3 Sheets
Leech Lake Brewing Company

3 Sheets3 Sheets
Beer Geek Stats | Print Shelf Talker
From:
Leech Lake Brewing Company
 
Minnesota, United States
Style:
Imperial IPA
ABV:
10.5%
Score:
77
Avg:
3.15 | pDev: 29.52%
Reviews:
15
Ratings:
27
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Dec 24, 2014
Added:
Dec 11, 2010
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  2
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by PokerGod:
Photo of PokerGod
Reviewed by PokerGod from Minnesota

3.53/5  rDev +12.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
750ml corked and caged poured into a perfect pint.

Appearance- Dark, brown, muddy. light head but dissipates into a crown rather quickly. Light lacing on the glass.

Smell- spicy, earthy, malty, bready. I can already smell the 10.5% ABV in the pint.

Taste- slightly sweeter and maltier than the usual DIPA, but a real nice taste that balances the hops, the malts and the alcohol bite.

Overall- split this bottle with my father for his 56th birthday and we both enjoyed it. We wished that we had another. For someone like me who enjoys a maltier beer, this is a very nice and easy Imperial IPA.
Aug 30, 2011
More User Ratings:
Photo of HoistinBrews
Rated by HoistinBrews from Minnesota

1.09/5  rDev -65.4%
look: 1 | smell: 1.25 | taste: 1 | feel: 1.25 | overall: 1
On tap. Absolutely horrible. Like a homebrew experiment gone terribly wrong.
Dec 24, 2014
 
Rated: 2.75 by KAF from Iowa

Oct 29, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by Sinatra716 from Minnesota

Oct 20, 2014
 
Rated: 2 by Hopstout from Minnesota

Sep 28, 2014
Photo of homebrew311
Reviewed by homebrew311 from Illinois

1.84/5  rDev -41.6%
look: 2 | smell: 1.75 | taste: 1.75 | feel: 2 | overall: 2
Poured from a bottle shaped can. Pours much too dark for an ipa with a murkiness that isn't exactly inviting. The aroma features oxidized hops, heavy stale grass and herbal tones, and notes of caramel malt. Taste is hot, malty with loads of caramel, and astringent hop profile. This beer lacks in balance and drinks like a hot barleywine with a sloppy hop profile. Reminds me of some of my early homebrews-gone-wrong. Finish has a twang and heavy sweetness. Lots of off flavors presentm its hard to put my finger on descriptors for them. Mouthfeel is heavy bodied and syrupy. Overall, this beer is a mess and I likely won't make it through the whole thing.
Jul 03, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by MonkeyPilates from Minnesota

Oct 26, 2013
 
Rated: 4.25 by Kevin_Siqveland from Virginia

Oct 12, 2013
 
Rated: 1 by dragomni from Minnesota

Sep 29, 2013
 
Rated: 3.5 by LXIXME from New Mexico

Jul 24, 2013
 
Rated: 3 by MNPikey from Minnesota

Jun 09, 2013
Photo of chum_husk
Reviewed by chum_husk from Minnesota

3.59/5  rDev +14%
look: 1 | smell: 2 | taste: 5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
22oz bomber bottle into bigass wine glass

I had this a few times before the brewery closed down, it was amazing on-tap, and decidedly less-so in the bottle. Smelled okay but the flavor is where it really shined: I'd describe this as one of the few malt-forward IPAs I've had that did it right, pillowy chewy sweet malts woven into the mega-hopped ale. I bought bombers of this to bring home one year and they were improperly sealed - it was all bad beer. By the time I went back to Leech Lake it was no longer open

Fond memories of an old brewery, it brings me back. Wish I could still sample their beer. If only they learned how to bottle it properly, they might have stuck around!
Apr 24, 2013
 
Rated: 3 by FreshmanPour77 from Minnesota

Jun 25, 2012
Photo of hardy008
Reviewed by hardy008 from Minnesota

1.54/5  rDev -51.1%
look: 2 | smell: 1.75 | taste: 1.25 | feel: 2 | overall: 1.5
Dark reddish brown color with a one finger beige head with fair retention and spotty lacing. The aroma has caramel malt, fuggle hops (wood and earth), and bread. WTF? This doesn't smell like an Imperial IPA, or any other kind of IPA. Not even close.

The taste is sweet, and had caramel malt, bread, fuggle hops, booze, and very little bitterness. Why is this called an Imperial IPA? It doesn't resemble one in any way at all.

Medium plus bodied with low carbonation and a sweet sticky aftertaste.

