Heady Topper

Pint size can picked up at Mikkeller Bar, Victoriagade. Let’s see if this is worth all the hype. Hazy, golden colour with an amber tint, and a creamy white head. Fruity aroma with sweet exotic fruits, apricot, peaches and citrus fruits - grape and a hint of Nelson Sauvinon. Taste is bitter. Medium to full body with a creamy texture and an average carbonation. Finishes long lasting dry and bitter with a lot of citrus fruits. A slightly toasted note. Excellent IIPA - well recommended.

Can(s) from the recent Mikkeller Bottle Shop opening in Torvhallene, Copenhagen (both DFTC and via glass) - pours a glowing fuzzy golden orange colour with nice firm slowly dissipating white head and light lacing. Gorgeous tropical and citrus fruity with big in your face hoppy prominence, juicy and fresh with big hits of tangerine, grapefruit, mango, peach, resinous and grassy hoppy goodness, pine needles throughout, solid caramel malty backbone, lovely initial sweetness followed by a solid bitter finish. Immense.

16 ounce can into tulip glass, no can dating. Pours fairly hazy/cloudy golden orange color with a 2 finger fairly dense and fluffy white head with great retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Nice dense foamy lacing clings around the glass. Aromas of big grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, peach, papaya, mango, melon, lemon zest, orange rind, light pepper, pine, cracker, bread, herbal, and floral/grassy earthiness. Fantastic aromas with awesome complexity and balance of juicy citrus/tropical/piney hops and light-moderate pale malt notes; with great strength. Taste of big grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, peach, papaya, mango, melon, lemon zest, orange rind, light pepper, pine, cracker, bread, herbal, and floral/grassy earthiness. Large amount of pine/citrus rind/spicy bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, peach, papaya, mango, melon, lemon/orange rind, pepper, pine, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a while. Incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/tropical/piney hops and light-moderate pale malt flavors; with a great malt/bitterness balance and zero astringent hop flavors after the finish. Moderate dryness from bitterness that increases through the glass. Medium carbonation and medium-full bodied; with a very smooth, sticky/resinous, and fairly creamy/bready balanced mouthfeel that is awesome. Alcohol is very well hidden with minimal warming present after the finish. Overall this is an absolutely amazing DIPA style. All around incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of juicy citrus/tropical/piney hops and light-moderate pale malt flavors; and very smooth and easy to drink for the ABV. A insanely delicious offering.

Got this one from De Hopduvel in Ghent, BE. The next one I will drink from the can, but this one I had to dissect. No idea how fresh it is. Golden-orange pour, hazy, with very little head and no retention. It does give way to a very fine and sticky lacing, but is in no way impressive looking - the focus must be on the taste. The smell is like a typical west-coast IPA, lots of pine, citrus (grapefruit mostly, and some lime) and tropical fruit aromas, some dankness, maybe some green apples, a bit of honey and a slight funkiness. Moderately complex and balanced taste. Pine notes up front, citrus (grapefruit and lime again), followed by the sweeter notes of pineapple, papaya, mango. Bitter-sweet aftertaste, and a surprisingly light body. On the down side, it does have a strong herbal bitterness in the end, and the alcohol is a bit too present in the aftertaste, but maybe I had an old can, not sure. Decent beer, definitely one I would try again, but not the best IPA out there. --- Beer merged from original tick of Heady Topper on 21 Dec 2018 at 13:24 - Score: 8. Original review text: backlog: Billie's Craft Beer Fest day 1 - 3.9

Can from Village Market, Waterbury VT. Drank some from the can, then poured out the rest. Cloudy, orange gold. A film, and ring of white head. Nose has punchy, tropical fruits. There’s a herbal character to it, not unlike fresh hop cones. Some notes of orange zest and rind. Light malts, that come across sweet and biscuity. Taste is robust, slightly earthy, pithy bitter. Plenty of mouthfilling sweetness. Fullish body, with perfectly pitched carbonation. Finishes fairly long, pithy bitter. Very easy drinking.

Can shared at a tasting. 12 days out of the brewery. Thanks biirusaikou! Pours a lightly hazy honey colored gold with a big soapy head that lingers throughout. Lots of grapefruit with some grass, orange, lemon and light weed character. Medium body with medium to medium high carbonation. Super juicy and fruity with lots of bitterness on the palate. Great, refreshingly bitter finish that lingers on the palate. Surprisingly well-balanced and hides the abv well. Awesome stuff. --- Beer merged from original tick of Heady Topper on 13 Nov 2015 at 23:16 - Score: 9. Original review text: 12 days out of the brewery!!

Can shared by Jackl, thanks! Sweet malt and tons of fresh, bright hops. Bitter, with citrus and pine. Heavy palate. I expect this would give me a hop burn but there is enough sugar and sweet malt that it is not abrasive initially and very drinkable, even if heavy.

Bottle at a tasting. Brutal hops experience. Even at 6 months of age this is a really strong resiny piney citrusy hops experience. Stands up to the hype.