8 Wired Super Conductor Double IPA

Oho, what have we here.. a DIPA based on the excellent Hopwired? Count me in.

It's certainly a seductive nose, with the hopwired heritage very much evident. I've said before I don't think NZ hops alone can generally carry a good IPA / DIPA, so it's mouthwatering to pick out the green lushness of NZ here mixed in with the sharper citric notes of their USA cousins. It's the perfect combination as far as I'm concerned.

Taste-wise this is just as bitter as you'd hope, but it's rounded thanks to the above and evolves through the mouthful to stay exciting and delicious throughout. Malts are just right - not lacking in any way, but not too obtrusive either, just a backing canvas to slash hop juice all over.

This one's obviously that bit bigger than its IPA counterpart, but still exudes that brilliant balance key to the style. Looks great, smells great, tastes great. Truly excellent - just need to try it side by side with Hopwired to see which one is better. Buy it. 9.0

Epic Hop Zombie

Alright, another beer with a reputation and a frenzied swarm snapping it up as soon as it arrives on our fair shores.

This time, the bottle label glows in the dark in keeping with the theme of those dead prowlers of the night - nice touch.

But yes, this is a big fresh hop NZ DIPA and proclaims it from the first whiff. The 8.5% qualifies it for its class but in person it's really not that heavy on the palate or in the glass. It's a subjective note and appearance only of course but I actually found it a little too clear in fact, and would prefer it to be a bit sort of better bodied. It also comes across quite sweet on the palate for mine, fruity, with that aromatic dense green sort of character these NZ-only hop wagons can produce.

I've become a bit ambivalent about NZ-centric efforts like this of late and find often, the experience of just their hops can be a little cloying as you progress through the glass. There are some ripper hops from our neighbours of course but in terms of balance, I'm not sure they're suited to 'big hop' beers.

To me if I was after a lush and balanced IPA I'd go with Hop Manna or similar over this in a heartbeat just due to the overall package and lack of lopsidedness. If I was after a double or imperial IPA, I'd go with something with at least some US hoppage as to my palate at least, they deliver a far crisper performance despite - or perhaps because of - the clean bitterness and therefore feel a lot more drinkable to me.

So, I'm a bit disappointed here unfortunately and can't really see where the hype is coming from. Sad - I wanted this to be awesome but it's just not. 7.0

Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA

Dogfish Head seem to be a brewer renowned for 'hit-or-miss' sorts of efforts around the traps.

They're also probably a little confusing to the layman with their different 'n minute' versions of the IPA series for example - certainly were to me at least to begin with. Still, in this case at least they've produced a real beauty. Just to look at this beer is a celebration of brewing .. if you're on board with lacing (whether scientifically, or just like me because it looks purrty) you'll love this as it clings all over the place.

Fruity, juicy notes in the taste here make it a really refreshing, massively drinkable beer. It's not full on powerful imperial stuff, nor is it overly bitter, but just hits a nice middle ground at a very respectable 9.0% abv.

Not too much more to say here - it's a genuinely pleasurable drink this all the way. Now we just need to figure out how to "single constant 90 minute hop addition" and do it in our homebrewing.. 8.0

Haandbryggeriet Dubbel Dose (Dubbel Dram)

One of those beers that sticks in the memory, in this case enough to buy once more to reconfirm before reviewing.

Second bottle frothed a fair bit but the first was sedate. In both cases you get a sense of the beer philosophy here as you pour - quite different to your (nowadays) typical big-US-hops IPA, this instead delivers a more deep european scape of being. Lots of sediment in the bottle in line with a big 9% abv. Brewed Oct 10 and in this case best around now I feel, though it would be interesting to try a fresh one and see how much the hops stand out when they are in their prime.

The star of this beer at this age as you will have guessed is not the juicy wet hops. Though the muskiness of the hops is a part of this story and help define it as an IPA, this is more about those roasty raisin, coffee and booze notes you get on the nose. Beautiful sticky mouthfeel to this beer puts me in mind of those euro dark beers that deliver such a heavy smooth experience that lingers and stays with you even from the smallest sip.

