Hopsickle Imperial India Pale Ale
Moylan's Brewery

Hopsickle Imperial India Pale AleHopsickle Imperial India Pale Ale
Beer Geek Stats | Print Shelf Talker
From:
Moylan's Brewery
 
California, United States
Style:
Imperial IPA
Ranked #1,191
ABV:
9.2%
Score:
92
Ranked #5,705
Avg:
4.11 | pDev: 11.44%
Reviews:
951
Ratings:
1,681
Status:
Active
Rated:
Dec 31, 2023
Added:
Aug 11, 2005
Wants:
  156
Gots:
  129
In celebration of the hop... this is a hop tribute, worthy of a King's Imperial court. Enjoy the blast of fresh Amarillo, Palisades, and CTZ hops as they stimulate the taste buds in a truly imperial fashion. Puckerup!
Malt: North American 2-row malt, Belgian Caramel Pils, Carafoam, Carahell, acidulated malt.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by BrewMaster:
Photo of BrewMaster
Reviewed by BrewMaster from California

3.62/5  rDev -11.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Appearance: 22 oz bomber poured into a Duvel glass. Golden orangish red color with a fluffy off white head. The head shows decent retention but not much lacing on the sides of the glass. Not a sticky head.

Smell: Strong pine scents, apple, pineapple, mint, herb garden spices, rosemary, and wild flowers. Not a bad lot of aromas to stuff into one beer. Very fragrant. The nose can be smelled as it is poured and without needing to get up close to the glass. That is commendable. I suspect most, if not all, of these scents come from the hops. Though sweet smelling, they are all backed with a generaly earthy scent.

Taste: Considering the nose, this was a disappointment. The flavor is not complex and inviting like the nose. There is a strong and lasting hop bitterness coupled with some honey sweetness and oily pine flavors. That is not the complexity that I was hoping for after smelling the beer. The flavor is just hops. That hardly qualifies as complex or well balanced in my book. No good malty flavor to back any of it up and get into. The 9.2% is well hidden, but that is about the only accolade I can give the flavor.

Mouthfeel: Thin, smooth, but so smooth it almost goes unnoticed on my palate. Hop has some bite, but not much. I suspect any aging of this beer would castrate it completely and make it a pansy of a beer.

Drinkability: The nose really is the best part of this beer experience. Other beers should wish to smell this good. But the flavor is uneventful. Perhaps this one dimensional bottle of boredom will clue in brewers that a bottle of pure hop flavor does not qualify as a good an balanced beer with attractive flavor. Sure, as a one off it is ok, but one offs don't make a brewery.
Sep 12, 2005
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4.24 by Gagnonsux from Texas

Dec 31, 2023
 
Rated: 4.08 by dms1767 from Nebraska

Oct 20, 2022
Photo of LesDewitt4beer
Reviewed by LesDewitt4beer from Minnesota

4.21/5  rDev +2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Some scrappy notes from early 2011.
Purchased along with Kiltlifter Scotch Ale. Hopsickle is VERY hoppy.
It has a cloudy copper look and a good creamy head in a pint glass. The smell is quite hoppy, flowery and fruity. Hops are way out front in the taste and are a bit parching. Very tasty with some orange and I guess pine. It is bittersweet. Malts are in the background and are sweet and clean. The bitterness lingers for a good while. Easy drinking for it's high alcohol content. Very excellent.
Oct 12, 2021
Photo of harrypowers
Reviewed by harrypowers from Massachusetts

4.15/5  rDev +1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Pours a hazy copper color with a runaway head that quickly went to lacing.

Smells and tastes of dank piney hops and sweet malt with a slightly bitter finish.

Medium body with light carbonation. Crisp clean mouthfeel.

