Beer of the Weekend #258: Imperial IPA
A funny thing happened last night when I took my first whiff of Moon Man. I thought, “Ahh… Hops.” The invigorating grapefruit citrus was pleasantly pungent. I put the pint to my lips and marveled at the slight bitterness.
It had no doubt been a while since I tried something with more than enough hops, and I was surprised how inviting and flavorful it was. I wanted more, and am very bummed I did not pick up a sixer of Moon Man. (It is brewed year round, so I will do so the next time I visit New Glarus, which will hopefully be sometime this fall so I can nab their autumn offerings.) However, since I am craving hops I think now is the appropriate time to try the last of my New Glarus haul.
The beer tonight is Imperial IPA, brewed by the New Glarus Brewing Company of New Glarus, Wisconsin.
Serving type: Four 12-ounce bottles. Typical batch codes, but no freshness date.
Appearance: Straight pour into a tulip glass. The color is a hazy gold. Two fingers of eggshell-colored head dissipated slowly, leaving trails along the glass, a foamy and spotted lacing, and a ring around the edge.
Smell: An invigorating bouquet of citrus hoppiness greeted my nostrils, which was very welcome. Major grapefruit, but I can detect orange and lemon in there. There are also scents of sweet candy caramel and pine spice. Smells a lot like a high gravity version of their regular pale ale.
Taste: It has a nice hop profile and is not too overpowering, though it leaves a lasting bitterness lingering on the sides of my tongue. The dominant grapefruit is now a bit player to the lemon hoppiness; it is tangy and sweet enough to remind me of Lemon Drops. However, it is not very prominent; the pine spice makes a lot of elbowroom for itself. Nothing stands out flavor-wise; each sip is a nice balance of everything. There is a very slight hint of alcohol at the end of each sip, but it is very minor. As the beer warms, the sweet caramel from the smell emerges, too.
Drinkability: True to style, this definitely delivers on the hops factor (though to what extent will vary from person to person). There is nothing to make it stand out in my mind, but it is a well-crafted brew.
Fun facts about IIPA:
-Style: New Glarus calls it “Double IPA,” and it is classified on BA as “American Double/Imperial IPA.”
-Price: $9.75/four-pack at the New Glarus brewery.
-Serving temperature: 50-55ºF — which is surprisingly high, I think.
-Alcohol content: 9 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: For the first time, New Glarus does not offer any meal suggestions. Amazing, especially since it was so helpful for every other beer I bought. BA, I am sure, recommends its usual vagueness, but I do not care to copy it here.
-IBU: 85. Yowza.
-Nerdiness from IIPA’s webpage:
-Since this is my last New Glarus beer (for now) I need to tell y’all about this. When you pay to sample the beer at New Glarus, you get a wrist band with three or four removable tabs (one for each beer you are able to sample) and a three- or four-ounce sampling glass complete with the New Glarus logo painted on the side. Everyone sat out on the patio outside the gift shop/sampling room on the picnic tables, and there were beanbag toss boards set up. It was a fun time. Anyway, inside I noticed the servers wrapping the sampling glasses and giving them back to customers. I assumed you could buy them for another buck or two, but when I approached the serving counter with the sampling glasses we used I was told they were included in the price of the sampling.
“You mean people can just take them home?” I asked the server as she wrapped our glasses. She gave me an assertive, “Yep,” and behind her another server popped open a box full of brand spankin’ new sampling glasses.
“You don’t wash them?”
“We don’t like doing dishes.”
I guess not. Thanks for the sampling glasses, even though we technically paid for them.
The Quiet Man’s grade: A-.
It had no doubt been a while since I tried something with more than enough hops, and I was surprised how inviting and flavorful it was. I wanted more, and am very bummed I did not pick up a sixer of Moon Man. (It is brewed year round, so I will do so the next time I visit New Glarus, which will hopefully be sometime this fall so I can nab their autumn offerings.) However, since I am craving hops I think now is the appropriate time to try the last of my New Glarus haul.
The beer tonight is Imperial IPA, brewed by the New Glarus Brewing Company of New Glarus, Wisconsin.
Serving type: Four 12-ounce bottles. Typical batch codes, but no freshness date.
Appearance: Straight pour into a tulip glass. The color is a hazy gold. Two fingers of eggshell-colored head dissipated slowly, leaving trails along the glass, a foamy and spotted lacing, and a ring around the edge.
Smell: An invigorating bouquet of citrus hoppiness greeted my nostrils, which was very welcome. Major grapefruit, but I can detect orange and lemon in there. There are also scents of sweet candy caramel and pine spice. Smells a lot like a high gravity version of their regular pale ale.
Taste: It has a nice hop profile and is not too overpowering, though it leaves a lasting bitterness lingering on the sides of my tongue. The dominant grapefruit is now a bit player to the lemon hoppiness; it is tangy and sweet enough to remind me of Lemon Drops. However, it is not very prominent; the pine spice makes a lot of elbowroom for itself. Nothing stands out flavor-wise; each sip is a nice balance of everything. There is a very slight hint of alcohol at the end of each sip, but it is very minor. As the beer warms, the sweet caramel from the smell emerges, too.
Drinkability: True to style, this definitely delivers on the hops factor (though to what extent will vary from person to person). There is nothing to make it stand out in my mind, but it is a well-crafted brew.
Fun facts about IIPA:
-Style: New Glarus calls it “Double IPA,” and it is classified on BA as “American Double/Imperial IPA.”
-Price: $9.75/four-pack at the New Glarus brewery.
-Serving temperature: 50-55ºF — which is surprisingly high, I think.
-Alcohol content: 9 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: For the first time, New Glarus does not offer any meal suggestions. Amazing, especially since it was so helpful for every other beer I bought. BA, I am sure, recommends its usual vagueness, but I do not care to copy it here.
-IBU: 85. Yowza.
-Nerdiness from IIPA’s webpage:
A provocative 85 IBUs reverberates cleanly through this Double IPA. True hop saturation from kettle boil to dry hop cellaring dominates this elegant and lustful sensory enchantment. You hold a deceptively seductive Original Gravity of 19.2 Plato, now 9%ABV following the always 100% natural bottle fermentation. Luscious English Maris Otter malt is the essential heart of this voluptuous double IPA. Surrender is inevitable so enjoy now.
-Since this is my last New Glarus beer (for now) I need to tell y’all about this. When you pay to sample the beer at New Glarus, you get a wrist band with three or four removable tabs (one for each beer you are able to sample) and a three- or four-ounce sampling glass complete with the New Glarus logo painted on the side. Everyone sat out on the patio outside the gift shop/sampling room on the picnic tables, and there were beanbag toss boards set up. It was a fun time. Anyway, inside I noticed the servers wrapping the sampling glasses and giving them back to customers. I assumed you could buy them for another buck or two, but when I approached the serving counter with the sampling glasses we used I was told they were included in the price of the sampling.
“You mean people can just take them home?” I asked the server as she wrapped our glasses. She gave me an assertive, “Yep,” and behind her another server popped open a box full of brand spankin’ new sampling glasses.
“You don’t wash them?”
“We don’t like doing dishes.”
I guess not. Thanks for the sampling glasses, even though we technically paid for them.
The Quiet Man’s grade: A-.
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