of carbonation.

Overall: Pretty good. The hop aromas live up to the billing on the bottle.

Serving type: bottle

09-09-2011 23:40:31 | More by IKR

dougmaher434

California

4.95/5  rDev +14.1%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

I really love this beer. It was made for me.
Looks a lighter brown and is not too dark.
The smell is the strongest smell I have ever had from a beer, which is entirely fruity hop smell.
Tastes like it smells although the malt bill does not balance the hop flavor it provides a little kick to it at the end. Somewhat grainy.
I just love everything about this beer. These guys did an awesome job. I almost thought this was too fruity, I couldn't believe that they didn't add any actual fruit to this beer. But I just loved the flavor. While Pliny is piney, this is comparable but fruity. Just as drinkable but obviously Pliny has a higher alcohol content and maintains that smoothness.

Almost my favorite beer, awesome!!!! A different IPA.

Serving type: bottle

09-09-2011 09:04:24 | More by dougmaher434

largadeer

California

4.7/5  rDev +8.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Draft at Gourmet Haus Staudt. Golden amber with slight haze, topped by a big fluffy white head.

A huge hop aroma on this one. Really nice juicy ripe tropical fruit aromatics. Pineapple and mango, along with a great floral undertone and a slight grainy malt profile.

Great on the palate, too. Drier than it smells, with a huge hop flavor but relatively little bite. Pineapple, grapefruit and peach come to mind. There's a mild grainy malt character, little sweetness. The finish exhibits mild bitterness and lingering tropical fruit flavors. Pretty fantastic stuff, really a top notch IPA.

Serving type: on-tap

09-09-2011 05:59:42 | More by largadeer

TheDudeRules

Minnesota

4.58/5  rDev +5.5%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Big thanks to Slaphappysnark for bonusing this out to me.

Poured into my Founders snifter.

I have no expectations here. Wasn't even a blip on my radar. Here goes. Bright orange backlit against my lamp. Full finger of frothy off white head. Inviting to say the least. Huge cotton candy sweet citrus nose. Taste is orange peel.. Bubbles explode on the tongue. Hop bite. Leaves a slight oily feeling. Sweetness mildly creeps in then finishes bitter, but in an outstanding way.

Wow. This is a good an IPA I've had in awhile. Seek it out.

Serving type: bottle

09-09-2011 00:38:23 | More by TheDudeRules

mikul93

California

3.28/5  rDev -24.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A Pours a Golden amber, rather clear with a nice healthy head. Nice lacing.

S Citrus, some peach, slight pineapple. Some sweet malt coming through. Not as aromatic as I was anticipating in regards to the name.

T Not as sweet as the nose but a nice touch. Goes down really smooth initially and then the bitter hops kick in towards the end. Bitterness lingers for a while. Lots of grapefruit. Dry finish. Not a very well balanced beer. Not enjoying it so much that I wish I had more.

M Medium body with tons of carbonation. Maybe a bit too much. It's a crisp beer.

O Nothing to write home about. Probably would not seek it out again, but I'm glad I tried it.

Serving type: bottle

09-08-2011 00:29:11 | More by mikul93

biglobo8971

Minnesota

4.35/5  rDev +0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

poured from growler into a tulip. Very pale orange with some vibrant yellow. Good 1 in head when first poured, lacing was present the whole glass. Smell of hops, more ghangha that anything, with a slith citrus sweetness. Very easy to hold under the nose for the entire drink.
Loved the taste, nice and bitter with a present hop resonancy that stayed with me for the whole drink. This opended my eyes to other Drake's beers, will seek this one out in the future.

Serving type: growler

09-06-2011 02:25:27 | More by biglobo8971

GrumpyJunglist

California

4.1/5  rDev -5.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured into good old trusty aka my Duvel tulip.

A: Poured a nice golden yellow color with a nice finger/ finger and a half of head. Head slowly dissolves, but a good layer of head remains after a few minutes.

S: Very up front notes of hops, definitely see where the different varieties come into play. Also a nice aroma of citrus and some floral notes too.

T: Immediate malty/piney floral kick with a nice aftertaste of pure hoppy goodness.

