Double Simcoe IPA - Weyerbacher Brewing Co.

crnipeter

Slovenia

1.55/5  rDev -62.2%
look: 2.5 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 1

Pours murky reddish coppery with quarter of an inch thin beige head that dissipates.

Nose is a bit rough exhibiting depressed apricot-like and woodsy hops being overshadowed by
dominant ALCOHOL which is inexcusable for a brew with copious dry hopage, indicated by murky appearance. The fruity aspect of the forementioned apricot is nicely supplemented by excessive caramel malt character, though. Flavor of the medium bodied beer with hot burning alcohol taking the center stage more or less imitates the aroma . Bitterness is not overly harsh and lasts into aftertaste.

The review of this alky IIPA imitation is short as was the drinking experience interrupted only by drain pour. I understand the beer might be old with diminished hop-qualities but the obnoxious alcohol revealing poor brewing skills cannot be ignored (330 ml into tulip, no Bottling date (what else)).

Serving type: bottle

11-25-2012 20:58:00 | More by crnipeter

Cobrito

Georgia

2.13/5  rDev -48%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

A--Cloudy, unusually dark amber. Already unorthodox for the style. Will it be a good or a bad thing?

S--Fine, but blast of simcoe as one would expect is not forthcoming.

T--A sweet malt and fruit bomb. How can they call these things IPAs?

M--Malt milkshake. No thank you.

O--Should be a testament to the complexities of Simcoe. Instead it's a fruit bomb. Down the drain it went, little lamented.

Serving type: bottle

10-15-2012 02:39:31 | More by Cobrito

jjanega08

Minnesota

2.42/5  rDev -41%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 4 | overall: 2.5

A= pours a hazy deep amber color. Pushing what I would call brown. The head is minimal just a thin skin on top of the beer. No lacing is there and there isn't even much retention on the skin of a head. Somewhat dissapointing.

S= Piney hops. Not nearly as pungent as most IPAs I stick my nose into. I get a little citrus but other than a little hops there isn't much to smell from this beer.

T= The taste is different I guess. Still not impressed with this beer. Tastes hoppy sure but there is also a little bit of a glass taste to it. I would describe it as a minerally taste I guess. The hops that are highlighted aren't the best tasting hops in my opinion. Sort of old tasting. Bitter and piney but not nearly juicy and fresh enough tasting. Minerally as hell.

M= Low carbonation. really low carbonation. Slick and coating. Not bad at all I actually prefer a lower carbed IPA.

D= Not that great. Taste and smell aren't very good. Not a great beer and I'm not sure why it recieves so much praise.

Serving type: bottle

03-02-2010 03:38:16 | More by jjanega08

AwYeh

California

2.45/5  rDev -40.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2

12oz bottle poured into tulip pint; bottled on Feb 10, 2011.

A: Pours a slightly hazy, dark amber-copper-reddish brown, with a finger of foamy off-white head, which dissipates moderately quickly leaving spotty lacing.

S: Piny, resinous west coast hops. A good deal of a musty, bready, caramel malt as well. Hints of some tropical fruit hoppy aromas too. A slight buttery aroma behind everything too, which is odd considering the freshness of this bottle.

T/M: Lots more pine, resiny hops here; the thick, syrupy mouthfeel really adds to their effect (especially for the style). Sweet, caramel, biscuity finish, accented by a lingering hop bitterness. Light carbonation and a smooth, creamy texture.

D: The weak aroma and taste on this one hurt its appeal quite a bit; a bit of alcohol being detectable as it warmed didn't really help things either. Don't think I'll be picking this one up again, especially at its $3.50/12oz or $12/4pack price point, when there are much better DIPAs out there.

Serving type: bottle

02-24-2011 09:14:59 | More by AwYeh

scott

Ohio

2.55/5  rDev -37.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

V.07

Medium, quick to fade head crowning a deep copper, thick-bodied offering. The carbonation is fighting its way to the top.
Pleasant & robust nose of floral citrus. Bitter from the get-go, this ends pretty harsh, and slightly hot. Syrupy, and not particularly easy drinking; this is a sipping man's DIPA. I don't feel as I can define this as well balanced, as I wish this had something more than bitter & cloying going on.

