Draught at Toronado, San Francisco. Hazy amber. Enormous lychee-like hop aroma. Full bodied with thick, rounded mouthfeel. A very potent concentrated hop juice with strikingly bitter finish containing some warming alcohol.

Draught at Toronado, San Francisco. Clear dark brown. Nutmeg aroma. Sweet and lightly raisiny. Full bodied with clean, thick mouthfeel, some almondy yeast character. Low bitterness. Dessertlike - similar to a cinnamon bun with raisins.

EBF ’06 draught on 2/11/2006.
Flattering enough pour is a moderately hazy honey-gold with light touches of amber and a medium-sized, fluffy white head that recedes rather quickly to cover, with marginal lacing left on the glass. The nose is full of heavy yeast, with dry hay and dry grass (nearly grainy at first), but the yeast creates a rather dull sensation on the nose, quite doughy, while some mild wit-beer like esters are noticeable in small amounts (banana, bubble gum). A rather unfocused aroma, though if this is 8.3 abv, it isnt noticeable thus far. The flavor really takes off on the yeast doughiness. Heavy America-does-Belgium yeastiness, just too much of it present and a very doughy (white dough), blanding flavor on the end. Medium to heavily sweet (a rather uninspiring honeyish flavor), with notes of creamy oatmeal, just the slightest touch of dry peaches and starfruit on the end, with some dusty and hay-like hops. Body could benefit from less yeast thickness, but is otherwise fairly creamy, with moderate carbonation. Alcohol is kept well-concealed in my sample.

Way too many samples for my own good at EBF on 2/11/06.
This stuff is so fresh (and C02 pressurized) that it can only pour with mountains of beige/cookie dough colored head that is very slow to recede. It does lace greatly, however and is well-retained atop a rust and copper meets lime juice colored body with a touch of haziness.
The nose is quite intriguing to me (even more so after having had a couple samples). It combines light lime and nectarine tartness with huge amounts of pine and ruby-red grapefruit. Light caramel malt in the background braces the palate for impact, but can anything ever really brace you for a full-on citrus and resin assault? My answer would be no, not in this quantity. The flavor certainly begins with plenty of rich caramel malt, nearly syrupy in its sweetness (though the C02 injection smooths things out and makes it bearable), but the hops really hit hard. Grapefruit and resin build unrelentingly on the palate, gradually adding more acidity to the finish with every sip. As it warms, some light cherries and other hints of fruits begin to show. There are touches of lime and tropical fruits, but they are so minor as to be nearly insignificant when compared to such mythical proportions of citrus. What really does come off well is the fully supportive, substantial and creamy body. Surprisingly assertive, yet does not add any sluggishness to the clean, bold hop finish. Don’t find any alcohol (other than moderate warming on the end). Seems like something you’d get if you mixed 1/5 frank, 2/5 hop15 and 2/5 YuleSmith. Or something like that. . .

Draught at O’Brien’s, San Diego. Clear dark amber, small head.Roasty malt aroma. Dryish with clean mouthfeel. Some grapefruity hops covered in dust. Bitter, salty finish. A somewhat harsh pale ale.

2005 12oz bottle from DarkElf. Consumed on 2/2/06. Clear, sunny-copper body with light hints of ripe tangerines. Webby lacing and an off-white head that is retained at cover. Tiny bottle conditioned bubbles rise methodically. Smells of light pine and heavily drying citrus. Light doughiness with soft honeysuckles is felt in the background, very delicately, but is cleared out quickly by the oily pine resin. Some alcohol is evident on the finish as well. The aroma is moderate to weak. Flavor is orange rinds, heavily leafy floral bitterness up front, very drying with a strong, dulling, pine resin through the middle, dancing atop a light grainy maltiness. Very quick finish with lots of hop bitterness and too much pine sap. Light honey, but lots of wateriness in the flavor and a fair amount of thinning on end. Bottle conditioned, but rather loose in texture none the less. Quite obvious this isn’t a beer to hold on to. Not that I was purposefully keeping it, but I was kind of shocked at how badly this stuff suffers after only 3 months in the fridge. Clearly I will have to try a fresh bottle or a draught sample as soon as I get the opportunity.

Draft - While classified as an IPA here (and it has the hops to justify it), this brew ran into a red ale too. It’s a nice combination, giving the caramel malt flavor of a red combined with the intense hops of an IPA. Goose Island has a strong ale that IMO pulled off the combination a little better, but this is a fine effort. Very drinkable.

Draft. Amber beer with a thin off-white head. Citrus and tropical fruit aroma. Fruity (grapefruit and peach?) flavor with a nice resiny presence. Some sweet caramel malt. Full bodied.

Draft. Amber brown color with a nice light beige head. Plummy aroma with yeast and spice. Malt and plum flavors with spice and yeast. Some lingering sweetness and full malts. A bit easier drinking than many dubbels

Hazy fiery orange body, medium-thick light cream head. Intense resiny, sticky, citrus rindy aroma, with bitter pine and heavy sugars, caramel, and alcohol. Moving into barleywine territory. Intense, in-your-face resiny, citrusy (grapefruit) hops slam the palate on the first sip, and a strong, full malt sweetness attempts to cut the resins but instead only coats their bitter sharpness. I’m drinking this after it rested in the fridge for about 30 minutes and would actually recommend a longer chilling period. Very good in many regards, but not the most drinkable I2PA. Thanks bu11zeye for the bottle!