Palate Shifter Imperial IPA
Captain Lawrence Brewing Co.

Palate Shifter Imperial IPAPalate Shifter Imperial IPA
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From:
Captain Lawrence Brewing Co.
 
New York, United States
Style:
Imperial IPA
ABV:
9%
Score:
92
Avg:
4.14 | pDev: 10.63%
Reviews:
565
Ratings:
1,467
Status:
Active
Rated:
May 11, 2021
Added:
Feb 13, 2006
Wants:
  223
Gots:
  278
Hops, and lots of them. The aroma is bursting with the classic citrus and pine aroma of American-grown hops. The flavor is dominated by a hoppy bitterness, with just enough malt to make you want to take another sip. (Formerly known as "Captain’s Reserve Imperial IPA.")
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Ratings by jlindros:
Photo of jlindros
Reviewed by jlindros from Massachusetts

4.15/5  rDev +0.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Lost this review in the great crash of yesterday. But thank GOD for google cache!

Got this grenade awesomely huge looking bottle from aparris85 in a great trade. The bottle itself even looks awesome. Anyways, I poured it into my DFH oversized snifter. This will be my first CL beer too, I am the Excite!

Oooh, just popping the top unlocked all this fragrance and aroma of awesome floral spicy and grassy hops. Its also got one of those cool reverse funnel tops that make it pour slowly and with lots of carbonation.

A: Astronimical head, I think the glass filled up with head and left 1 finger of beer at the bottom, in a huge role reversal, mostly due to the funnel neck bottle (similar to Pliny). The head is full of air and disappears very quickly, leaving a spotty lacing on the glass. It's so diamond brilliantly clear, I'm going to use it to fry some ants in the morning sun. It has a light pale orange yellow color to add to the clear opaqueness.

N: Still loaded with light grassy, floral, spicy aromatic hops. Makes me want to frolic around in the hay with some really hot girl, a girl with clothes made of hops that is. Some light citrus and touch of pine add to the hop experience, which is quite expanded. A slight alcohol nose also splices its way through like the crazy splicers in Bioshock, drunk on Atom!

T: Oh yeah, starts just as expected, very sweet and malty... no just kidding, loaded with fresh hop taste. Very light on the malt taste, mostly just pale malts, but the hops really hit the spot. Lot of grassy, spicy, floral, juicy hops really take over the palate. A slight pine but not much. I actually also get some fresh wort taste, like fresh malts and hops before they have really matured, which is strange for 9% abv beer, but I have tasted it in quite a few IPAs before. It also has some sweetness, but not a lot, and slight alcohol taste. I also get a slight spicy yeast taste, that seems to come back in burps. Some citrus and fruit from the hops round off the taste as well, giving it a juicy quality that brings the drinkability up a bit too.

M: Semi thick actually, not much left for carbonation after blowing its load on the pour, I think that was my fault. Slight alcohol warmth as well.

F: Finishes very bitter and semi dry. The hop bitterness really just seems to settle on the mouth as the liquid disappears. It's almost feeling my mouth freeze over as it dries out quickly and gets slammed with a hop bitterness, and some spiciness. It seems to leave the mouth in a confused state, it started as a great tasting, semi sweet juicy IPA, then left a dry, spicy, alcoholic haze. The bitterness lingers a bit too.

Final thoughts: A pretty good take on an American IPA. I've had better, but it's still a great one. Combines quite a few good tastes, some good hops as they seemed to go for the floral, spicy, grassy angle rather than bombing with pine and citrus. It has an alcohol presence, but it doesn't drink like a 9%, more like a 7 or 8. Overall I would get this again if I could, a pretty good beer. Thanks again Alex.
Oct 26, 2009
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4 by robebo44 from Virginia

May 11, 2021
 
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Sep 10, 2018
 
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Rated: 4 by bluehende from Delaware

Jun 10, 2018
Photo of VoxRationis
Reviewed by VoxRationis from New York

4.37/5  rDev +5.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
Decanted from a 12 oz (355 ml) bottle into a conical pint glass; bottle 09/29/2017.
A: Pours a hazy, dark golden to amber color with a greater than one inch, foamy white head, good, if spotty retention, and modest lacing.
S: Aromas of grapefruit and peach predominate with toast and pine in the background. Spicy.
T: Lemony zestiness predominates with a light, nicely balanced bitterness.
M: Light to medium bodied with solidly strong carbonation.
O: Really a solid Imperial IPA. A real winner.
Jan 30, 2018
 
Rated: 4.18 by NickFry9 from New York

Jan 17, 2018
 
Rated: 4.54 by Wesmaze from New York

Dec 19, 2017
 
Rated: 3.77 by scxcrunner from Massachusetts

Nov 24, 2017
 
Rated: 4.23 by ER527 from New York

Nov 01, 2017
 
Rated: 4 by calcnerd from Pennsylvania

Oct 17, 2017
 
Rated: 4.25 by bigred89 from Maryland

Sep 09, 2017
Photo of tillmac62
Reviewed by tillmac62 from South Carolina

4.24/5  rDev +2.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
BOD 3/31/17. Pours a cloudy amber a bit darker than a dirty golden. World class head volume, lacing and retention.

Quite outstanding nose of bright citric and tropical hops over a slightly sweet base that is both bready and biscuit. Orange and light tangerine provide the citric element while pineapple and soft mango take center stage. There is a very soft spruce/pine element but you have to look for it.

The body is almost medium and quite smooth with a bit of oiliness to the texture. The carbonation / body balance is borderline outstanding. The middle is nicely effervescent and really opens the flavors up just past the middle. The finish isn't rollicking but does yield a nice prickly effect.

The flavor profile is quite outstanding. The rich nose doesn't quite follow through. The citric and tropical elements are there and shine in the middle. Orange and mandarin lead then shift to the sweeter tropicals (soft pineapple, light mango, then big pineapple). Like the nose, the world class balancing sweetness is bready then shifts to cracker biscuit near the end. Bitterness is surprisingly moderate yet ample and the balance is again world class. The bitterness is a combination of zest and spruce. Near the end, alcohol becomes slightly uncovered and fosters the spicy pepper element of spruce. The finish lingers and is mostly a blend of zest and spruce coupled with that nice alcohol burn at the back of the throat.
Aug 23, 2017
Palate Shifter Imperial IPA from Captain Lawrence Brewing Co.
Beer rating: 92 out of 100 with 1467 ratings