Serving type: bottle

09-30-2007 21:27:06 | More by scott

Hautacam

Connecticut

2.58/5  rDev -37.1%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Slightly hazy amber , with a tan head that foams up and laces.
Smells very piney with a hint of metal.
Tastes very sweet..intensely hoppy...citrusy mostly; bitter and alcoholic. There is a funny spearmint-menthol taste that is putting me off a bit and a little metallic bite in the aftertaste.
Mouthfeel is pretty cloying and syrupy.Carbonation low.
I got through a bomber of this , hoping I'd like it more as it warmed and my tastebuds got numbed by the hops....but just not thinking that I'll buy this one again.
Too bad ...I like just about everything these guys brew.

Serving type: bottle

11-07-2006 02:56:42 | More by Hautacam

falloutsnow

Illinois

2.68/5  rDev -34.6%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

From: 750ml, Hyvee in Omaha, NE
Date: Bottled in late January 2012, if I'm reading the label correctly
Glass: Tulip

The idea is excellent: use copious amounts of what's generally considered one of the tastiest, fruitiest, most complex hops available. Unfortunately, the beer seems to suffer from what I've noticed to be a common problem in Weyerbacher's beers: unrestrained, obvious ethanol in aroma, taste, and feel. This becomes particularly acute in the taste, and generally lends to the belief (for me) that the beer either ages terribly (ten months is certainly a long time for a DIPA, but should it have this severe of consequences?), is poorly brewed, or some mixture of both. The only way to really tell is to visit the brewery or find a particularly fresh bottle, but I don't really envision myself seeking this opportunity out.

Pours a substantial 2cm head of tan foam that has above average retention. Gradually, the head fades to a thin ring around the perimeter of the glass, leaving modest lacing along the edges of the glass, a few dots and lines scattered haphazardly about. The body is a hazy, dark brown color with reddish tints. Light brings out orange and red tones from within the otherwise brown body coloration. Carbonation is visible through the murky body, and it appears fairly active.

Aroma is of subdued grapefruit and musty orange, which bespeaks the Simcoe hops used in the hopping and dry hopping of the beer. Unfortunately, these aromas are sitting atop not a caramel-sweet malt character, but easily noticeable ethanol. The alcohol isn't piercing, but it's obvious, which detracts from the hops and any malts used to balance things out.

As a few others have noted, this is a fairly hot mess of ethanol with hops and malts making up the balance: I don't know why others aren't tasting it. Opens with expected, though perhaps not as intense as expected, grapefruit and orange rind hop flavors, with a bit of medium-dark (caramel) malt sweetness in the background. Mid-palate is where the ethanol sharply bleeds into the grapefruit and orange-rind hops, also reducing the maltiness that would otherwise be evident. Back of the palate finds hop bitterness alongside ethanol flavors, and a bit of medium-dark malt character. Aftertaste is expectedly bitter, with lingering malt character and ethanol as well.

Beer is medium to medium-heavy in weight, with medium intensity carbonation, that lends to a slightly fizzy, but overall acceptable feel for a double IPA. The ethanol is what hurts here, easily felt alcohol burn across the tongue and throat, and felt in the nostrils. Finishes fairly dry, as one would expect from the hop and ethanol content.

Serving type: bottle

11-30-2012 02:50:42 | More by falloutsnow

ThisWangsChung

Maryland

2.7/5  rDev -34.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Poured into a beer mug.

A: Pours a darker tawny color with tons of yeast floaties in the body. The body turns lighter copper in its shade near the edges of the glass, with explosive-looking carbonation helping to send the the floaties upward. The head is a one finger offwhite color with good density and lacing near the side of the glass.

S: Holy bajeezus, this smells dank. Grapefruit skin, pine, herbs, cannabis, any variant of hop aroma, you name it. There's some caramel and a hint of candied sugar, as well. However, it smells rather subdued, meaning it could be an old bottle.

T: At first, this doesn't taste aggressively hopped apart from some piny bitterness on the back end. However, with subsequent sips, a nice character of mango and apricot starts to appear. I was worried this would be an old bottle, and my fears came true - leaving the malt backbone to do most of the heavy flavor lifting here. It does a solid job here, providing touches of honey, caramel, toffee, booze, and candy-coated hops; right now, its a decent barleywine, but lacking as a DIPA. It's hard for me to properly judge its balance due to the potential age of the bottle.

