XX Sweetgrass Double India Pale Ale
Grand Teton Brewing Co.

XX Sweetgrass Double India Pale AleXX Sweetgrass Double India Pale Ale
Beer Geek Stats | Print Shelf Talker
From:
Grand Teton Brewing Co.
 
Idaho, United States
Style:
Imperial IPA
ABV:
7.5%
Score:
87
Avg:
3.9 | pDev: 10%
Reviews:
24
Ratings:
32
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Nov 22, 2014
Added:
May 03, 2008
Wants:
  6
Gots:
  0
Sweetgrass India Pale Ale has been a GTBC staple since early 2002. Brewed solidly in the American IPA style, Sweetgrass is crisp and fragrant with a generous yet smooth hop character. XX Sweetgrass is all that twice over, with double the malt and double the hops—an astonishing three pounds per barrel in the kettle and another pound per barrel of “dry-hops” added after fermentation.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Dogbrick:
Photo of Dogbrick
Reviewed by Dogbrick from Ohio

4/5  rDev +2.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Sample at Alan's HSC initation. Bottle from Whole Foods in Henderson, NV (2006 1L Bottle). Wax-dipping is not enough to convey how special this beer is. It also comes with a bottleneck hanger describing the liquid contained therein. Worth the bells and whistles? Not sure because the store had it stickered as a Jolly Pumpkin beer, so the true cost of this beer is unknown to me. Regardless, the beer is a hazy dark orange color with a medium foamy beige head that diminishes slowly. Rings of lacing on the glass. The aroma is malty with notes of tart fruit, alcohol and hops. Rich body and first impression is more Barley Wine than IIPA. Fruity and malty with notes of citrus, carmel and hops. The finish is chewy with subtle hops and spice and a lingering malt aftertaste. Pretty enjoyable overall.
Oct 31, 2009
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.75 by a77cj7 from South Dakota

Nov 22, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by afsdan from Colorado

May 22, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by jaydoc from Kansas

Nov 23, 2013
 
Rated: 3 by drummermattie02 from Texas

Feb 18, 2013
 
Rated: 3 by t0rin0 from California

Oct 07, 2012
 
Rated: 3.75 by rab53 from Washington

Dec 01, 2011
 
Rated: 3.5 by brandoman63 from Illinois

Nov 29, 2011
 
Rated: 4 by imperialking from Illinois

Nov 19, 2011
Photo of riored4v
Reviewed by riored4v from Colorado

4.02/5  rDev +3.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
Poured into a tulip. 4 finger, off-white, frothy head. Hazy, copper colored body. Good lacing. Head with a bit on the excessive side.

Smell was malty and slight caramel. Mild citrus, mild resiny aroma and some good orangey notes.

Taste was actually better than I expected for a 2yr old bottle. Mellow sweetness, medium maltiness and good citrusy, orangey flavors. Hints of piney/resiny hops. Bitterness was very mellow.

Mouthfeel was medium body, medium carbonation and a semi silky and mildly sticky finish.

Drinkability was good. No signs of ABV. Well blended.

Overally I was impressed. Flavors or aroma weren't over the top, but again, the bottle was over 2 years old with a bottling date of 3/12/10. Beer was stored in the fridge the entire time. Very drinkable DIPA. Negatives were: 1) the head. excessive to say the least. takes an extremely careful pour to not end up with half a glass of head. 2) the wax top. swing top wax tops do not go together. pain in the ass.
May 22, 2010
Photo of srandycarter
Reviewed by srandycarter from California

4.12/5  rDev +5.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
This one is a bitch to open. Flip top coated in wax. Emergency rooms visions danced in my head.

A - Between Deep copper/brass look and Pekoe Tea. Somewhat murky. Off white, viscous, thick head, lots of cling, leaves slow to disk.

S - Big time sweet malt hits me first. Citrus is secondary.

T - Malt again dominant, citrus and a little pine behind.

M - Pretty creamy and thick, good balance and carb.

D - I like a malty IPA. Pretty drinkable to me.
Feb 27, 2010
Photo of tyanow
Reviewed by tyanow from California

4.05/5  rDev +3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
Light amber/strawberry blonde with a slight haze to it. I pillowy white head and lacing that lasts for days.

