Rampage Imperial IPA - Black Diamond Brewing Co.

DeanMoriarty

California

4.5/5  rDev +16.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Picked up a 22oz bomber from BevMo in Point Loma and poured it into an "Old Speckled Hen" pint glass.

A: Pours a clean golden/light honey hue with a fat white head that dissipates slowly leaving solid lace in my glass from start to finish.

S: Big citrus hop upfront with a good amount of earthy pine, tropical fruit, salty biscuit, sweet malt and fresh grain.

T: On point with the nose but even more prevalent hop with a big citrus bight, earthy grains, fresh baked bread, carmel malt with just a slight hint of booze at the very end - extremely tasty and well balanced.

M: Medium-bodied, well carbonated with a good amount of bitterness, extremely dry with only a hint of booze at the end(where they hiding all that alcohol ???).

D: Wow - for the style the drinkability is absolutely ridiculous and very friendly. Could pound a few of these in a single sitting - no worries!

Serving type: bottle

02-21-2011 07:24:31 | More by DeanMoriarty

KevinBrewer

California

3.6/5  rDev -6.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A- Clear light amber with a thin fizzy white head that dissipates quickly, leaving minimal soapy lacing.

N- Volatile aromas of pine resin, pink grapefruit, and citrus rind. After the head dies down, only mild grapefruit remains.

T- Bitter grapefruit, bitter medicinal pill dust, and citrus rind. There is a subtle fruitiness under all those hops, and the malt is at the threshold of perception.The lightness of malt seems off-style for an imperial IPA. A warming alcoholic surge hits you in the middle and lasts to the finish. Fresh cut grass, pine resin, and bitter grapefruit in the aftertaste.

M- Medium-light, slick but sticky body with moderate carbonation and a dry finish.

D- The medicinal quality prevents me from really enjoying this one.

Serving type: bottle

02-06-2011 05:30:29 | More by KevinBrewer

GRG1313

California

3.83/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours crystal clear orange amber with a nice pure white head that fades rather fast.

Nose is pine, eucalyptus, camphor which is unique and very appealing and pleasant, with the underlying fresh pineapple one might expect, but it's underlying everything else.

Mouthfeel is medium plus bodied with nice balance and good carbonation. Feels well made and inviting.

Flavors are bold and follow the nose. Somewhat unique pine, eucalyptus, burnt toast bitter with a citric kick. Nice layers and complexities. There is a front palate of sweet fruit that then gives way to the complexities.

Finish is burnt toast bitter; and grapefruit skin oil.

Serving type: bottle

02-05-2011 21:58:15 | More by GRG1313

whatthehull

California

3.93/5  rDev +2.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Poured into a New Belgium snifter

A - Golden amber, one finger head, good lacing

S - Tropical hops, sweet sticky malts, a bit piney and a nice hop meets malt balance

T - Sticky sweet floral hops, lemon grass, flowers, Belgian yeast and hoppy but balanced

M - Light, bright, carbonated, sticky, malty and a nice bitterness

D - Awesome for a dipa meets iipa, great beer

Final thought - At $5, this beer is awesome to pound or sip

Re-Reviewed on Mar. 28th 2011

Poured into a New Belgium snifter

A - Golden Orange, half finger off white head and only a little lacing

S - Very sweet, a Belgian yeast note, grass, carnations, toasted and sweet malts, citrus, pine, mangoes, alcohol and the smells are very nice, but pungent

T - Very bittersweet right away and then the notes come out. The yeast is in your face, then the mango, citrus, carnations, grass, toastiness and alcohol come out. The taste is very pungent as well

M - Light and fluffy, except on the tongue it is coated and sticky and the bitter sweet sits right on the back of the tongue

D - At 9% and $4.50 a bottle. This is a nice beer. Lots of complexity and for any IPA lover this is a must have. Not to bitter or sweet, just smooth

Final thought - Enough said

Serving type: bottle

02-05-2011 07:54:46 | More by whatthehull

rand

California

3.68/5  rDev -4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

From bottle to tulip glass

Pours an apricot-orange, fairly clear with a sudsy, two inch head. Moderate lacing as the head slowly dissipates. It smells of strong citrusy notes - orange-grapefruit, lemon - along with huge waffs of pine. This beer has a big bouquet, with ample alcohol that warms the nose.

