7.5

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

Draft at waterfront/manhattan. Pours reddish amber with small head. Aroma is hops and fruits, taste is complex, pretty well done.

9

RB score 3.97

8.8

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9

dark amber/orange color. Sticky, thick, bubbly off white head. Huge aroma of citrucy zesty hops. Flavour is piney resin, citrucy hops, and some nice malt. Very well balanced DIPA, and very easy drinking for 9.2%.

8.8

Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

From Nov 2007

I got this one in a trade with autumnaldave. Thanks Dave!

This is the 2007 edition, best by 041208 and it pours a clear gold with a nice 2 finger head of foam that settles down to a 1/2" layer further into the session. Lots of nice lacing to be had here.

The smell is a wonderful nose of floral hoppiness along with a touch of spice.

The taste is hoppy to the max. Lots of floral and some grapefruit are tickling my taste buds. There's some malt character in the background to somewhat balance things out but this fresh bottle really is all about the hops. Tasty son of a gun. It has a medium mouthfeel and the carbonation is nice and lightly done. It finishes very florally with just the smallest of touches of caramel malt. Yummy. And...the alcohol is hidden pretty well so I'd say this is quite drinkable.

I reviewed a 2006 version that was slightly past its best by last year and the hop character was quite subdued compared to this. Either way, you get a top quality DIPA but I defintely prefer the fresher sample. Thanks again, Dave!

7

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Bottle. Pours a cloudy orange with small frothy off white head that lasts. The aroma is pine, floral, grass. Medium mouth, light bitterness, citrus, light dry finish, very good.

6.8

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

Draft. Hazy amber color, solid white head, solid lacing. Aroma of tropical fruit amd citrus. Taste is similar.

7.5

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

Bottle marked as 11/03/05 (label says that flavor will continue to develop over 5 years...I guess I am a little late) thanks to captaincougar. I will re-rate this again as soon as I can try it fresh (and I will be actively searching it out). This search would be made easier by if they bottled it again. Pours with a hazy golden-orange body and a large off-white head. Powerful aroma, even from far away. Aromas of tea, orange, caramel, brandy, dark fruits, pencil shavings, raisins and citrus. Actually smells like a decent barley wine. Flavors are dry, cracker, curacao orange, pine, orange rind bitterness, tea, and raisins. Might have been a great IIPA at some point. It makes a decent ASA at this moment. Still lively carbonation. Little oxidation. Okay. Need to try the fresh stuff.

7.2

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

Bottle. Amber colored pour with smallish head. Great aroma of hops. Floral, hoppy, rich tasting DIPA. Decent but was expecting more.

8.5

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9

On tap at Wrigleyville Goose Island. Poured a cloudy gold w/ an off-white head. Aroma was dominated by a mixture of hops with some underlying sweet notes. Flavor has a nice combination of hops that brings out a complex flavor. Great beer!

6.8

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Bottle at home ... Thanks to BDR for this ... copper coloured with a very thin lacing ... big spicy pine resins nose ... again big hops ...juicy ... syrupy ... quite sweet ... bitter linger ... some toffee malt characterisitcs ... little grassy hop ... its ok but not my thing.