Hopnotic
San Diego Brewing Co.

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From:
San Diego Brewing Co.
 
California, United States
Style:
American IPA
ABV:
7.5%
Score:
90
Avg:
4.09 | pDev: 7.82%
Reviews:
20
Ratings:
25
Status:
Active
Rated:
May 29, 2015
Added:
Oct 01, 2007
Wants:
  3
Gots:
  1
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
 
Rated: 4.11 by wethorseblanket from California

May 29, 2015
 
Rated: 4 by aoampm from Hawaii

Sep 09, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by t0rin0 from California

Dec 27, 2012
 
Rated: 3.75 by Jman_01 from Iowa

Sep 04, 2012
Photo of ehammond1
Reviewed by ehammond1

3.45/5  rDev -15.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
On Tap

San Diego Brewing Co.
San Diego, CA

Clear amber with a small light khaki colored head that leaves the glass oily and with dots of stick down the glass.

Big, powerful aroma of citrus and pine hop components, along with sweet caramel and bread. There's a bit of alcohol warmth as well.

The flavor is similar to the aroma, with lots of hops and lots of malt character shining through. A fairly high level of bitterness, citrus and pine, with some sweet caramel and bread notes. There, too, is some alcohol presence in the flavor as well.

Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.

A big, hoppy, very bitter DIPA. Drinkable, but unexciting.
May 15, 2012
Photo of david18
Reviewed by david18 from New York

3.5/5  rDev -14.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
I had never heard of this beer and barely knew the brewer until I tried this beer. IT was very good but i would have liked to try a non cask version for comparison.

Appearance is a light gold with nice carbonation, especially for a cask ale. Pretty cloudy.

Aroma was very hoppy, again especially for a cask ale and also had somewhat of a biscuity smell to it. Very good.

Flavor was similar to the aroma, good balance of hops and malt. A bit of citrus even in the flavor.

Overall a very good beer. Would highly recommend.
Apr 24, 2012
 
Rated: 4 by quantumcipher from California

Jan 07, 2012
Photo of mithrascruor
Reviewed by mithrascruor from California

4/5  rDev -2.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Growler (filled this afternoon), poured into a mug.

Appearance: Pours a clear straw-like amber color with a big slightly off-white head. Good retention and leaves nice lacing.

Smell: Mild aroma of hops - mostly grapefruit, but not too bitter.

Taste: Flavorful, but nothing extreme. Tasty orange/grapefruit flavor, not too sweet, and not too spicy. Mild citrus aftertaste.

Mouthfeel: Quite smooth for an IPA, light- to medium-bodied with light carbonation.

Drinkability: Moderate ABV and easy to drink.

Overall, a solid and tasty beer. Nothing too extreme, but sometimes that's what is needed! I had this a few years ago and thought it was too piney, but they seem to have significantly improved it (or I got a bad batch before).
Dec 24, 2011
Photo of SDDanC
Reviewed by SDDanC from California

4.27/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
On tap at SDBC. Great golden amber color with thin white ring of head, escapes with a swiftness. On the nose it is full of piney hops, citrus, malt, even some honey. Wow. This is a monster on the tongue. Lots of malt in the front with piney character, then subdues to a sweet malty aftertaste, cloying. A lot of carbonation makes this punch hard in front, if it were a tad tamer it might help bring up the MF score. Lacing is spotty. Overall, good shot, I would want it a little calmer in the mouth to really let the flavors shine.
Oct 17, 2011
Photo of BucannonXC5
Reviewed by BucannonXC5 from California

4/5  rDev -2.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Poured from a tap into a pint glass at San Diego Brewing Company. Color was caramel amber. Inch of head. Minimal lacing, more film on the sides.

Hoppy smells, but slight pine and slight citrus, mixed between lemon and grapefruit.

Strong initial taste. Nice balance of citrus/grapefruit and pine, ending with a bitter finish.

Medium body. Moderate carbonation. Fairly smooth. Consistent flow.