It's no surprise that the bitter, piny notes hit the palate first. Orange rind and grapefruit are right there with them, which bend toward caramelly sweetness at the middle. Alcohol and notes of freshly cracked pepper spice things up. Earthy hops never diminish and dry at the finish.

The beer is rich and oily, but not abnormally for the ABV. Plenty of carbonation leaves the palate free of any sticky residue. This is a complete hopbomb, though, and plenty of lingering bitterness remains between each sip. Not the easiest drinking DIPA, nor the most balanced, but that's not what they were going for here.

Need a hop-fix? This will do just fine.

Serving type: bottle

01-31-2011 08:04:15 | More by rand

stakem

Pennsylvania

3.7/5  rDev -3.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Thanks to huadog for the chance to try this beer. Poured from a bomber with no freshness indication into a snifter. This brew appears a hazed golden orange color with particulate all through the body despite it being chilled for several hours and a careful pour. 2 fingers worth of fluffy slightly yellowish stained head form and slowly recedes down to about a finger. Lacing clings to the glassware with a connective web-like pattern.

The aroma of this brew surprisingly displays more of a toasted malt sweetness straight out the gate that has some caramel notes that blend into more of the hop characteristics. The hops smell like orange rind mixed with pine and a bit of grapefruit. Once warm, it displays a greater depth of sweetness to the nose coming across like fruit. There is seemingly no indication of the alcohol evident in the nose of this brew.

The taste is a perplexing mixture of flavors. It starts off displaying malt character that is toasty and reminiscent of caramel malt with a mild sweetness. A mild fruitiness and light solvent alcohol impression is evident before orange rind bitterness creeps in leading to an earthy/herbal bitterness that clings inside the mouth and lasts long into the finish. Mid palate though there is a strange mineral taste that is somewhat metallic and slightly off-putting. The metallic flavor blends into the herbal quality of the hops but after a couple of sips it finds it way into the finish.

This is a medium bodied brew with a modest amount of carbonation. Initially the alcohol inside this example was well hidden but the warming effects increase as the experience continues. It is hard to be super-critical about this brew, it has some good qualities but there is no knowing how old this bottle is which might explain the lack of "brightness" to the hops. Overall it was fairly balanced and enjoyable (minus the mineral taste) but the malt seemingly out-shined the hops in this example which makes me believe it wasn't that fresh. I appreciate the opportunity to give it a try and would have it again if black diamond started to introduce some bottle coding on their offerings.

Serving type: bottle

01-21-2011 01:14:41 | More by stakem

TurdFurgison

Ohio

4.08/5  rDev +6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

I got this 22oz bottle of goodness courtesy of ipa247, thanks Jeff! A small blurb from the label: "Up front the nose is big and assertive with aromas of candied orange, grapefruit, and pine. Biscuity malt layers balance the aggressive hops as the nectar glides over the tongue".

It pours a deep orange color with a thick frothy yeast-cake of foam on top. Estimated SRM of 18-20. Lots of floating bits, which I kind of like. The foam alone brings this to a 4, add in the nice color and sediment and it's a 4.5 for me.

Very nice hops in the aroma, definitely the grapefruit and pine indicated from the label, especially grapefruit. You can tell there's a reasonably large malt bill from the background sweetness, and luckily for me it's more of a pale malt than a caramel malt character. It lets the hops more or less run the show aroma-wise. Just a hint of barleywine tendencies, but not too strong.

This tastes great. Much more bitter than most IPAs, at least the malt doesn't do much flavorwise. Very dry with lingering hops burn, I like this stuff quite a bit. Nice pine needles in the aftertaste.

The mouthfeel is thicker than normal, this being the main contribution of the malts in my estimation. Fairly sticky and along with the flavors this gives the impression of fresh hops resin, a nice complement to the flavors.

I'd happily try this again any time, another great DIPA from the state of CA.

Serving type: bottle

01-19-2011 01:43:02 | More by TurdFurgison

popery

California

4.33/5  rDev +12.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Awesome beer. It's not the most pungent DIPA, but the hop notes are strong enough and come through with some very nice aromas. It smells like a mix of tangerine rind, pineapple and pine needles. It even picks up some apricot and grapes, as it warms. It's a sweetly citric, inviting aroma. And the taste is almost better. The sweetness is quite light; not much crystal malt flavor here. The finish is dry and almost perfectly bitter, in that it's strong but never drowns out the hop notes. The aftertaste is a very long-lasting pine resin hoppiness. Mouthfeel is happily dominated by hop oiliness. Appearance is a light copper with a creamy head, white tinged with yellow. Kudos to Black Diamond for another step in the right direction.