M: A nice carbonated kick at first, afterwards the lingering aftertaste in your mouth is piney citrus.

O: I definitely think its better then Denogginizer and almost equal to Hopocalypse. Definitely would drink this again, hope I can find this on tap soon.

Serving type: bottle

09-03-2011 06:04:29 | More by GrumpyJunglist

DaveHS

California

3.6/5  rDev -17.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A-Pours clear light amber with 1/2 inch of off white/yellowish head. Leaves sticky rings of lacing.

S-Strong hop derived tropical fruit/citrus aromas. Not as intense as Kern River's Citra beer, or even SN Hoptimum, but going in that direction. Some marijuana herbaceousness.

T/M-Light and dry, with crisp, bracing carbonation and a dry finish. Bittering hops are grassy and lightly astringent. There's a soft biscuity malt sweetness mid-palate.

O-Decent. I would take Drake's regular IPA over this.

Serving type: bottle

09-03-2011 02:42:59 | More by DaveHS

ubermick

California

4.53/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Enjoyed on tap at Drake's Barrel House.

A: Darker than a standard IPA (as is their flagship brew), with ridiculous hop haze. Almost looked like a hefeweizen, with a beautiful puffy head.

S: Honestly, I didn't even have to get my nose in there - I could smell it when it was set down in front of me. Crazy, crazy, crazy citrus (since it's loaded with Citra hops, not surprising!). Grapefruit and lemongrass really jumped out at me.

T: Outstandingly good - the IBUs are low (comparatively) on this, along with the ABV, so while it's got knock your socks off aroma, it drinks like a sessionable IPA. Nicely balanced. And as an addendum to this, I brought a growler home and this beer really came into it's own when it warmed up a bit.

MF: Nice body, right where an IPA should be.

This is an outstanding beer that could be heralding a new direction in "extreme" IPAs, and one that I'd welcome. As brewers cram more and more hops into their beers, pushing the IBU limits to the extreme, malt bills and ABV rise, and beers become more of an effort to drink as opposed to a pleasure. This beer by Drakes has enough to satisfy any hop head, while still maintaining fantastic drinkability, and having a low enough ABV to be able to session a few. Great work by the boys in San Leandro.

Serving type: on-tap

09-01-2011 17:24:43 | More by ubermick

PerHops

California

4.85/5  rDev +11.8%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

A- Nice cloudy copper to orange, depending on the lighting. Very nice head looks like an idyllic IPA.

S- Blind Pig! Citrus and herbal bomb!

T- WOW! Explosive grapefruit, blood orange, mango and tropical fruits. Incredible.

M- Great carbonation, enough malt to balance.

O- This really should be Drake's IPA. Unreal. Had this on draft, too. This needs to be a year round release, please!!

Serving type: bottle

09-01-2011 01:46:28 | More by PerHops

Beerandraiderfan

Nevada

4.43/5  rDev +2.1%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Light, glowing amber/copper type of color, very inviting, as are most of Drake's hoppy offerings (well all of them now that I think about it).

Great mix of pine and citrus, they call it 'aroma' coma for a reason, and its on full display here, very clean, crisp. Lots of c hops. But its the citra in the dry hop that really makes this worth it.

German and magnum bittering hops come out late in the mouthfeel, soft citra hop touches first, bitter stuff later.

I don't know why Drake's isn't liked more, probably just the glut of awesome breweries in CA divides attentions and hype.

Serving type: on-tap

08-22-2011 21:03:21 | More by Beerandraiderfan

Halcyondays

California

4.43/5  rDev +2.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

On-tap at Beachwood II,

A: Pours goldenrod to light amber with a nice white head, solid lace per the style.

S: Gorgeous nose with pineapple, mango, wildflowers, and pot.

T: Very strong hop character, the malt is left completely to a minimum. Strong grapefruit and lemon flavours with a hint of pine and tropical fruit. Direct and to the point. Very tasty.

M: Medium-bodied, crisp, easy going for the most part, never resiny on the whole.

O: Drake's continues pumping out fantastic IPAs, and I'm eager to drink them. They're on a roll in my book and I'm glad to be with them on the ride.

Serving type: on-tap

08-22-2011 02:52:48 | More by Halcyondays