I had never heard of the Hopnotic until I went the other night. I guess it’s not always on tap at the SDBC, but I’m glad I tried it. Not too bad.
Sep 10, 2011
Photo of Nugganooch
Reviewed by Nugganooch from California

3.92/5  rDev -4.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
On tap at Obrien's
08/15/11

A: Hopnotic pours a nice clear caramel pale color with a great soapy white 1 finger head & some decent retention in the glass.

S: Smells of fresh pines. A bit of citrus oils. More so it smells just like a freshly opened pack of hop pellets. Best way I can explain it. Slight sweetness. Really nice.

T: I get tons of pine notes here. There is a real nice lemony floral hop freshness to it. Pine is resinous. Malts are sugary and come off a bit boozy sweet at 9% ABV. Light crisp finish. Pretty solid DIPA. Piney for sure.

M: Light creamy texture on the mouthfeel. Sticky. Dry crisp finish.

D: Decent DIPA here. As noted, for me was a tad on the sweeter and warmer side of things but still quite enjoyable.

Best beer I have had from SDBC thus far. Would definitely try again.
Aug 16, 2011
Photo of kflorence
Reviewed by kflorence from Texas

3.7/5  rDev -9.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Imported from my ratebeer.com profile - MAY 28, 2008

On tap at San Diego Brewing Company.

Poured a nice golden orange color with very little head. Smelled very strongly of hops, citrus, juniper and flowers. Has a very potent kick of hops on the tongue, with definite notes of citrus and grapefruit. The hops linger on your tongue long after you swallow. The mouthfeel was somewhat sticky, almost like nectar. Very bitter pine-hop finish. It’s definitely a great beer for those who enjoy very hoppy beer, but maybe a little overwhelming for me.
Jul 23, 2011
Photo of rand
Reviewed by rand from California

4.27/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5
From tap to pint glass 07/14/10
Reviewed from notes

A: Pours a clear, deep reddish tan. Frothy 2 finger head with large peaks and valleys. Sticky lacing everywhere and doesn't seem to dissipate

S: Strong pine and grapefruit-citrus. With the honey-sweet malt backdrop, this smells like sugar-laced grapefruit.

T: The taste immediately matches the nose with strong notes of pine, citrus. But good lord is this bitter - an aggressively hopped brew, in the realm of famous SoCal DIPA's. If your palate has any stamina left, you might be able to detect the bready, toffee-like malts that balance this beacon of bitter. But my god, the hops!

D: Well, this is completely relative. Living in San Diego for awhile now, I've become accustomed and even spoiled with the plethora of big, super-hopped IPA's and DIPA's. Given that I've acquired a taste for such beverages, this goes down like soda for me. And to be objective, they did an incredible job balancing the hop bomb with malty sweetness. But someone new to this style might struggle with this a bit, at least until the alcohol kicks in.
Aug 11, 2010
Photo of brokensail
Reviewed by brokensail from California

3.92/5  rDev -4.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
On-tap at SDBC

A: The pour is a clear golden color with a finger's worth of white head and some mild lacing on the glass.

S: A ton of citrus hops right up front. The nose is very lemony, more so than any other IPA I've come across. Quite a bit of grapefruit in there too.

T: The flavor is nice and bitter with a lot of citrus...a lot! Again, primarily grapefruit and lemons and intensely bitter. At times the bitterness seems a bit harsh and even solventy, however.

M: The body is pretty much what you would expect: medium with a moderate level of carbonation and a lingering bitterness.

D: This is a pretty nice beer, up there with the best that SDBC had to offer on this day.
Jul 20, 2010
Photo of TurdFurgison
Reviewed by TurdFurgison from Ohio

4.24/5  rDev +3.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
I got a growler of this as an EXTRA from FreightTrain. Huge appreciation to him for this, also for the other extras.

The growler was filled literally to the cap, luckily no leakage during delivery. A nice "pfft" sound when the cap was unscrewed, good carbonation.

The beer is clear, golden orange color, with a few fingers of white foam. A little wet lacing on the glass but not much. The aroma is real nice, classic west coast IPA. I smelled way more hops than malt, strong citrus, nearly brutal grapefruit. The taste is abrasively hopped, full of citrus flavors, extremely bitter aftertaste too. Addictively tasty, I'm gushing here. The body is about average, it goes down easily except for the pallette-wrecking flavors. Awesome.