There's a fair bit of booze here but I feel it's part of the experience in this case, rather than a clumsily delivered hit of accidental alcoholism. Along with the sticky wave of lacy head it all stays with you as you progress through the bottle.. a real comforting experience to savour over an hour or more. Make sure you give this some time out of the fridge before serving as it excels at the 10-12C mark.

I really enjoyed this beer on both occasions - it's a very different experience to what has become the typical 'IPA' and may come as a surprise for that reason, but once you meet this fine gentleman you're certain to find you share some things in common. 9.0

Holgate Hopinator

A warm welcome to what is the most blog evasive beer on the record so far if you don't count the dark age lager days. This beer's actually been tried and tested a number of times previously, but somehow managed to elude photography each time.

Makes sense then that this seems highly unphotogenic when finally caught on camera - you'll have to take my word that the above seems quite distorted from the usually much more pleasant looking reality.

This beer usually generates quite a lovely head, and appears a light amber in colour. It's sedate and settled in the glass, looks comfortable in aeration. It sits on the transparent side of the spectrum, consistent with the relatively low for a DIPA 7.0% payload.

Head gives off quite fruity, juicy hops, and floral notes. Mouth .. bitter up front, eases into a distinctly sweet middle range body, then a lingering low background bitterness.

For a DIPA this is definitely on the light side, but nevertheless delivers good bitterness up front tempered with that earthy, almost marijuana-like hop character, green and grassy, pretty pleasant. Good drinking. 7.5

Lagunitas Hop Stoopid

Back to Lagunitas for a second effort at a hopped up pale.

First impression here is for a beer that proudly boasts a measured 102 IBU this is really rather tame. The nose is certainly hoppy, but it's more sweet orange and mandarin than violent bitter notes, and the taste follows this guide in delivering a gentler and sweeter experience than expected.

As such I found myself considering this more a standard IPA than a real hop bomb as such, and the sweetness became a little bit sickly after half a glass a bit like Mikkeller's Amarillo IPA. I couldn't see myself drinking more than one of these but for the opposite reason to that initially expected - it's a bit of a letdown in the bite department which is really quite surprising.

Looking at the reviews elsewhere it seems I'm in a bit of a minority here, but to me, people buying one of these sorts of beers ('hop' in the title, promising explosions) would probably prefer a less heavily malted, more unbalanced beer to this halfway effort. 7.0

Heretic Evil Cousin

Heretic.. pretty good game on the whole, I liked the ethereal arrows.. in fact all the weapons were pretty cool.


Oh, and also it's a small scale brewery started up by a keen US homebrewer that's apparently attracting some attention of late.

On that note we have 'Evil Cousin', the Double IPA of the range weighing in at a respectable 8%. The label's full of 'big hop' talk and to be fair, the beer does deliver a sticky experience with a piney stinging bite that gets you straight up.

After the initial explosion you get a pretty distinct break of malt, then a lingering citrussy bitterness that takes you through to the finish. It's quite light and pleasant for its heft and after the initial punch, quite easily drinkable. I came into this expecting a bit of a berserk hop bomb experience beer, but in the end this is pleasingly just a very good beer. Recommended. 8.0

Lagunitas Maximus

Lions and gladiuses (gladii?) and, well, turbo versions of standard IPAs.

Oddly the nose on this one put me in mind of that other roman pretender (I'm prepared to admit it's just in my mind) - admittedly though at 8.2% this is a bit down on the big ten percenter. It's also a fair bit better -
there's a lightness of character and citrus component that's quite light and drinkable, belying what the heavy malt nose would suggest.

