The Alchemist Heady Topper

Heady Topper

 

The Alchemist in Stowe, Vermont, United States 🇺🇸

  IPA - Imperial New England / Hazy Regular
Score
8.17
ABV: 8.0% IBU: 100 Ticks: 275
We love hops – that’s why our flagship Double IPA, Heady Topper, is packed full of them. Heady Topper was designed to showcase the complex flavors and aromas these flowers produce. The Alchemist has been brewing Heady Topper since 2003. This Double IPA is not intended to be the strongest or most bitter DIPA. It is brewed to give you wave after wave of hop flavor without any astringent bitterness. We brew Heady Topper with a proprietary blend of six hops – each imparting its own unique flavor and aroma. Take a big sip of Heady and see what hop flavors you can pick out. Orange? Tropical Fruit? Pink Grapefruit? Pine? Spice? There is just enough malt to give this beer some backbone, but not enough to take the hops away from the center stage.
 

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7.6/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 8 Flavor 9 Texture 6 Overall 7.5
(Can, 0.473 l, at tiong's tasting, thanks tiong, 20180309) The beer poured deep golden and nearly cloudy. Its head was medium sized and white. Aroma had fruitiness and citricness. Palate was medium bodied with medium carbonation. Flavours were fruitiness, citricness, grapefruit and bitterness. Aftertaste was hoppy and bitter.
Tried from Can on 09 Mar 2018 at 19:32

7.8/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 8
0.473 l can from a trade with Maracuja05, many thanks Moritz! Almost clear, orangeish amber with a medium large, a bit fluffy, almost stable, white head. Sweetish, fruity-grassy, slightly resiny and a bit herbal aroma of mango, passion fruit, some orange jam, pine and hints of marijuana. Moderately sweet, slightly bitter, juicy, fruity-grassy, moderately resiny and slightly herbal taste of mango, passion fruit, orange jam, pine and a touch of marijuana, followed by a medium long, moderately bitter, rather herbal-grassy and quite resiny finish. Medium to full body, smooth, almost creamy and moderately effervescent mouthfeel, soft carbonation. Extremely pleasant beer that impresses with its balance rather than its intensity. I like it a lot but for me it doesn't completely live up to its reputation, but that might be a result of my high expectations.
Tried from Can on 21 Feb 2018 at 21:13

9.1/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 9 Flavor 10 Texture 10 Overall 8.5
08-02-18 and 10-02-18 // cans shared. Purchased at Mikkeller Webshop. Compared drinking both times with part in a glass and parts straight from the can. Can gives a more hop oily feeling and and more aggressiv hop flavour and bitterness while the glass provides just a perfectly balance DIPA. I loved it both ways. --- Hazy orange. Small head. Fruity hoppy nose. Aroma of loads of grassy, hay hops with citrus and fruit notes. Hop oily, slightly hop creamy mouthfeel. Strong bitterness which stays in the mouth for a long time. Such a great IPA. Definitely stands up to the hype and I could drink it every day. Smoother than the 8%.
Tried from Can on 08 Feb 2018 at 21:40

9/10
Tried from Can on 13 Jan 2018 at 19:30

8.5/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 9 Texture 8 Overall 9
(473ml can from Mikkeller Webshop) Pours a pretty hazy pale orange with an average white head and spotty lace. Aroma is concentrated and a mix of pungent fruit and dankness, notes of preserved peaches, apricots, passionfruit, papaya, berry candy, citrus, some slightly sknuky weed, fresh grass. Flavour is again heavy with hop oil character, concentrated notes of pit fruit, white grapefruit, papaya/melon, floral tropical passionfruit vibe, biscuit malt gives a bit of sweetness, rather dank leafy notes with some catty character, some pine needle, citrus zest and pith, above moderate bitterness but not totally scalding. Medium bodied, a bit oily, fairly soft carbonation, no alcohol. Somewhere between a more bitter west coast and contemporary NE style, and obviously an influence on both. Not head and shoulders above other DIPAs now, but really good all the same.
Tried from Can on 13 Dec 2017 at 14:59

7.4/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 7.5
Cloudy, pale. Medium head. Fruity, with a bit of papaya and a bit of grapefruit. On the palate, it’s spicy, has a nice grapefruit, good balance with the pale malt. Touch of alcohol late. It’s good, I'm sure I would have scored it higher back in the day, but when you're this late to the party and you've had so many high quality imitators, it is what it is.
Tried on 09 Dec 2017 at 12:26

7.8/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 8
From notes. Amber, slightly caramelized vegetable smell, in a good way, like walking into a kitchen where root vegetables have been roasting. Slightly soapy, piney dank flavor. The strength of this beer is the amazing balance and drinkability. Pretty good beer.
Tried on 11 Nov 2017 at 13:29

9/10
Tried from Can on 01 Nov 2017 at 19:14

8.4/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 9 Texture 8 Overall 8.5
Can. Tiny sample from happy ocasion. Hazy orange juice colour. Small head. Aroma: gigantic hops. There are citrus and tropical fruit, grassy notes. Additional honey. Medium body. The taste is extraordinary juicy & hoppy. Big orange, tropical fruit. Some grassy and resiny notes. Medium bitterness. Perfect drinkability. Very good.
Tried from Can on 03 Oct 2017 at 13:42

7.6/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 6 Overall 7.5
Splitting a pint can with Skippy at his 40th birthday. Pours hazy golden with a white head. Aroma of grapefruit juice, sour orange juice. Oh nice flavor. Pine, orange peel, grapefruit peel, mixture of citrus juice. Very flavorful, very nice pine. Tasty!
Tried from Can on 01 Jul 2017 at 20:27