This is not an Imperial IPA. I don't care about the fact the bottle states Imperial IPA. I think the brewer needs to buy a book about beer styles, and how to differentiate between them.
Jun 19, 2012
 
Rated: 3 by optimator705 from Minnesota

May 29, 2012
Photo of gatornation
Reviewed by gatornation from Arizona

3.08/5  rDev -2.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
from corked 75oml bottle

A- pours a light golden brown color with an off white head

S- is caramel malt bread some tropical hops

T- was sweet malts and baked bread with some syrupy hops

M- was sweet and low carbonation lacking in hops

O- an average 2ipa that was way to malty and sweet and costly 1 and done for me
Apr 25, 2012
Photo of jjanega08
Reviewed by jjanega08 from Minnesota

2.11/5  rDev -33%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2
Sticker on the back of the bottle appears to be some sort of freshness dating. It reads...
022912
122011

Could be a brewed date and a bottled date? This is the first time I've ever seen a bottle from this brewery in the Twin Cities so I'm assuming it's fresh.

A= Pours a deep amber color with a smaller thin half finger of head on it that holds some average retention and spotty lacing. A semi hazy opacity. A little deep in color for your average IIPA.

S= The smell isn't quite what I would hope for an IIPA. Smells very high in the malt and alcohol with the hops sort of playing a role in the background. Big alcohol aroma. As it settles the alcohol comes through more and the faint hop aroma seems to die faster.

T= The taste makes my fears come true. Actually a very very light flavor on this beer. The hops come through more in the flavor than the nose would let you believe but they are still not IIPA status. The sweet malty flavor dies quite a bit and leaves a more alcohol flavor and the yeast comes through quite a bit for some reason. Maybe they fermented this with a Belgian strain or perhaps it fermented too hot? Not the cleanest IIPA as far as yeast flavor goes. Borders a Belgian IIPA in flavor for me only with less hops.

M= Very dry finish with a lot of light alcohol

O= Not a fan of this beer. First shot with the brewery and I'm unimpressed. As an IIPA I would expect a certain amount of brightness and livelyness which this beer doesn't seem to deliver. I would really like the local breweries to do well but this isn't a beer that will get my thumbs up. I for sure won't be buying this again unless I hear of some change but I will try their other beers before I completely write them off. This wasn't worth the time or money however. Flavors didn't say IIPA to me they more said craft malt liquor.
Apr 08, 2012
 
Rated: 3.5 by Cramerican from North Dakota

Feb 16, 2012
Photo of FightingEntropy
Reviewed by FightingEntropy from Minnesota

4/5  rDev +27%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Last bottle of the Leech Lake beers, and I saved the 100 IBU Imperial IPA for the finale. Corked and caged, this is clearly their top of the line beer--though it resisted and the cork was devilishly hard to get out.

An ultra light brown head is rocky and creamy and unevenly rests on top of a dark mahogany ale that's shimmering copper at the edges. The first sniff after the pour was a strong and clear earthy fuggles hop spice, but it dissipates to a light and pleasant aroma on top a caramel malt. Hop bite is assertive on the tongue; again, earthy with a bit of pepper. Solid malt base that warms from the 10.5% alcohol. Bitterness plus a malt sweetness off the back of the tongue finishes well.

I think I expected a bit of this taste from the IPA, but I think the fuggles hops don't build because the low alpha acid content (3.5-5.5% according to John Palmer's hop variety chart). While 100 IBU, its perceived bitterness is more like an above average IPA. This strong beer is fun to drink, and I look forward to tasting it on tap when I get a chance to visit Leech Lake Brewing Co to follow up on this set of bottles.
Feb 10, 2012
Photo of budgood1
Reviewed by budgood1 from Minnesota

3.68/5  rDev +16.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
750 ml bottle corked and caged. $10.

after wrestling the cork out of the bottle, this one pours out a dark and murky scarlet colour with a thin beige head. it leaves some wispy lace as i sip. the aroma is predominantly of doughy malts and leaf tobacco...yeasty and slightly boozy with accents of apples and pears. smells like no other DIPA i've ever had before. the taste is unlike any other DIPA i've ever had either...booze soaked sour apples and some pear flavoured moonshine come to mind. there are hints of other ripe red fruitiness, reminding me of canned cherries in dark rum. a bit of flowery hoppiness and subsequent bitterness can be detected, also...but 100 IBU's? i don't think so. this does have a soft and supple body with an overly light carbonated, somewhat slick mouthfeel. drinkability? i'm confused...and it's not from the high ABV.

overall...i suppose if this was labeled as some sort of belgian inspired concoction, i would be less befuddled. but the mouthfeel is not in any way belgian. hmmmm....i would really like to know what the brewers had in mind here. i think they are the ones who are confused.

i don't even know how to score this. i might have to revisit after some investigation.
Jan 28, 2012
3 Sheets from Leech Lake Brewing Company
Beer rating: 77 out of 100 with 27 ratings