The smell is a bit piney, strong hop and light fruit.

The first and last thought I had about the taste was 'peachy'. It has a peach like quality and sweetness, good smooth hoppiness.

Velvety smooth in the mouth. I read that a few people found this beer to be not very well balanced. I disagree. I found it to be medium body and better balanced than most AIPAs.

Highly drinkable.

my buddy had one too and he was impressed how much better it is on tap than in the bottle. I've never had the bottle, so that is a second hand comment.

This is a very nice IPA. I would drink at again and look forward to my next one.
Jul 24, 2009
Photo of WesWes
Reviewed by WesWes from New York

3.7/5  rDev -5.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
The beer pours a hazy dark gold color with a thick frothy offwhite head that slowly fades to lacing. The aroma is good. It has a nice bitter hop scent along with a bisquity malt aroma. It's rich with pale, bisquit, crystal malts. The taste is decent. It has a huge malt flavor that really lays a nice foundation. The hops are piney and almost too intense. I'm not a huge fan of the hop profile. The mouthfeel is good. It is a full bodied beer with adequate carbonation. This is a pretty good beer, but it's pretty low on my list of top DIPA's. All in all, not bad.
Apr 23, 2009
Photo of orcasteve
Reviewed by orcasteve from North Carolina

3.56/5  rDev -8.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
drank from a 1 quart 1.8 fl oz green waxed swingtop bottle dated 4/30/2008 poured into my duvel tulip glass, poured a cloudy orange color with a three finger head rising and slowley disapering. the smell is grassey hops only, the taste starts out as a semi sour huge malt flavor, the middle is citresey hops that change in to grassey hops and a bitter that takes hold and wont let go, the end is strong bitter and big alchoal notes, the second pour and third pour were much beter, the first sip turned me off but as i finished the first glass i found myself slaming this beer because it was so tasty.
Dec 05, 2008
Photo of nsmartell
Reviewed by nsmartell from Wisconsin

3.49/5  rDev -10.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
I enjoyed this beer from the comfort of my own living room. From the 1L bottle (bottled April, 2008) to a standard pint glass.

Appearance: Pours a dark orange with a thick off-white head that sticks around for awhile.

Smell: Not as hoppy as I was expecting. Grassy hops and malt.

Taste: Caramel malts and grassy hops.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied with good carbonation and syrupy.

Drinkability: Not a bad IPA. Was expecting more hops, but a DIPA, but still good and well balanced.
Nov 29, 2008
Photo of aerozeppl
Reviewed by aerozeppl from New York

4.2/5  rDev +7.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Massive 1 lt swingtop covered in green wax.

A: Nice copper color with minimal white head. Good lacing.

S:Nice malty nose for an IPA. Almost had a hint of a weak barleywine to it. The hops are definitely there but more of the grassy variety.

T: Reminded me of lemon grass. It did have a nice hoppy bite to it though. Again bit malt taste for an IPA as well. Very well balanced. Tasted like it was aged a bit. It was bottled in April so maybe that is it.

M: Nice mouthfeel. A little bit creamy which is always great for an IPA.

D: Really nice. Glad I was able to share the bottle though. If one was pressed they could probably take this bad boy down by themselves. First beer from them. Recommended.
Nov 17, 2008
Photo of joe1510
Reviewed by joe1510 from Illinois

3.91/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Liter Flip-Top

Bottled 3/12/08

Thanks to BitterBill sending me another of the Grand Teton special releases that I can't get enough of, thanks again Bill! Sweetgrass 20th Anniversary IIPA pours a polished copper with some yeasties floating here and there. The body glows orange when backlit. Three fingers worth of head makes me slow the pour down and it eventually settles to a finger of steadfast foam. This beer leaves great lacing as it settles with drink lines and big chunkiness.

The hops in this beer may have faded over time but they still show some promising grapefruit and orange oil notes. There's a big caramel malty backbone with what I think is crystal malts. This smells like a fairly balanced IIPA with the orange and grapefruit eventually coming across as candied peeled versions. Overall this smells like candy and drags me right in.

