Simcoe Smackdown! IPA
Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery

Beer Geek Stats
From:
Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery
 
United States
Style:
American IPA
ABV:
7%
Score:
Needs more ratings
Avg:
4.05 | pDev: 5.68%
Reviews:
4
Ratings:
4
Status:
Active
Rated:
Nov 08, 2009
Added:
Oct 17, 2009
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  0
No description / notes.
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Recent ratings and reviews.
Photo of homebrew311
Reviewed by homebrew311 from Illinois

4.09/5  rDev +1%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
A: very hazy appearance, pale yellow with a hint of orange, thin white head

S: hops are all over the place and they happen to be extremely fruity smelling. I smell grapefruit, oranges, among other citrus. There is a hint of sweetness in the smell. Smells delicious.

T: Like the smell, the citrusy hops dominate the flavor. I assume that this grapefruit like character is typical of simcoe hops, which means I really like simcoe hops! This is a wonderful beer with nice fresh hops and a bit of sweetness to balance with the bitterness.

MF: very sticky, medium body, high carbonation

D: This is a very drinkable IPA and could see my self drinking a lot of this if it were offered in 6 packs. The hops are very intense, somewhat reminiscent of Surly Furious. All around, very solid beer.
Nov 08, 2009
Photo of botham
Reviewed by botham from New York

3.67/5  rDev -9.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
On tap at the brewpub in Downtown Chicago. Pours a hazy golden orange with one finger of white head that has mild lacings and has decent retention.

Aroma is of spicy hop oils up front, along with notes of citrus and tropical spiced hop undertones, with a distant base of bready malt. Heavy on the hop oils in the nose, which is pleasant, but little is done to balance those notes here, which turns the profile into a one-trick-pony of sorts.

Taste follows the nose with an intense hop bouquet of spice, citrus, tropical nd lightly piney notes. Almost too concentrated, but ends up well proportioned. For a hop lover, the brews profile is a veritable list of the main hop groups: piney, citrusy, tropical, and bitter.

Mouthfeel is full bodied and bitter with a dry finish of residual bittering hops.

Drinkability is decent. An intense IPA with a huge hop profile that leaves the palate shot. Hop Heads will find solace here, but the brew lacks a balance, that if present, could make it an epic example of the style. Could be a bit overdone in some minds (this one included), but still a solid IPA. Check this out if it's on tap, this is a notable brew.
Oct 27, 2009
Photo of brentk56
Reviewed by brentk56 from North Carolina

4.17/5  rDev +3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
Appearance: Arrives at the bar with a cloudy peach nectar color and a one finger head the delivers a bit in the lacing department

Smell: Grapefruit pith with an undertone of biscuity malt

Taste: The grapefruit pith arrives quickly after a brief flash of biscuity malt; after the swallow, there is some sweetness but the flavor is more pithy and bitter than I expected

Mouthfeel: Medium to full body with moderate carbonation

Drinkability: A very nice IPA indeed, though I wish that it was a little more floral and fruity
Oct 21, 2009
Photo of joe1510
Reviewed by joe1510 from Illinois

4.27/5  rDev +5.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
64oz Growler
$18
Rock Bottom, Chicago

d0b picked up a growler of this while downtown today, thanks Dave! Simcoe Smackdown has the look of what I can only describe as peach juice. It's beautifully orange with bright highlights along the edges of the glass and some lemon yellow along the bottom when backlit. This IPA is magically hazy, just what I want to see in my juicy hop bombs. The clean white head easily hits two fingers on the pour and leaves sheet lacing all the way down as the head falls to a solid cap. Simcoe Smackdown looks exactly like what an IPA should look like.

Damn, the nose on this IPA is oozing with handfuls of Simcoe goodness! Candied orange and ruby-red grapefruit dominate with some dank, earthy hoppiness thrown in for good measure. This is the best showcase of Simcoe I have yet to come across. The malt backing is of the light variety with some sugar cookie sweetness that adds to the already candy-like nature of the hoppiness. I may keep my nose stuffed in this glass a little longer than normal.

The flavor follows in stride with the crazy hoppiness of the smell. The sugar cookie malt backing comes across more so than the aroma suggested but it's still buried by the hugely delicious hopping. Notes of tropical fruit combine with the candied orange and grapefruit I mentioned earlier while the dank, earthy hoppiness segues into more of a grassy bitterness on the palate. The amount of Simcoe dumped into this IPA is nearly mind boggling.

They nailed the mouthfeel on this IPA. It's got a little carbonation prickliness on the back of the tongue and has a crazy velvetiness on the front. The body is down the center of the spectrum and slips down incredibly smooth with a solid backbone of bitterness that surrounds the tongue.

A growler of this stuff wouldn't be enough in a sitting, much less a half growler. Dave will be lucky if I don't drink all his. I haven't set the glass down yet and don't plan on it anytime soon.

Rock Bottom Chicago impresses me with their IPAs and this is no exception. Simcoe Smackdown is the best Simcoe showcase you can find and if you're in the area I'd suggest getting your ass over there before I drink it all.
Oct 20, 2009
Simcoe Smackdown! IPA from Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery
Beer rating: 4.05 out of 5 with 4 ratings