Sweetwater Brewing Company 420 Imperial IPA

420 Imperial IPA

 

Sweetwater Brewing Company in Atlanta, Georgia, United States 🇺🇸

  IPA - Imperial / Double Regular
Score
6.85
ABV: 9.1% IBU: 60 Ticks: 22
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6.8/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 6 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 7
Can. Copper beer with a dark cream head. Light caramel aroma. Caramel and light grapefruit flavor with light pine. Medium bodied. Good bitterness. Caramel and grapefruit linger with light pine. A bit too sweet.
Tried from Can on 29 Dec 2022 at 23:02

5.9/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 5 Flavor 6 Texture 6 Overall 5.5
Orange color with a large fluffy beige head that lingered. Bitter and rough with fruity hops, pine and a metallic note. Long finish. Medium body.
Tried on 26 Nov 2022 at 21:28

7.2/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 4 Overall 7
Stovepipe can, Kroger. Clear orange with a giant, soft, greyish?? head. Nose is caramel, deep citrus, pine. Pine, caramel, mango, orange peel. I want to say old school, but not... Flavors are there, but new-school lack of bitterness. Flavors not unlike a red IPA. All the carbonation is in the head... the beer itself feels undercarbonated. Enjoyable.
Tried from Can on 02 Oct 2022 at 23:28

6.9/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 6.5
(Can) hazy, bright orange amber colour with a small white head; aroma of dried longans; balanced flavour with a long, light bitter finish
Tried from Can on 04 Sep 2022 at 03:35

5.9/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 5 Flavor 5 Texture 6 Overall 6.5
Pours a russet brown from a can, thick pillowy white head. Surprisingly malty aroma and flavor, maybe a faint pine? Good beer, not really an IPA.
Tried from Can on 05 Jul 2022 at 01:17

7.6/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 7.5
This review was imported from my RateBeer ratings.

12 oz. can, ABV 9.1%, Best by date: 08/21/2022

AROMA: Pleasant scents of grapefruit, orange, lemon, pine, juniper, and a hint of caramel. Aroma-wise, I find this beer to be fairly complex, compared to most of the beers I've tried lately. With every sip, I feel like there is something new I detect in the aroma. Which makes for a nice change of pace.

APPEARANCE: Pours a translucent medium-brown with a tall, off-white, head that dissipates slowly and has excellent lacing. This is one of the tallest heads (at least 3 fingers) I've had in quite a while! So, another nice surprise.

TASTE: The first thing I notice is that it is sweeter and smoother than the aroma would indicate. From the aroma, I was expecting something a little more tart/sharp. This is anything but tart/sharp. While the taste is not as complex as the aroma, I do detect flavors of sweet citrus (maybe orange or tangerine), and pine. The finish is smooth, sweet, and short-lived. However, just at the back of my throat, I also get a bit of caramel flavor. Which only seems to come out in the finish, and not in the regular taste. Bizarre!

MOUTHFEEL: This is borderline between medium and full bodied, with me leaning toward full-bodied. The texture is as smooth as the flavor (which is pretty smooth), and has average carbonation.

OVERALL: I find that the sweetness slightly dominates the flavor profile. While I would not say that it is overly sweet (at most, it's moderately sweet), I would say that the other flavors are just a bit subdued, comparatively. I still found the beer to be quite enjoyable, but I would have preferred a bit more diversity in the flavor profile. As for the other qualities (aroma, appearance, etc.), I can't really find fault, which is why I will most likely buy this again. Although, next time I think I'll try chilling the beer a little colder, to see if that doesn't help amplify some of the other flavors over the sweetness.
Tried from Can on 30 May 2022 at 17:43

5.6/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 5 Flavor 4 Texture 8 Overall 5.5
Bought at Liquor Shed. Best by August 7th 2022.

It pours a clear gold with a reddish tint, good 2 finger head of foam. Good lacing.

Smells of caramel malt, citrus, pine, tropical fruit. I think I detect some onion.

It's more sweet than hoppy in the taste. Caramel just surpasses the tropical fruit and to me, that's a lose lose situation. I do get onion, mango, pineapple...messing with my palate.

Good smooth mouthfeel.

Not for me.
Tried from Can on 22 Apr 2022 at 00:58

7.9/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 8.5
Can from The Davis Beer Shoppe. Pours dark ruddy amber with a beige head. Aroma is malty with a lot of mixed hop. Approaching full bodied. Flavor is very roasty/amber/malty. Hop is citrus/pine, peach, and passion fruit. Not at all dry. Lots of hop bitter. Definitely not a NW style. :)
Tried from Can on 11 Apr 2022 at 00:40

7.8/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 8
12 ounce can. Deep amber orange pour. Large bubbly beige head. Subtle, citrus fruit aroma. Notes of pear and melon as well. Nice bittersweet orange peel notes upfront. Boozy notes in middle. Sticky mouthfeel. Caramel and baked pineapple notes are reminiscent of pineapple upside down cake. Resiny pine notes in the dank finish.
Tried from Can on 09 Feb 2022 at 05:14

7/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 6 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 7
19.2 ounce can from Woodman’s Appleton 12/14/21. Clear amber large foamy tan head, good retention. Aroma of grapefruit, pine. Taste is grapefruit, tangerine, apricot, candied citrus. Juicy, moderate bitterness. Booze well hidden.
Tried from Can on 28 Dec 2021 at 02:11