This is a pretty big, malty IIPA and like I said earlier I'm sure part of it has to blame on it being brewed in March. With that said this is still an impressive brew. The Hop to malt ratio isn't my favorite in IIPAs but the balance works so well in this brew. The candied orange and grapefruit peel play the biggest role in the hop department while crystal and caramel play the biggest role in the maltiness. This is a very good IIPA for being as balanced as it is.

The body is moderate as it hits the tongue but mid palate it grows some density that leaves some stick on the back of the throat. The hops that seem so balanced catch up to me on the tongue with a growing bitterness. Although the bitterness never gets to the point of tongue stripping it does become noticeable.

This is about as sessionable as an IIPA can be. The alcohol isn't as high as the usual suspects but the drinkability is much better with the great balance.

I've been thoroughly impressed with all of Grand Teton's offerings, all sampled thanks to BitterBill. They make some great beers and Sweetgrass IIPA is no different. Thanks again Bill!
Nov 08, 2008
Photo of TheManiacalOne
Reviewed by TheManiacalOne from Rhode Island

4.42/5  rDev +13.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
Acquired via trade from vasdef42, so a big "Thank You" goes out to him. Poured from a 1-Liter, wax-sealed, swing-top bottle into an imperial pint glass.

A: The beer is a bright orange/amber color, with a short off-white head that fades slowly and leaves a thick lace on the glass.

S: The aroma is full of grassy hops, citrus and caramelized malts.

T: The taste starts with sweet flavors of caramel and citrus, then a very strong floral hops bitterness comes in and takes dominance. There's a hearty malt character that helps create an excellent balance. The after-taste is hoppy and slightly sweet.

M: Crisp and very smooth, medium body, medium carbonation, slightly sticky finish.

D: Very tasty, goes down quite easily, not too filling, good kick, very good representation of style, this one is remarkable similar to the 2-year-old Double IPA that I had from Grand Teton a few months ago. The hops bite was a little strong but that probably because I drank this beer fresher than the other. Overall, it's a very good beer that is worth drinking for a long time.
Oct 17, 2008
Photo of Floydster
Reviewed by Floydster from California

3.57/5  rDev -8.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Thanks to Chris for a sample of this stuff, he brought up a good point when pouring this for me, the label has nice pictures of hops on it, but this is probably one of the maltiest DIPAs there is, poured into a tulip glass

A-Medium orange with some amber highlights, 3/4 inch foamy white head that did not last long, not much retention or lacing, looked syrupy
S-Lots of malt, orange, lemon juice, grassy accents, random sweetness, perfume, bread and biscuit, pastry, and sugar
T-Starts off with sweet malt, no hops until the finish really, and even then they are sweet and more reliant on fruit character, gets noticeably sweeter over time, lots of underlying maltiness once it warms, needed some more dry accents to make this more balanced, tasted more like a non-fresh India pale ale than anything else, still not a bad flavor
M-Needs more carbonation, full bodied for its style, still on the medium side, sweet, malty, somewhat dry, and citrusy mouthfeel, taste lingers
D-Could not drink more than a pint of this stuff, too sweet and heavy on the stomach for me, pretty smooth and not hoppy or crisp, alcohol could be hidden better

Never had a beer from Grand Teton in Idaho but this was a nice introduction, cool looking bottle I might add with green wax and a swing top, would not go out of my way to have this again but it was cool to try, worth checking out
Sep 14, 2008
Photo of Wasatch
Reviewed by Wasatch from Colorado

4.33/5  rDev +11%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
Thanks goes out to Bitterbill for this brew.

750ml
Swing Top/Green Wax

Pours a very nice hazy dark golden orange color, very nice carbonation (loud POP), very nice two-finger thick creamy off-white head, lots of nice thick creamy sticky lacing left behind. The nose is more on the sweet malty side, with some hops, grapefruit/citrus, slight pines. The taste is sweet, malty, hoppy, bitter/chewy, with some nice citrus/pine notes. Medium body, this is another very tasty brew from GT, a more malty DIPA, but still very tasty. Very drinkable, highly recommended, Thanks Bill.
Aug 10, 2008
XX Sweetgrass Double India Pale Ale from Grand Teton Brewing Co.
Beer rating: 87 out of 100 with 32 ratings