Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Sierra Nevada Brewing Company Hoptimum Whole Cone Imperial IPA


Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Sierra Nevada Brewing Company Hoptimum Whole Cone Imperial IPA.
 
From the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company website: “A group of hop-heads and publicans challenged our Beer Camp brewers to push the extremes of whole-cone hop brewing. The result is this: a 100 IBU, whole-cone hurricane of flavor. Simply put —Hoptimum: the biggest whole-cone IPA we have ever produced. Aggressively hopped, dry-hopped, AND torpedoed with our exclusive new hop varieties for ultra-intense flavors and aromas.
Resinous "new-school" and exclusive hop varieties carry the bold and aromatic nose. The flavor follows the aroma with layers of aggressive hoppiness, featuring notes of grapefruit rind, rose, lilac, cedar, and tropical fruit—all culminating in a dry and lasting finish.”
Let’s get started!
Appearance: Pours a dark orange with a large off-white head and thick lacing.
Aroma: Huge citrus hop aroma with pine hops and sweet malts following.
Taste: Citrus hops attack the palate, big and bitter, followed by pine hops and caramel malt sweetness.
Overall: Complex, balanced and just plain delicious, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company’s Hoptimum Whole Cone Imperial IPA is well worth picking up and trying.  It is hard to believe this beer is 10.4% ABV.  The alcohol his hidden masterfully.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

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