M: Quite heavy, slightly syrupy even, but smooth as silk. Initially, the finish is very dry, almost unusually so even for a DIPA. Hard to imbibe at first, but once the palate is used to the oily, resiny texture and bitterness, this beer becomes much easier to drink, even as the alcohol becomes more palpable on the taste buds, esophagus, and stomach. Moderately low carbonation.

O: Tastes like it's way past its prime to me. For that fact, I can't give it a great score in good conscience, but I will be on the lookout for this one fresh. It's a shame that this is an old bottle, because this could have been really good had it been fresh, judging by some of its nicer traits in the flavor profile.

Serving type: bottle

05-14-2012 22:40:16 | More by ThisWangsChung

Talisker

California

2.73/5  rDev -33.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 1.5

A fascinating exploration of the Simcoe hop, and absolutely worth trying, but I can't see arguing for this as a cohesive beer worth returning to.

Pours a deep orangish red. Lots of light tan head, and a very persistent set of lacing rings. Smells like a freshpine tree with some grapefruits in it, some sweet malt in the nose. The taste is perfectly integrated - burning piney hops down my throat, not quite balanced by a too-sweet malt. Not sure if a drier or breadier malt would hold up to this firey hop attack, but the sweetness doesn't seem to fit. Texture is clean enough, not as syrupy as most other DIPAs. But the edgey burning hops hang around far longer than any syrup could. I can't imagine anyone's palate holding up to even a pint of this - I certainly won't be going back for seconds.

The score doesn't capture how *interesting* and overpowering this beer is, but rather my impression of how it holds up as a cohesive drink. Burning hops from top to bottom.

I think it's an object lesson in how more is not necessarily better, but I'm happy to get such a clean picture of what the Simcoe hop does.

Serving type: bottle

07-04-2007 23:40:07 | More by Talisker

JondaRam

New York

2.73/5  rDev -33.4%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

A - Light amber brown. Cloudy. This was a 12oz bottle which I didn't think was bottle conditioned, but theres lots of particulates floating around like it was.

S - Fresh hops, sweet malt/alcohol, some toast/nut

T - Bitter, muddy unattractive hops. Alcohol. Long, pleasant bitter finish.

M - Medium to medium-full, cleaned up in the end by the bitterness. Good, strong carbonation.

D - Had to struggle through this for long enough that by the end it was reduced to a warm bitter vodka tasting drink.

Not at all a good example of a DIPA in my opinion. I didn't think there could be such a muddled hop flavor in a single-hop beer. Alcohol was way too forward. I'd take a sip of this again if someone else was drinking it to see if I got a stale bottle, but wouldn't spend my money on it or recommend anyone to buy it.

Serving type: bottle

09-02-2010 20:24:14 | More by JondaRam

Beauregard

Maryland

2.78/5  rDev -32.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

I'm not going to lie. I love Weyerbacher, I love Simcoe hops, and I love DIPAs, but this beer was way out of whack. Aroma was a strong hoppiness, but did not forewarn of what was ahead. The flavor/mouthfeel combination (I do not lie) reminds me of earwax. Something is wrong here. It's not the IBUs, it's not the abv, but something is awry, and I don't like it. Again, I love Simcoe hops, (check out the Dreadnaught for a wonderful example), and I've made some wonderful homebrew with them. There is just something terribly unbalanced about this beer that I can't quite put my finger on. Check out the far superior Weyerbacher 11 if you like a strong but delicious malt/hop balance.

Serving type: on-tap

08-24-2006 04:00:23 | More by Beauregard

callmescraps

Massachusetts

2.78/5  rDev -32.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Had this last year and absolutely loved it. Having it again, this time far more sober. We'll see if it stands up under the light of day.

Appearance- Deep ochre color. Very cloudy. Half inch of very creamy head. The yeasty cloudiness is not a favorite, although the head is very rich. Laces great. Overall pretty good.

Smell- Very earthy and grassy. Sort of a dank pot-ness. A little maltiness. Lots of pine sap.

Taste- Starts sweet. Plenty of pine sap. Followed by that dank herbal hop flavor. There's a hint of the citrus. Almost some toffee. Too damn sweet and herbal. Very astringent and bitter on the finish. The booze really comes in at the end.

Mouthfeel- Very syrupy. Quite thick. Needs more carbonation.

Drinkability- One and done. I bought a four-pack based on the last experience. Sigh.