Serving type: bottle

12-13-2010 17:20:53 | More by popery

jeffjeff1

California

4/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

My wife picked this up for me a couple of days ago.

Appearance- golden color, medium size head

Smell- piney hops

Taste- piney hops, not real bitter at all, pretty good

Mouthfeel- medium bodied

Drinkability- pretty good, I liked it a lot. I think this is one of the best ones I have had from Black Diamond.

Serving type: bottle

11-08-2010 23:18:53 | More by jeffjeff1

100floods

California

4.18/5  rDev +8.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Picked up at Healthy Spirits in SF. Had this brewey's Quad and hated it, but the DIPA, I've been told is another story.

Pours a murky hazed golden hue. I smell a good balance of malt and citrus. Both come through with a clean finish.

Nice and hoppy, but not uber bitter. The reminds me of a less balanced Marin IPA. First sip presents a surge of malt, grapefruit and pine flavors at first. There is a heavily malted after taste. This beer has a nice, floral hop presentation. The mouthfeel is good, but I can sense that if this beer was warmer than it is now (it's pretty chilled) that it would be too sugary and sticky. Great textbook DIPA. Solid effort.

Serving type: bottle

10-26-2010 23:47:06 | More by 100floods

tempest

Pennsylvania

4.1/5  rDev +6.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Had a glass at the Surly Goat in LA with BABaracus. This was interesting to compared with the Eagle Rock Populist I just had. Both ales had more more of an herbal hop character, but while the Populist was spicy, this had a bitter greens taste along with the grapefruit. The body was a bit thicker, but relatively drinkable for the strength. Overall, this was tasty and interesting, worth checking out.

Serving type: on-tap

09-07-2010 01:09:08 | More by tempest

Halcyondays

California

3.83/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

On-tap at Beachwood BBQ,

A: Pours a clear orange, with a firm white head, good head retention with nice concentric circular lace.

S: Sweet floral pine, wildflowers, with citrus - orange and lemon.

T: Sweet citrus flavour which is really appealing, with some light malt - definitely West Coast. Notes of pine needle, some bitter melon in the finish.

M: Medium-bodied, creamy, resiny, thin finish.

D: Solid Imperial IPA, a beer that can hold its own with all the great CA DIPAs.

Serving type: on-tap

08-19-2010 03:10:43 | More by Halcyondays

RLaurel

California

4.9/5  rDev +27.3%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

I have had this brew several times in the Tap Room. It is a very tasty brew! I like it's slightly chocolaty/coffee taste. It would go very good with a satisfying meal. Consistent color all the way around, top to bottom. It is only served in the tap room in 10 ounce glasses. It's higher alcoholic content make it a commodity which cannot be sold in larger volume pints.

Very, very tasty!

Serving type: on-tap

06-24-2010 21:34:18 | More by RLaurel

femALEist

California

4/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Had this on cask at the 2010 Firkin Festival.

This poured a super cloudy, dark orange, sienna brown.

It smelled of grapefruit, pine forest, grass and fresh hops.

It tasted of lemon, citrus, grapefruit, bitter, and pine. It had a more bitter aftertaste.

Good Carbonation. Good drinkability. A good, Imperial IPA, not may favorite but not too bad.

Serving type: cask

04-28-2010 20:48:15 | More by femALEist

berkey

California

4.08/5  rDev +6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On tap at Hopyard San Ramon 04/12/10. Served in a standard pint glass.

Somewhat deep but clear orange amber in color. Not much of a head to speak of.

Aroma yields a great balance of leafy bitter hop pungency and sweet citrus notes. That's about all I'm getting but what else do you need in this style really?

Citrus flavors are not as strong as on the the aroma but still pleasant. There's also a fairly prominent residual dry bitterness on the aftertaste which is really enjoyable in my opinion. My one small gripe against this beer is that I'd like a little more complexity mid sip, there's citrus on the entry and bitterness on the finish but not much to bridge the two.

Carbonation is mild and the finish is dry. Easy drinking for the style, don't know the ABV but I'm assuming this in the 8% range and the alcohol is nice and subtle.

Ovrall the important pieces are essentially all in place for a solid West Coast DIPA. A very good beer I'll revisit when it shows up again even with all the great options available. Impressive.

Serving type: on-tap

04-14-2010 19:52:27 | More by berkey