8.1

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

22 ounce bottle into tulip glass, bottled in 6/2017. Pours fairly hazy/cloudy deep golden/orange/amber color with a 1-2 finger dense and rocky cream colored head with fantastic retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Thick foamy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big tangerine, red grapefruit, lemon, lime, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, honeydew melon, berries, citrus peel/rind, wood, onion, mint, peppercorn, pine, honey, white bread dough, toasted biscuit, light caramel, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and dark/bready malt notes; with big strength. Taste of big tangerine, red grapefruit, lemon, lime, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, honeydew melon, berries, citrus peel/rind, wood, onion, mint, peppercorn, pine, honey, white bread dough, toasted biscuit, light caramel, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness. Light-moderate pine, citrus peel/rind, herbal, floral, woody, grassy, peppery bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of tangerine, red grapefruit, lemon, lime, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, honeydew melon, berries, citrus peel/rind, wood, onion, mint, peppercorn, pine, honey, white bread dough, toasted biscuit, light caramel, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a while. Awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and dark/bready malt flavors; with an awesome malt/bitterness balance, and no cloying/astringent flavors after the finish. Light-moderate increasing dryness from lingering bitterness. Medium carbonation and medium-full body; with a very smooth, creamy/bready/grainy, and fairly sticky/resinous/rindy mouthfeel that is great. Minimal warming alcohol for 9.6%. Overall this is an awesome DIPA. All around awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and dark/bready malt flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to drink for the big ABV, with the mellowly bitter/resinous/drying finish. Nicely soft and not aggressive. Awesome Chinook, Kohatu, Simcoe and Ekuanot profile. Very juicy, vibrant, dank, and earthy hops; with a great balanced dark/bready malt backbone. Light residual sweetness with lingering resin dryness. Very well attenuated for the ABV. A really enjoyable offering, and outstanding Midwest style example. This was killer for being 2 years old. Still tons of hop flavor, might have been well refrigerated?