Pursuit Of Hoppiness - Grand Teton Brewing Co.

Ryan011235

Ohio

2.7/5  rDev -32.7%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

On tap in a pint glass at Barley's, Greenville, on 9/18/11

Faded copper color. Poured a thin head and thin it remained. Hardly any lace at all.

Aromas of floral hops, watery caramel and a touch of bread. Way tame and a little soapy. No brightness to the hops. Ugh, it tastes just as bland and boring. Floral hops and caramel smeared all over the place. Lacking in citrus and/or pine. Bitterness is low. Tastes kind of soapy, also. Medium body with moderately low carbonation. Something of a slick feel.

This isn't exactly a bad beer; it's just boring as sin. I'm glad I didn't buy a bottle.

Serving type: on-tap

10-24-2011 01:23:40 | More by Ryan011235

mactrail

California

3/5  rDev -25.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

Big gorilla of a hop brew. Nothing subtle, intriguing, or armoatic. Some sweet malt, but a dishwater aftertaste followed by the bitter burn. A litle bit of maltiness squeaks through. Ruby amber color is nice. Foam fairly long lasting and well laced in the pint glass. Supposed to have Summit, Simcoe, Chinook, and Nugget hops.

At Sessions Public in San Diego. Surprised a pint of a beer listed at 9% is only available in pints. Why do they want to call it an "American Red" with 100 IBU? One of the less interesting hoppy beers I've had this year.

Serving type: on-tap

11-06-2011 04:08:40 | More by mactrail

Phelps

Arizona

3.03/5  rDev -24.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Had on tap at Papago, during a Grand Teton tasting. The company rep said this was an imperial red...we'll see.

Deep copper, puffy white head, hazy, some bubbles.

Smell reminds of citrusy orange juice and some caramel malt. Not terribly complex.

Bracingly bitter in the back, but the finish is very sweet grapefruit juice. As a red, this guy is a little hop-heavy. I'd like some more malt.

Medium-light carbonation, slightly watery, with a light body.

Pursuit of Hoppiness drinks more like an unbalanced IPA than a red. I wasn't super-impressed with any of the Grand Teton beers I tasted that night...this one, like the others, is completely average -- par for the course.

Serving type: on-tap

03-29-2010 05:48:46 | More by Phelps

Wisconsinality

Wisconsin

3.05/5  rDev -23.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Bomber or whatever size this bottle poured into Duvel tulip.

2009 vintage.

A- Pours a deep amber red that has a good amount of haze to it and let's no light through when holding it up to the light. A big head, 2.5 finger's worth, sticks around forever and leaves great lacing.

S- Big amounts of hops and sweet malt. Very reminiscent of a hoppy barleywine. Some nice caramel and maybe just a hint of spice.

T- Like the nose, big hops but the aging has subdued them quite a bit. The malt is pretty present and the alcohol pokes its head out just a bit.

M- Medium to full bodied but feels flat regardless of lingering head. Pretty smooth on the back of the tongue. Just a little heat in the back from the alcohol.

D- Comes in a big bottle but this is a one glass and done. I can tell there is some age n this bottle and its seems to make it a little oxidized. Overall really lacks something to make it stand out form the crowd.

Serving type: bottle

09-09-2010 00:57:34 | More by Wisconsinality

kojevergas

California

3.14/5  rDev -21.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

8.5% ABV confirmed. Pursuit of Hoppiness Imperial Red Ale. 12 fl oz brown glass bottle with standard pressure cap acquired locally and served into a conical Samuel Smith's pint glass in me gaff in low altitude Los Feliz, Los Angeles, California. Reviewed live. Expectations are high given its current ratings.

Bottled 12/03/12.

Served straight from the fridge. Side-poured with standard vigor as no carbonation issues are anticipated.

Not paired with food.

A: Pours a two finger light khaki colour head of nice cream and thickness, and flat out fantastic retention; it looks like it'l keep for a good ten minutes. Lacing is decent. Body colour is a dark amber-copper; semitransparent and translucent. No yeast particles are visible. No bubble show. Par for the style, with an impressive head.

Sm: Hoppy, with nectar and floral character dominating. Caramel and sweet malts form the foundation. Little hop bitterness. An average strength aroma, and a pretty simple one.

T: Nectary hops, a bit of floral hop character, caramel, and sweet amber malts. Fairly balanced, but underwhelming. I do like it, but it lacks subtlety and complexity. There's just not much to say about it. Some bready notes. A bit too sweet, with malts defeating hops.

Mf: Smooth and wet. Not quite refreshing. Decent thickness. Pretty good carbonation.

Dr: Drinkable but pretty pedestrian. For an imperial red, it's not bad. Still, I wouldn't trifle with it again - especially not for its price as an import. There are better examples of the style at this price point. Hides its ABV fairly well. Another good but not great offering from Grand Teton.

