Paranoia
Odd Side Ales

Bottle date of 05/06/14 is pretty fresh. Duvel tulip.

A- A normal pour creates 1-1/2 fingers of khaki head atop a clean, copper body. Light carbonation. The head drops to a thin film, leaving fantastic rings of lace on the glass.

S- Lots of leafy hops at the crack of the cap, becoming more grapefruit-like after the pour. With warmth, it gets quite complex with notes of leather and tobacco, some pine and crushed aspirin.

T- Much more rich and malty than expected, balanced really. At first, there's lots of cracker and brown sugar, then the grapefruit zest (a little pith too) comes through. Hops get spicy and ABV shows a bit. Hopping gets a little sharp.

M- Bone dry,medium carbonation. Full bodied with significant hop bite, a little warm alcohol even.

O- A pretty decent DIPA. However, I like softer edges. The ABV makes itself a little too known and the hops are just too harsh. Disclaimer: I really don't consider myself a "hop head." As fresh as it is, maybe another couple weeks would allow it to mellow (blasphemy, I know).

RB transfer

 

 

 

 

 

Pours a clear beautiful light honey orange with a thick white head. Nice retention and decent lacing. Aroma is a blend of tropical and citrus fruits with a touch of pine. Flavor follows the nose, sweet up front with some nice hop bitterness in the finish. Feel is lightly carbonated and medium bodied. Overall a very nice beer. High 9.95% ABV is dangerously well hidden.

The CANQuest (tm) is self-sequestered for the moment, although it still feels as though this beer might be a more appropriate response. I have NOTHING to do outside of the house as movie theatres are closed, schools are on a two-week hiatus, I am getting comic books delivered by the droves via USPS & there is nowhere that I want to go on the train. Where would I go that it would not be more of the same - closed tighter than a drum with a post-apocalyptic feel? CANned beer at home seems to be an appropriate response! The CANQuest (tm) & its backlog = WAY ahead of the curve (again). J/S.

From the CAN: "Complex Imperial IPA with citrus and tropical aromas leading to a juicy, hoppy, bitter finish."

I Crack!ed open the vent & once more beCAN a slow, gentle C-Line Glug into the awaiting glass. My sense of hopelessness as applied to clarity was allayed when I saw the liquid filling my glass. Happy, happy, joy, joy! Clarity! It foamed up to form two-plus fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, tawny head with great retention, leaving a load of lacing in its wake. Color was a gorgeous Amber (SRM = > 7, < 9) with NE-quality clarity. Nose smelled of pine & caramel & my hophead mouth would not stop watering! In fact, I could not stop leaning in just to get a whiff. Yum. Mouthfeel was big, thick, full & creamy, like a dollop had been scooped into my mouth & onto my tongue. The taste was CANother revelation, opening with a (literally) peachy flavor that slowly went over to papaya, mango & guava before erupting with a grapefruit citrusiness. Finish returned to the cool pine of the nose with the sweetness of the caramel malt to render it semi-dry to dry. What a find! What a revelation! What a beer! YMMV.

 

 

 

 

Poured from a can into a pint glass

Appearance- The beer pours a clear orange amber color with a big billowy off-white head. The head has a great level of retention, fading over time to leave a ton of lace on the sides of the glass.

Smell – The aroma of the brew is rather strong of a grapefruit smell mixed with some other aromas of a light tangerine and tropical fruit smell. Along with these aromas comes a little bit of a pine and herb as well.

Taste – The taste begins with a rather heavy grapefruit hop taste mixed with some flavors of a cracker malt and a bit of a tangerine, pineapple, and caramel. The sweeter tastes are very light upfront and get even lighter as the taste advances all while the grapefruit augments and takes on more bitterness with a grapefruit rind like flavor. Toward the end some other hop tastes of a light herbal and pine nature join the grapefruit with a bit more maltiness coming as well. With all the flavor transitions, in the end, one is left with a rather biting bitter, but enjoyable and moderately crisp taste to linger on the tongue.

Mouthfeel – The body of the brew light and more crisp for a brew of its abv and hop profile, with a carbonation level that is moderate. For the mix of big bitter grapefruit and fairly crisp malt flavors the feel is rather well done and makes for a nice easy sipper.

Overall – A rather nice more bitter and somewhat drier brew. While nothing out of this world, a nice brew to try if you have the opportunity.

 

 

 

This is a nice imperial ipa. Clear golden color. Mix of sweet and hoppy, a well balanced beer. I drank the whole beer before i had time to do the review. Its a great middle of the road ipa, not too hoppy, not too boozy. Give it a try.