Mid way through you do get a reasonable hit of booze, and its inert character and lack of head makes it a little bit medicine-like in appearance, but overall it is quite drinkable and doesn't get carried away with its theme to the detriment of the beer itself. Would try again if it weren't for the multitude of better options in this bracket. 7.5

Cavalier DIPA

Oho, now this is a DIPA.

That nose! It's enormous! Truly a big beer at 9% and clearly a very fresh batch to boot.

Kind of like their last effort, this doesn't quite live up to the promise - but this time, not by much. Taste brings caramel, a bit of heat, mandarin and passionfruit but it all falls just shy of that majestic 'buckets of hops' smell that really builds your anticipation before the first drop has even left the glass. It was a common refrain around my table at least that there was just not quite enough bitterness and bite in the taste to really sate the desire you've built up.

Still, it's far from a bad beer, and I look forward to trying some more of what these guys are producing. 8.0

Green Flash Palate Wrecker

Day 2 of Melbourne's Good Beer Week (already I reminisce with such fondness..) and nothing to do until the booked dinner that evening.. time to kick back and relax with that bastion of genteel alcohol consumption, Palate Wrecker.

Shout out to Beer DeLuxe by the way, if you're in town on business (or otherwise) this place is right there in Fed Square and has a frankly jealousy inducing collection of beers for you to try. Great lunch specials also.


But yes, Palate Wrecker. $13.50 for this 9.5% self proclaimed monster but on tap, why wouldn't you? Lovely thick frothy suds on this beer lace stickily like nobody's business, and the aroma gets you even from a distance with its tropical tales of peaches and pine. This is a beer with a purpose, nay, an agenda.

Happily, this beer does attempt to smash your tonsils on first encounter. I've been drinking some big beers but not since Ruination have I encountered such a thwack of astringency: to learn it's 149 IBU is no great surprise. It's juicy, full and thick with sour oily ester-like character. This beer is not especially well integrated to my mind - while there is sufficient malt background to smooth the massive spike of acrid, orange rind oily hops, it all washes in toward the end of the flavour distribution like some inexplicably friendly tsunami.

Still - for a beer whose sole purpose is to hit you as hard as it can, none of this is really a minus. So kick off your next dinner party with palate wrecker, that's how the cool kids roll. 8.5

Weyerbacher Double Simcoe IPA

Weyerbacher is apparently a US brewer .. not German as I had mistakenly assumed.

No-one could be in much doubt after having a go at this one though - it's a mighty big double IPA with stacks of hops and malt all over it. It sits beautifully in the glass, a dark burnt amber colour with a super head, and generates pineapple and malt notes in aroma.

9.0% alcohol is well hidden and it's due to the crafty combination of bitter and malty this beer develops as you drink. Hops, bitterness, malt, fruit, warming non-intrusive booze, it's all there and balanced beautifully.

This is how DIPAs should be. Delicious. 9.0

Diamond Knot Brewing Industrial India Pale Ale

Bit of a mouthful in the title, but a surprisingly nondescript bottle here. Particularly given it was $25..

There's a lingering lacy head on this, and the nose is very malty, with a bit of fruity guava. Mouthfeel is smooth, full, and lovely. The flavour is quite complex, put me in mind slightly of Hopwired.

But then, it's not quite to that level of grassy loveliness, and indeed appears a bit stuck between the two poles of "India Pale Ale" and a fully fledged "Double IPA". Because of this it does neither brilliantly and ends up falling short of a good score. You could get a better IPA or DIPA easily at a good bottle-o. Hell, you could buy both and still be ahead. 7.5

Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye

Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye, replete with quite splendid livery.

This is big dark and heavy brown, low head dissipates quite quickly, heavy in the glass and in the mouth at 7.5% ABV.

The big rye malt backbone is the dominating characteristic of this beer. It's a beer for winter I think like a better version of Coopers Vintage Ale with the nice rye characteristic to boot.

There's not a lot wrong with this drop but it doesn't really blow my socks off either. For the dosh and the percent etc I'd choose something with a bit more balls. 7.5