C+

Serving type: bottle

01-13-2013 04:08:46 | More by kojevergas

ArrogantB

Colorado

3.15/5  rDev -21.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

12oz bottle, $2.49. I had this once before in a 750ml bottle so I thought I better review it hence the repeat purchase,. The bottling date was fuzzy but it appears to have been bottled in March of this year so its about two months old. Red color, head was fine. Aroma was a muted bit of hops and really smelled like a double amber ale. Flavor was heavy malts like an amber ale with just a bit of fruitiness from the hops. I bet this is great when its a couple weeks old but at two months its really a disappointment. Its not bad but the hops were just not there for teh advertised IBU and the name of the beer.

Serving type: bottle

05-12-2013 20:29:28 | More by ArrogantB

charlzm

California

3.18/5  rDev -20.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Consumed January 18th, 2011.

Beer pours a clear, medium amber/copper with plenty of off-white head. Some lacing, though not sheeting. Well-carbonated appearance.

Aromas of citric malt and a touch of caramel malt. Not as aromatic as anticipated.

Toasted caramel malt flavor is fairly weak, beaten down by herbal, citric hop character that grows stronger and more bitter with passing time. Tartness (bordering on sourness) a subtle but persistent note. Grapefruit juice? Lingering, substantial bitter finish with touches of pine. Slight alcohol warmth and flavor.

Beer is very wet, bordering on juicy. Good carbonation on tongue leaves a slight tingle but does nothing to cut bitter finish.

Not particularly enjoyable.

Serving type: bottle

01-19-2011 17:02:54 | More by charlzm

Mebuzzard

Colorado

3.33/5  rDev -17%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Not sure about this one. Red ale? I'm not thinking on the same page. The malt on this one is hidden and buried by the hops and alcohol. Sure, it pours an amber/reddish/brown and it does look good, that's about where the red ale ends.

Hops up front, in the middle and all around the nose. Add some alcohol on the end. Boozy citrus aromas.

Hops in the taste and tons of them. Syrupy a bit; resinous. Citrus and slight pine. Ok, here are some of the malts, but not much. Some light hints of caramel. I'd actually wish the malt would just go away as it takes away from nice hops. I'm conflicted. A hop bomb, but not to style (at least on here). And booozy

Serving type: bottle

05-23-2011 07:19:14 | More by Mebuzzard

StonedTrippin

Colorado

3.35/5  rDev -16.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

pours red. more red then expected for sure. quarter inch white lacey head that hangs out for a minute or two. smell is in your face hops, fresh hops even? why are you so red? looks like a Cascazilla, but more subdued in a way. mouthfeel is THICK, like, borderline chewey. tastes like I've had this before, not remarkable from a quality or creativity standpoint, but represents an alternate avenue for the hopeless hophead. wouldnt buy it again, and struggled to drink a whole one, but oddly content...

Serving type: bottle

09-23-2011 07:11:51 | More by StonedTrippin

seanwhite

Massachusetts

3.35/5  rDev -16.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A:clear, glowing copper colored beer topped by a minimal sized light beige head.

S: The aroma is rather sugary malty at first, soon to be overpowered by piney, citrusy hoppyness. Some lemonpeel.

T: It’s full-bodied, quite effervescent and lightly warming, with flavors of caramel sugary maltyness and a solid dose of citrusy, resiny malts. Lasting finish with bitterness dominating.

O: Some balance brought by the sweetish maltyness. A really pleasant one. A bit sweet maybe, but with hops enough to deal with it

Serving type: bottle

11-30-2011 17:42:37 | More by seanwhite

popery

California

3.48/5  rDev -13.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Good hoppy amber. While there is some specialty malt flavor, this beer is really a showcase for hops. There are big, bold American hop flavors, mostly citric and a bit floral. It's not a particularly complex beer, but it's an enjoyable exercise in hoppy imperial amber land. What's appreciable from the malt comes across as a fairly simple spicy caramel note. It's a rather chewy beer with a good, thick mouthfeel. I wish that the Simcoe hops were allowed to shine more, but maybe some folks feel differently. My main criticism is that the beer gets a bit astringent, but whether that is a failing of hops, malt or some combination is beyond me. Overall, it's a nice hoppy beer but not the best imperial red by a good distance.

Serving type: bottle

01-10-2010 05:24:12 | More by popery

Beaver13

Colorado

3.48/5  rDev -13.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 3.5

750ml bottle, bottled on 12/07/10. Pours a hazy reddish amber with a medium frothy off white head that quickly goes to a thin film that leaves a little lacing.

The aroma is sweet tropical fruits and some resiny hops and a little caramel malt.

The flavor is sweet nutty caramel and crystal malt with tropical fruits and a bit of grassy bitterness that does stick out a little in the aftertaste. As it warms, the hops start to overpower the sweetness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied and pretty watery.