Big disappointment. Either this is way passed its prime (I don't think so, I got it from a place I used to work at) or I totally misremembered it. Considering I was hammered last time I had it, I'm wagering that's what happened. Oh well, now I wont bother regretting being unable to get it in SoCal.

Serving type: bottle

12-30-2009 06:07:15 | More by callmescraps

beckje01

Minnesota

2.8/5  rDev -31.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A- Honey color with lots of thick head.

S- Semi sweet fruity hops in the nose. Pretty good.

T- Dull hops some sweetness, with a slight soapy aftertaste. It's ok for a DIPA but not great.

M- Smooth texture with no activity

D- A sipper it's ok just not loving it.

Serving type: bottle

11-25-2008 04:58:12 | More by beckje01

Katahdin

Pennsylvania

2.8/5  rDev -31.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

A very hoppy beer it pours a dark gold/orange in colr witha noticeable lack of a head. With every siip you can taste the high hoppiness of the style. The bitterness of the hops taste lingered in the mouth making it difficult to enjoy any other style of beer. Really had to fight to drink it because the floral nature of the hops really fights hard.

Serving type: on-tap

12-22-2009 19:52:04 | More by Katahdin

DarthKostrizer

California

2.83/5  rDev -31%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Look: Nice dark orange in color with 1/2 inch off white head and ok retention and spotty lacing

Smell: Typical candy sweetness nose from the simcoe hops with some caramel and toffee

Taste: This has to be the most unique IPA I have ever had. It has a funky orange candy flavor. There is some alcohol presence. Not good

Mouthfeel: Medium body and medium carbonation and a bit sticky on the finish

Overall: Not what I'm looking for in a IPA

Serving type: bottle

11-09-2011 00:18:21 | More by DarthKostrizer

rangerred

Tennessee

2.83/5  rDev -31%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

12oz bottle into a goblet.

Pours a hazy dark brownish-orange with a thin soapy head. No head retention and barely any lacing.

Aroma is unmistakably simcoe; smells like a litterbox. Not repulsive but it is really hard to detect any malt whatsoever. PIny hops with a little bit of citrus.

Same piny flavor right away on the taste. Also extreme sweetness. Just a tiny bit of caramel malt underneath but the hops overwhelm. Bitterness is high but overshadowed by the sweetness. Finish is very sticky with hop flavor lingering.

Overall, a very one-dimensional IIPA and way too sweet. I know these beers are supposed to be over the top but I still expect some sort of balance between malt and hops. This is just a sugar bomb with some hops thrown in. Not something I will pick up again.

Serving type: bottle

10-24-2012 01:09:10 | More by rangerred

woodske1

Pennsylvania

2.85/5  rDev -30.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Kinda dissappointed here. It has a strong Pine aftertaste to it which was not pleasant. I do like that it is different and went for the Simcoe hopes, that's a step I like, but it could taste much better.

It's very average, I would try one, but move onto better IPA's.

Serving type: bottle

03-08-2009 15:55:30 | More by woodske1

Bendurgin

Maine

2.85/5  rDev -30.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Pours into a pint glass. This one pours a hazy amber color with an off white head that sits about a finger high. Settles down leaving sticky lace.

Really dry grapefruit aroma with a little bit of a metallic aroma to this. THe taste is a little bit doughy with a bit of a grapefruit flavor profile. Not sure the balance is really exactly what it needs to be; a bit to malty on this with not enough hops to back this up.

The feel is a fair enough, good carbonation. Nice light body. This is a little sticky though. Overall I remember liking this one a lot more when I first got into beer drinking. I was hoping it would stand the test of time for me but not quite. In the end, not a terrible beer but I'll take other DIPAs over this.

Serving type: bottle

03-29-2011 23:07:28 | More by Bendurgin

rhinos00

Colorado

2.88/5  rDev -29.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

In light of recent threads claiming this to be a top DIPA, I picked up a bottle. Poured into a pint glass.

A- Pours a clean, clear amber. Solid one fingers width of off-white head.

S- One word, potent. The smell of fresh piney hops invade the nostrils like they are on a mission. Was able to detect a slight hint of citrus.

T- Flat out doesn't do it for me. This beer is extremely one-sided, allowing for nothing else to shine through. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge hophead, and while I love hops in the face, the taste just seems rough and unrefined.

