American Extreme IPA
Kuhnhenn Brewing Company

12oz Bottle

2008 Release

Here I hold yet another Kuhnhenn brew from Mr. Derek, thank you sir! Wow, this beer grows a head in a hurry, three fingers in the blink of an eye. The head dies down after a couple minutes to a more manageable height that stays put. All this lays over the top of a hazy orange body that has the ability to glow when backlit. The dirty white head manages to leave some crazy looking microbubbled drink lines that are quite thick. This is how an IIPA should look.

This beer is approximately 3 months old right now and the hops are still potent enough to smell from an arms length away. Citrus abounds with orange, grapefruit, and tangerine all over the place. Big pine sap resiny qualities back up that citrus with a force to be reckoned with all drizzled in big sticky caramel. As big as the hops are the caramel keeps close tabs and the alcohol is noticeable enough to tickle my nose hairs but not obtrusive in the least.

The flavor is like a fruit salad full of bitter fruits. Pithy orange and grapefruit lead the way. Tangerine brings up the rear but not before all that big tongue sapping pine resin takes hold. The caramel tries to keep up and does a respectable job but this bruiser is an all around hop bomb. I'm pulling some pineapple sweetness out of there on the finish as well with a spicy alcohol quality that adds that little oomph.

The mouthfeel fits nearly perfect for the sheer size of this monster. The body is on the heavy side but the carbonation is active enough to keep it flowing before it becomes too sticky or gooey. There is some stickiness and it leaves behind a tastebud ripping bitterness. Extreme? Without a doubt, and delicious.

A bruiser like this should be a sipper but this one goes down far too quickly. The only reason the drinkability is merely good is because of the sheer tongue stomping factor that will burn you quicker than Rick James.

I'm shocked at the massive hopping in this IIPA. The alcohol is hidden incredibly well and the glass stays tipped far too long. I had to zip through this review for fear of my glass being empty before I finished. Thanks for another stellar brew Derek! This is one of the best IIPAs I've had in a long time.

Reviewed: 3/31/09

 

On-tap at Rattle 'n Hum, New York, NY

A: The beer is slightly hazy amber orange in color and has no visible carbonation. It poured with a quarter finger high white head that died down, leaving lacing on the surface and the sides of the glass.
S: Light to moderate aromas of citrusy hops are present in the nose—oranges and tangerines stand out in particular.
T: Like the smell, the taste has some flavors of citrusy hops along with hints of pine towards the finish. It has a moderate amount of bitterness.
M: It feels medium-bodied and a little crisp on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This is a good representation of the style. It’s not too difficult to drink and there are only some hints of alcohol in the taste.

Poured from a growler into an oversized wine glass, this settles a red color with deep orange hue under a very thin head. A sweet malt and big hop aroma nicely identify the moderately sweet and stingy bitterness to soon hit the palate. I also couldn't help but notice how much this sweet smell reminds me of Flying Dog Raging Bitch Belgian IPA. There is also a nice and clear aftertaste to this that doesn't leave the tongue in shock before the next sip. Nothing really "extreme" about this (with regard to double IPAs) but this certainly is a very good double.

(From notes)

A - Poured with a thinner white head; clearer coppery orange hue

S - Lightly dank and fairly aggressive hoppiness that leans a bit to the West Coast; light malt sweetness

T - Citrusy and piney at the same time almost; slight kiss of malt sweetness for balance but this clearly leans toward a hop-forward Midwest to West Coast DIPA

M - Lighter to medium; vibrant carbonation

D - Very drinkable for the style, and a lower abv than others. Awesome stuff.

Overall, very enjoyable and wish I would be able to have regular access to it.

On draft at The Blind Tiger, NYC.

Poured a medium copper hue with a one finger foamy white head. There was good retention and lacing.

The smell featured heavy cascade hops with a touch of caramel.

The taste consisted of a vibrant hop spice, grainy malts with a lingering hop spice.

The mouthfeel was toward the lighter side of the style.

Overall a hop forward spicy IPA.

I had the privelage of tasting this beer at the 2009 Michigan Winter Beer Festival. Following is my review:

A: Good. I noted a moderately cloudy, nice rich orange color. I wish I was able to pour this into a glass instead of a plastic cup, but the head appeared to be up to par, creamy looking.

S: Mellow hop aroma, I was expecting to be smacked in the face with hops but I was surprised by the mellowness. The aroma was very pleasent, citrusy, fruity, and made my mouth water.

T: Impressed by the play of flavors between the malt and the hops. Again, I was expecting to be knocked down by hops, but was surprised to find the beer to have a full flavored, balanced taste. The beer tasted as it smelled; citrusy and a semi dry bitterness that was not overpowering almost creamscicle like. The bitterness was balanced by the malt providing subtle tones of a light sweetness.

M: Semi dry bitterness due to the citrus flavors making my mouth water the way an orange does. Light to medium bodied.

D: Very pleasing and refreshing for any time of the year. I look forward to having much much more.

Served in a pint glass, one finger tan head, amber body, head falls fast to a 1/8" tall. I was a little stuffed up when trying this, so only got slight hops on the nose. Taste is a solid IPA, good grapefruits, pine. Solid balance for an IPA. Highly drinkable.

This one was fairly clear with a nice orange colour. It was topped by fine, beige foam that produced a little lacing. The aroma was intensely hoppy, loads of oranges and tangerine, plus a little pine to give it some punch. Bitterness was restrained, allowing a bit of malt to appear, but this was all about hops. Lots of orange and tangerine, plenty of pine resin, with a dry, bitter finish. Some alcohol was present in the background. Medium bodied with more carbonation than I expected from a cask. Quite dry, but still tasty. I don't think the cask treatment worked very well for this beer, compromising the mouthfeel somewhat. Definitely worth trying for those of you who are hopheads.

from my favorite brewery, from the tap. poured a nice light brown to reddish color, with a off white head, aroma, nice hoppy, citrus, malty, got some nice sweetness as it warmed. flavor, wow those hops just come out and grap your taste buds, than you get the malts and caramel, this beer went down nice and easy.

As usual with these guys, give them big points for originality. Within what's become a seemingly limited style, they've pushed it around a bit to some great ends.

Undoubtedly, everything in this beer derives from the hops. OK, not too unique for an extreme/double IPA. And yeah, the typical grapefruit flavors are there along with some other fruit.

But the bitterness here is dull and lingering. You can suck the hop flavor out of the deepest, darkest, most hidden parts of your mouth forever after the last sip. Rather than the crisp, intense bitterness I've come to expect from this style, these guys craft their bitterness on a different level, giving this much less of the all-hops-all-the-time flavor and much more of an integrated hop flavor. I don't know how else to describe it. It's just far less sharp and dry than many others in the style.

Pine needle and lemon nose. Pretty aromatic. And just layers of bitterness follow. Pretty good.