Overall, a nice imperial red. It's a bit much on the sweet side for me and rather watery - but still nice.

Serving type: bottle

03-07-2011 05:29:00 | More by Beaver13

stxSS07

Illinois

3.48/5  rDev -13.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

750ml Bottle into a Killian's pint

A- Pours a hazy golden-orange color with 3 fingers worth of pillowy, almost khaki colored head. Leaves awesome lacing.

S- Big mix of sweet juicy citrus hops and a really sweet malt backbone shines through with some caramel qualities.

T- Hugely sweet malty presence here. It almost overwhelms the hop characters of the beer. The juicy citric notes try to break through a coating of malt, but are barely perceptable. A lingering bitterness is all that really tells me that hops are here.

M- Medium bodied with a good amount of carbonation. Helps to move the flavor along.

O- This is a decent brew, but not deserving of an A- in my humble opinion. A little too sweet for my tastes...especially with a name like "Pursuit of Hoppiness".

Serving type: bottle

08-25-2011 05:28:42 | More by stxSS07

nataku00

California

3.48/5  rDev -13.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Bottle poured into a tulip glass. Beer pours a dark hazy copper, with some amber and reds when held up to a light, with two fingers of foamy loose bubbles. Head dissipates after a few minutes to half a finger of foam, leaving ample sticky lacing. A lot of carbonation streaming up from the bottom of the glass.

Nose is grapefruit peel, pine and caramel. A bit of fruity ester, red apple as well.

Taking a sip, toasted and caramel malt greets the tongue first, then a bit of grapefruit peel bitterness. Some apple ester flavor mid tongue, before finishing with a combination of caramel malt and grapefruit. Was hoping for more hop flavor though.

Medium body and heavily carbonated for a somewhat creamy mouthfeel. Easy to drink for the abv, but given the name, I was disappointed with an average beer.

Serving type: bottle

05-20-2012 02:34:57 | More by nataku00

WWWade

Kansas

3.5/5  rDev -12.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5

With a name like, 'pursuit of hoppiness', one might be expecting a super hoppy experience. Well, one might be wrong in that case. This beer has a strong flavor, but it is balanced and flavorful. The 8% brew really does not taste that strong. It feels more like a 6%.

A- amber

S- fresh and clean

T- Hoppy, but not so overpowering.

F- light

D- fairly drinkable, but be careful, it packs a punch.

Serving type: bottle

12-12-2009 19:44:58 | More by WWWade

websherpa

Montana

3.5/5  rDev -12.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Imperial red big bottle shared with my girl consumed from tulips.

Appearance: The beer had a beautiful mahogany color with minimal clouding. Full finger off white head with modest lacing. I've had imperial red spin offs, but never a "straight" imp red so I have nothing to compare this too. I guess I was expecting a stickier red colored IPA. So far it doesn't look too sticky but it does look red.

Smell: It's clean and hoppy as expected. Lots of citrus mostly grapefruit. Maybe a some more bitter tasting oranges but mostly just grapefruit. No real pineapple.

Taste: The taste is of course hoppy and full of grapefruit. There is a definite sweetness to it. Reminiscent of caramel mostly. My partner was getting a musty but I didn't as much.

Mouthfeel: Light and effervescent. I actually agitated too much and killed all the carbonation in my glass towards the end and found I liked the flat beer slightly more than the carbonated beer. I think I really wanted this to be thick and sticky, and it wasn't. I'm not sure how this compares to style, but it didn't come out the way I was hoping.

Drinkability: This is a good beer and in a 6 pack format at a 7.99 price it would be a no brainer. Instead it is a big bottle (750 or 22 oz?) at 7.99 and I think I can find better IPA esque beers for the price or less.

Serving type: bottle

02-20-2011 07:11:26 | More by websherpa

PDXHops

South Carolina

3.5/5  rDev -12.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Growler poured into a Duvel tulip. Deep amber with a generous cap of thick, creamy foam on top. Lots of soapy lacing.

Huge caramel malt nose with a pungent underlying earthiness, some booze, and stray citrus notes. The Pursuit has successfully led to a healthy dose of biting earthy hops and a level of bitterness that just manages to cut through the thick, smooth body (perhaps a little too smooth). Seems like there might be a dash of smoked malt in there? A splash of citric juiciness in the finish. Rather boozy in the finish. Perhaps a cellar candidate, but even a 32-ounce growler was a lot to handle.

Serving type: growler

07-20-2011 11:42:38 | More by PDXHops

LilBeerDoctor

New York

3.53/5  rDev -12%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Reviewed on 11/20/2009. Bottle thanks to smokepot23. Pours a hazy orange-brown with a thick white head. Aroma of citrus fruits, caramel malt, grapefruit, and garlicky hops. Flavor of sweet caramel malt, garlicky hops. A little sticky and heavy but pretty decent otherwise.