Why do so many great IPA's from the west coast? For my part I consider this to be the definitive beer of the region, similar to Kolsch from Cologne, Rauchbier from Bamberg, lambics from Belgium, or simply kick-ass stouts from Michigan. San Diego Brewing has been added to my map.
May 02, 2010
Photo of badboyrsl84
Reviewed by badboyrsl84 from California

4.07/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
This bad boys pours a golden caramel almost golden in to
the the glass. There is a little head but not a lot.

The smell is very floral with a hint of citrius. It's a very pleasant smell that I love in the ipa department.

The taste is like the smell. Very floral with some citrius. This is light on the carbonation and it doesn't over power the
beer. It finishes with more floral not too bitter. A very solid
beer by the local brewery.

It's a very drinkable beer at 9% abv
Apr 13, 2010
Photo of MiScusi
Reviewed by MiScusi from California

4.32/5  rDev +5.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Had on tap at both SD Brewing Co and Callahan's Pub. Color is clear golden, maybe the smallest twinge of orange... maybe. Smell is fantastically citrus. The taste is pretty tropical while being a bit aggressive as well. Mango, light fruits... kinda Blind-Pig-like. Bitterness is fairly sharp, mouthfeel is on the lighter side.
Mar 10, 2010
Photo of augustgarage
Reviewed by augustgarage from California

4.15/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
On-tap at Blue Palms Brewhouse. Had a taster of this a week ago and noticed an odd element - returning to a full pint this time to see if it is still there. Served in a wide mouth, short-stemmed tulip.

Tawny, dark-orange body with a bit of chill haze. Decent clarity when this clears. Small soapy head, receding to a whispy island with thin loops of lacing.

Floral aromatics - very distinctive, almost like cheddar (not diacetyl or any other off note) scent, presumably from the convergence of the malt bill and some of the late hop addition? Beyond this, you get lemoncello, honey, and a touch of pine.

Buttermilk along with rich caramel malt undergird the hop flavors: tangerine, pineapple, and earth. Thyme and cereal show up in the finish along with a light but lingering bitterness. Taste has some depth to it.

Oily, slightly sticky, creamy body enhances the unique buttery quality. Average carbonation.

Unusual but well balanced West coast IPA - maybe a little sweet but still nearly sessionable if not for the ABV. Overall, I get the sense that this beer aspires to be a double/imperial IPA.

Definitely a regional brew - worth trying if you have the chance.
Nov 20, 2009
Photo of sdtripper
Reviewed by sdtripper from California

4.97/5  rDev +21.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
I had this ale at O'Briens Pub in San Diego and this
Very Pleasurable Ale would please many that want big hoP flavors.

Smiles all around:
Would enjoy having this ale more often. & (Seeking Often)
Loving big hoP smells & taste ~ This ale hits the mark ~
full throttle ~ I especially like the after math on my tongue as it finishes Oh so fine. The pleasure of finding this on tap at your pub would be a joy for you who hoP and surely you won't soon forget.

Brewer "Dean Rouleau" of San Diego Brewing Co. sure pleases hoP heads with this entry on the ale ~ trail.
Nov 03, 2009
Photo of srandycarter
Reviewed by srandycarter from California

4.47/5  rDev +9.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Made by my friend Dean at SD Brewing.

A - Bright, pretty, clear honey, small near white head leaves slowly to ring. Some sticky cling lace. Lots of small bubble cascading action with slight nod of the glass.

S - God almighty. I feel like my nose is chewing hops. Very upfront hop profile, sweet malty goodness backs it up.

T - Fat and sweet on the tongue, brutally banged up by the hops mid taste and finish. Back and forth action. Nice.

M - Medium body, great carb, very nice balance. Fun beer.

D - Till I am in a stupor.
Jul 29, 2009
Hopnotic from San Diego Brewing Co.
Beer rating: 90 out of 100 with 25 ratings