M- I felt like my mouth was taking on a full assault. This beer was bitter and too hot for my liking. I didn't particularly enjoy the inability to taste anything after a sip.

D- Not so much. It was hard for me to enjoy this due to the unrefined hops explosion.

Overall, no balance in this beer whatsoever and that doesn't bother me. The part that bothers me is that if the beer is going to be one-sided relying on the hops profile, it should be done in way that allows for some taste. There is no taste to this beer whatsoever. All you get is a strong, bitter burn that kills every taste bud you have.

Serving type: bottle

01-10-2009 23:30:53 | More by rhinos00

francisweizen

Australia

2.9/5  rDev -29.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 2.5

I was not a big fan of this one. I had this at the foodery in Philly and I found the orange/hazy appearance nice with a great looking head. But the aroma was kind of 'off' and 'alcoholic' for my liking. The taste was very cloyingly sweet and boozy for me as well. Mouthfeel was actually very creamy and nice, but the drinkability was somewhat killed by the off putting aroma and taste! not horrible, but certainly not one of my personal favorites either!

Serving type: bottle

01-25-2008 21:19:10 | More by francisweizen

TheDeuce

New York

2.9/5  rDev -29.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

Weyerbacher Double Simcoe IPA...from the Big Beers Variety pack.

Appearance-deep intense orange, active head that floods up, lots of carbonation, really fills up the glass.

Smell-hops, hops, hops, Simcoe aroma is intense, not really getting much else.

Taste/Mouthfeel-hop rashness, this beer is indeed one-sided. Not alot of malt flavoring, could use some more balance, I always thought I liked lots of hops, but wow. Just seems one dimensional though the flavor really isn't that bad.

Drinkability-too intense to really enjoy although you will be paying attention.

Overall-an interesting brew but not only that I really enjoyed, I found it rash and unbalanced, and I consider myself a hophead.

Serving type: bottle

12-26-2008 16:20:35 | More by TheDeuce

mmopt

Pennsylvania

2.93/5  rDev -28.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2

Poured for a huge pillow layer of head, medium pour. Smell of slight pine and citrice. Taste has a slight sweetness but overall the bitterness dominates. A sipper for sure, and although others said it could be session beer, this is a huge IPA and probably just not my style, a good beer overall.

Serving type: bottle

03-07-2009 01:46:02 | More by mmopt

kbm

Arizona

2.93/5  rDev -28.5%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Appearance: Amber with a good head. Nice lacing.

Smell: Piney hops with out of control diacetyl. Turning me off.

Taste: Piney hops with a significant malt backbone. The diacetyl is killing me in the after taste. All I am tasting is the butteriness.

Mouthfeel: Moderate and pleasant carbonation with a slightly creamy mouthfeel.

Drinkability: Despite the diacetyl problems, I can take down a bottle in ten minutes in no time.

Serving type: bottle

12-22-2009 00:30:55 | More by kbm

Holland

Pennsylvania

2.93/5  rDev -28.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

A: poured an amber orange color - very hazy. Good one finger head when i got it, and it left some lacing on the sides.

S: pine, bitterness, and something musty

T: tastes very bitter, and I don't get the citrus notes at all. I taste earthiness instead, which is fine. A little bit of malts round it out, but I don't get the caramel malt I expected from the color. Now that I think about it I didn't smell the caramel malt either.

M: medium bodied, but very crisp. The bitterness is accentuated by the carbonation. Nice.

O: It's okay - I paid $4 for a 12 oz pour at Tipples in Gainesville. I would never buy it again, but it's drinkable. It's not very complex (one hop, of course) and I'm totally unimpressed.

Serving type: on-tap

08-27-2011 00:10:49 | More by Holland

danieelol

Australia

2.93/5  rDev -28.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Thanks to Chris @ Slowbeer

Appearance is barleywine-red. Decent head/lacing.

Smell is loads of barleywine honey-malt, melon and marzipan. Alcohol, lots of it.

Taste is melony malt. Can detect sweetness but hop bitterness and alcohol wins out.

Again, the palate on this is just not that pleasant.

Mouthfeel is medium and astringent.

While the IPA was too bitter, this is too English, and alcoholic. Another disappointment.

Serving type: bottle

03-03-2012 08:13:45 | More by danieelol