Serving type: bottle

12-19-2009 04:15:44 | More by LilBeerDoctor

johnnnniee

New Hampshire

3.53/5  rDev -12%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a deep reddish brown color with a creamy khaki head that dissipates slowly and leaves a little lace in its wake. Smells of old school IPA. Sweet caramel malts mixed with juicy citrus and grapefruit. Hints of pine and resin and a bite of toffee especially as she warms. Taste is caramel sweet malts with more pine than citrus, exactly opposite what the aroma lead me to believe. Finish is moderately dry with a long lingering pine and resin bite. Medium body and carbonation level, slick resinous mouthfeel. Nice Ipa, I mean red ale. Taste is good, but its hard to justify the price tag when there are so many other great red/ipa's out there. Put this in a 6 pack and charge me 10 bucks for it, not 14+ for the 750, this beer is just not that special.

Serving type: bottle

07-28-2011 22:50:05 | More by johnnnniee

Beerandraiderfan

Nevada

3.55/5  rDev -11.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

Came across red, carbonation was definitely not a problem, wasn't a gusher, but it definitely was excited to get out the bottle. Head didn't amount to much or stick around long. Aroma was less red, more dipa on the caramel and sweetness tip.

Taste, less hoppy than expectations were, being that it was called pursuit of hoppiness. Not a fail by any means. This is really one of those line blurs when it comes to style. A little bit red, dipa, strong ale, whathaveyou. Sticky.

Price was just too much for what you get, there's a lot better investments, this was like $11 for a liter.

Serving type: bottle

11-06-2010 01:19:56 | More by Beerandraiderfan

Klym

California

3.55/5  rDev -11.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured into a stone nonic. Two months old which is much older than I'd like but the youngest bottle I could find.

This once was a deeper red with some powerful brown hues. I got a nice hop whiff when I first opened the bottle. Sadly as I poured it and smelled it, it came off with a little all-purpose cleaner chemical touch to the bitterness. The taste was a mix of wood, citrus, caramel malts and tons of plain hop bitterness, and sadly the chemical bite to the bitterness was still there-- it was small, but quite unpleasant. Overall I found it to be good, and I'll write off the weird chemical taste as part of having a two month old bottle, but I'd definitely take, for example, a loakal red over this in a heartbeat. A solid, basic example of a very hoppy red, but it really lacked interesting character or complexity.

Serving type: bottle

08-07-2011 03:15:49 | More by Klym

Wasatch

Utah

3.55/5  rDev -11.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Thanks goes out to portia99 for this brew.

750ml
Red Foil

Pours a very nice hazy light amber color, nice carbonation, with a very nice thick creamy two-finger head, with lots of nice sticky lacing left behind. The nose is malty, with a very nice hop note, with lots of caramel. The taste is malty, with a bitter hop note, slightly sweet, kinda watery, not much body. Medium body, with a dry finish. I was ready to really enjoy this brew after the pour, but it was a let down, a nice brew, but after having the new Squatters Radio From Hell, there just is no comparison.

Serving type: bottle

03-11-2012 19:26:59 | More by Wasatch

claytong

Vermont

3.58/5  rDev -10.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

appearance - good strong head from the orange red beer

smell - its hard to get past the hops here, i suppose if i really really tried, i could get some floral and pine.

taste - same as smell, not getting much from the style

mouthfeel - medium body with nice carbonation, felt really nice going down, one thing i do love about hoppy beers is the feeling on the throat. hops is actually good for sore throats. got drink a ipa man with a sore throat

Serving type: on-tap

06-24-2011 02:11:59 | More by claytong

xdopiex

California

3.58/5  rDev -10.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance of an orange brown color, with a two finger tan head on the pour. Great retention without too much lacing. Medium carbonation.

The nose is medium pine, with a subtle front end on the palate and a very mild hop bitters on the back end. Very drinkable red ale.

Serving type: bottle

07-24-2011 01:27:12 | More by xdopiex

russpowell

Oklahoma

3.63/5  rDev -9.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Picked one up in Wichita & just saw this today in Mizzou, woohooo!

Opened with a vague psst..pours copper colored with 2 fingers of rocky tan head. Good head retention & lacing

S: Huge cakeyness & a bit of toffee

T: Cakeyness, brown sugar, piney & orangey hops up front. Toffee, herbal hops& leafy, dryness & grapefruit are all there as this warms, plus some figgyness. Finishes dry with brown sugar & leafy hops & a bit of booze

MF: Chewy with moderate carbonation, some wetness sneaks through as this warms, plus a nice warming feeling

Drinks fairly easy, but doesn't pull all the way together. Grand Teton can do better than this, hopefully age helps smooth this one out...

Serving type: bottle

12-19-2009 04:19:29 | More by russpowell