Tag Archives: Imperial IPA

Boom Sauce – Lord Hobo Brewing – Woburn, MA

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DSC_0304Brew: Boom Sauce

Brewer: Lord Hobo

Style: Imperial IPA  ABV 8%

Boom Sauce pours a hazy amber orange with a strong and diverse hop aroma on the nose.  The first tastes place a blend of resinous hops firmly on the palate enveloping the drinker in a citrus laden, fruit filled, piney experience.  The hop blend delivers tropical fruit and citrus flavors as well as a bitterness that is balanced by a strong maltiness. Perfect carbonation and a welcome earthiness contribute to the excellent mouthfeel and elating overall experience. The consistency and intensity of Boom Sauce is astounding considering this is an expert blend of 3 other beers – “Ball and Biscuit” “Steal This Can” and “Consolation Prize”.  Delivering an altogether original, diverse, and striking bouquet of flavors, every Boom Sauce speaks to its tempered complexity and remains true to its origins and its name as an artful, intense, and expertly crafted blend of great beers.

The New England “Flora” of Brews and Brewers is progressing like crazy and especially elevated these days.  As the holidays approach, It is making me crave the time when I’ll return to my homeland and immerse myself in friends, family, and libations imbibed best from the source.  Should you have the opportunity check out Lord Hobo in Cambridge, MA or their taproom in Woburn do so… and, of course, if you can find a can, pick one up!

ReDANKulous – Founders Brewing Company – Grand Rapids, MI

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DSC_0017Brew: ReDANKulous

Brewery: Founders Brewing Company

Style: Imperial IPA

Pours a burnt orange umber, beckons with a strong nose of hops. The fresh hops in ReDANKulous bring forth bitterness and incredible flavors of citrus, tropical fruit, as well as a pleasant spiciness. Flavors of caramel, toffee, and malt surround a body of hops and stone fruit contributing to a well tempered savory sweet flavor. The fruit body includes notes of citrus in the form of grapefruit, blood orange and tangerine (& others) and notes of stone fruit and dark fruit like mango, cherries and plums. Flavors of peppers, guava, and apricot are also detectable. The expertly crafted hop blend (Chinook, Mosaic and Simcoe) delivers a truly “dank” taste and a delicious resiny mouth feel.  You will find your own draw in the myriad of contributors, the complexity is like a welcoming abyss of flavors, grab a ReDANKulous and fall down the rabbit hole.

Seller Description: reDANKulous Imperial Red IPA is a no frills, bold 9.5% ABV India Pale Ale. It pours a pleasing burnt amber with some sweetness due to the Caramalt and roasted barley used in the malt bill. But hops are the true headliner in this elaborate sensory experience. The spicy, piney, tropical complexities of Chinook, Mosaic and Simcoe hops hit you right away with their dank aroma—and they stick around. Take a sip to have your palate simultaneously walloped and caressed in all the right places. Combined, the hops take the beer to 90 IBUs. It’s not just ridiculous. It’s reDANKulous.

Oskar Blues Brewery – GUBNA Imperial IPA – Brevard, NC

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DSC_0948-2Brew:  GUBNA Imperial IPA

Brewer:  Oskar Blues Brewery

Style:  Imperial IPA 10%

2014 GUBNA pours a crisp golden orange with a nose that smells of citrus and pineapple.  The flavors are pronounced with a great deal of hoppiness but underlying clarity that is extremely refreshing.  Fresh grapefruit is prominent along with citrus/lemon zest and warmth from herbs and spices.  There are also notes of dark fruit, malt and caramel that add to the complexity of this beer.  Oskar Blues GUBNA was my true introduction to Imperial IPAs about 6 years ago.  It wasn’t my first experience with Imperials but it was a truly eye opening one.  No Imperial IPA ever enlightened me to the possibilities of this style like GUBNA.  Every year GUBNA changes but it is always true to its roots as a hoppy but refreshing unpredictably amazing beer. (ABV 10%)

Seller Description: GUBNA is packed with Rye and North American Pale Malt and accented with Munich Malt to give a spicy and flavorful backbone to support loads of kettle hops driving the IBUs to triple digits.  The 2014 GUBNA Seasonal is dry hopped with copious amounts of Sorachi Ace, Chinook and Mosaic hops creating a dank, dense nose and unique blend of lemon zest, red berries, spice, peach and herbs through a clean bitter finish.  (10 percent ABV, 100+ IBUs).