This is a very drinkable, bold , all west coast IPA!
Aug 28, 2021
 
Rated: 3.48 by BeerRay from Rhode Island

Apr 10, 2021
Photo of Sigmund
Reviewed by Sigmund from Norway

3.63/5  rDev -11.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
650 ml bottle, Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger, as Moylan’s Hopsickle Imperial Ale Triple Hoppy (no "india" here). ABV is 9.2%. Gusher bottle, but previous bottles have been okay. Deep golden to amber colour, moderate white head. Strong aroma of American hops and crystal malts, notes of orange marmalade. Medium sweet flavour, very hoppy with grapefruity and resinous notes, and a solid bitterness in the finish and aftertaste.
Mar 21, 2021
 
Rated: 4.41 by eawolff99 from Minnesota

Jan 25, 2021
 
Rated: 3.35 by curlybird from Pennsylvania

Dec 05, 2020
 
Rated: 3.91 by brandoneast from Texas

Sep 16, 2020
 
Rated: 4.59 by Curt3 from Ohio

Apr 03, 2020
 
Rated: 4 by paulish from New York

Feb 28, 2020
Photo of Spike
Reviewed by Spike from England

3.25/5  rDev -20.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3
Big, bold, over-hopped, Imperial IPA. A mouth-puckering, tongue-curling, bone dry, hot & spicy, hop bomb with minimal fruit to balance the bitterness. A dense layer of syrupy malt offers little in terms of balance. Ultimately, too harsh for me.
Feb 17, 2020
Photo of BEERMILER12
Reviewed by BEERMILER12 from Maine

4.21/5  rDev +2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
A: Pours a copper color with 2 fingers of head that fades down to a thin cap

S: Very hoppy. Citrus and pine up front along with some light floral notes

T: Follows the nose. Pine resin and citrus up front along with some lighter floral notes. Light malt backing. Quite bitter. Finishes with lingering pine and citrus

M: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation

O: One of the OG West Coast “triple” IPAs. Dangerously drinkable for 9.2%. Definite respect
Feb 16, 2020
Photo of brureview
Reviewed by brureview from Massachusetts

4.18/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Golden honey color with a 3F head in a Spielgelau IPA glass.

Mild piney, citrus aroma.

Very smooth, creamy MF.

Excellent piney, vanilla taste.

Very enjoyable.
Feb 12, 2020
 
Rated: 4.2 by GregSemenza from Connecticut

Feb 10, 2020
Photo of Treb0R
Reviewed by Treb0R from Oregon

2.84/5  rDev -30.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 2.25 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.75
Too rich, malty, full-bodied and boozy. Triple IPAs aren't fun because they lose all of the fresh nuanced hop notes. This beer just tastes like a jumbled malt bomb. And at $19 a 4-pack, I regret revisiting it.

I've been brewing & enjoying IPAs and double IPAs for 12+ years now, and I'm amazed by all of the positive reviews for this beer. Usually a beer with 90 or above on this website is a stellar example of the style. The only reason it has received higher than average marks is due to the high booze content. Some people are just suckers for a quick buzz.

Stone Enjoy By IPA is better than this beer and similar abv.
Feb 03, 2020
Photo of jrc1093
Reviewed by jrc1093 from Connecticut

4.17/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Batch #2183

Pours a beautiful sheen of translucent deep orange copper topped with multiple fingers of creamy, off-white froth; excellent head retention fades gradually to a generous spread of chunky, soapy lacing, light, fluffy cap, and a steady, tightly-wound collar of froth.

Aroma is bursting with floral notes, candied tangerine, and orange zest upfront, with subtle accents of fresh peach and orange blossom honey guiding into sticky apricot and grapefruit with a touch of malt to close.

Taste offers earthy pine and sticky apricot against refined, resin-soaked malt dominant across the profile; booze-laced grapefruit peel comes into prominence on the back end, while a dirt-laced fresh hop char marks the swallow.

Mouthfeel shows a slightly oily full body and carbonation a shade below medium; a slick, semi-boozy mid-palate warms into a rounded, honey-smooth and lightly sticky finish, leaving a gritty, bitter lingering remaining long past the swallow.

Not one for all occasions, this is an old-school IPA intense in every regard; saturated and just barely self-contained, but I can't help but respect the finesse they managed into such an effectively hoppy brew, potent even as it warms.
Jan 29, 2020
 
Rated: 4.19 by mothmanscott from Georgia

Oct 29, 2019
 
Rated: 4.35 by gr8fulbeerhead from California

Apr 11, 2019
Hopsickle Imperial India Pale Ale from Moylan's Brewery
Beer rating: 92 out of 100 with 1681 ratings