Breaking The Waves
Evil Twin Brewing

Breaking The WavesBreaking The Waves
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From:
Evil Twin Brewing
 
New York, United States
Style:
Imperial IPA
Ranked #1,372
ABV:
10%
Score:
91
Ranked #7,959
Avg:
4.07 | pDev: 9.09%
Reviews:
42
Ratings:
111
Status:
Active
Rated:
Dec 02, 2022
Added:
Oct 18, 2017
Wants:
  1
Gots:
  21
A double dry-hopped imperial IPA brewed with lactose.
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Ratings by smithj4:
Photo of smithj4
Rated by smithj4 from New York

4.19/5  rDev +2.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25

Jul 13, 2018
More User Ratings:
Photo of stevoj
Reviewed by stevoj from Idaho

4.26/5  rDev +4.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
16 ounce can from Tavour. This beer is all about substance. Pours out slick and viscous, light citrus aroma, small head. Taste is also a little bit of the citrus, some hippiness very gentle, not at all like a double IPA. But the mouthfeel is incredible, creamy and thick with just a slight lingering hoppy bitterness to finish it. Just wonderfully, wonderfully done.
Dec 02, 2022
 
Rated: 3 by Mattias from Sweden

Sep 06, 2019
 
Rated: 3.98 by bigpoppa67 from Wisconsin

Apr 23, 2019
Photo of Beer_Right_Back
Reviewed by Beer_Right_Back from Arizona

3.25/5  rDev -20.1%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
This big double IPA that is also strong with its lactose sweetness. A fruity and hoppy backbone bring a bright note, and the hazy appearance makes it pleasant to the eye as well.
Apr 11, 2019
 
Rated: 4.02 by RMW66 from Australia

Mar 28, 2019
Photo of ausonius
Reviewed by ausonius from New York

4.34/5  rDev +6.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
DDH IIPA w/lactose 10%. Big, round, earthy, spicy, pungent hops on nose & palate.
Big pale malt, but deft, & (almost) light & pretty.
Lactose mostly in hiding till aftertaste & finish. Med-light bitterness. The 10%ABV very well hidden.
Mar 13, 2019
 
Rated: 4 by Zenboy99 from Wisconsin

Feb 16, 2019
 
Rated: 4.5 by aszatk01 from Pennsylvania

Feb 13, 2019
 
Rated: 4.29 by woodchip from North Carolina

Jan 26, 2019
 
Rated: 4.25 by bigred89 from Maryland

Jan 05, 2019
Photo of MaltsOfGlory
Reviewed by MaltsOfGlory from Oregon

3.8/5  rDev -6.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
16oz can

Pours about a finger of white head into my tulip. Not very heady. I can hear it lightly fizzing, though, the head retention is not bad. Body is a pale yellow in color. Clarity is very high. Small amount of bubbles coming up. The color and clarity are both surprising for an east coast IPA with lactose. Head disappeared completely after a few minutes, but it has already left some good initial lacing.

Nose up front is a big tropical fruit bomb. Upon further sniffs I get a pretty significant sharpness from the hops. A little dank, but very sharp. No canning date, but it smells borderline metallic & a tad old. Idk, these beers that place an emphasis on drinking fresh (which I assume they do, being a smallish, hop heavy brewery) tend to also bite the bullet pretty hard if drank even a little bit past their prime. It could also just be a very sharp variety of hops, it's nothing too bad either way, small observation. No oats/wheat here, which would be expected from the appearance, but is again surprising to omit given the style. Was going to go 4.25 initially, but definitely 4 now. Still smells good, just not perfect.

My initial thought on the taste was that it is a pretty safe taste, quite smooth though. Then I realized this dude is 10% which changes the narrative. Drinks incredibly smooth for 10%. A little bit of fruit, but mostly a pretty pungent hop presence that hits for the majority of the palate. Finishes a little sweet and a tad boozy, but very unnoticeable. Hop flavor is sharp, a little tangy I guess, not too many flavors here - has more of a bitter presence than anything. While I appreciate that this isn't getting too cute like most NEIPA's do with their hop bills, it might have overdone it in the other direction. The bitterness is fine, but I need more hop flavor. Not sure how to grade this guy, pretty smooth for 10% but it is rough around the edges and is certainly going to lose points for the lack of hop flavor. Also, the booze is coming through a little more as time progresses, making it less smooth.

Mouthfeel is ok. Body is pretty standard, maybe a touch on the light side. Carbonation is very light, which is fine, but I would have preferred a little more carbonation here. Booze is a little astringent/tangy on the tongue, no heat though. Bitterness just barely lingers.

The drinkability was initially very high, but has since come down to earth. It still drinks much better than a 10% should, but it's not immortal.

The appearance is decent here. Lacing is pretty good, and the head was fine. Body is weird, but whatever.

Overall this beer is fine. Drinks pretty well for its abv, and it's tasty enough. Too rough around the edges to be a great beer though.
Dec 21, 2018
 
Rated: 4.32 by chiefz1 from New York

Dec 06, 2018
 
Rated: 4.27 by Monkeyknife from Missouri

Nov 14, 2018
 
Rated: 3.75 by jgunther71 from Illinois

Nov 11, 2018
Photo of SierraNevallagash
Reviewed by SierraNevallagash from Maine

3.23/5  rDev -20.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
Pours a very pale untarnished brass hue. This is the definition of hazy. Not turbid. Not murky. Not opaque. Hazy. Light shines through, but you can't really make out details or shapes through it. Less than a finger of white head recedes fairly quickly, and refuses to build back up with any agitation.

Nose: This is an IPA? A DOUBLE DRY HOPPED IPA?? Sure does not smell like it. This smells like a lightly hopped Belgian Golden Ale. Fruity and musty Belgian yeasts. Almost like a saison. I can't believe how contradictory this nose is. I do pick up on the lactose, but it smells like a "milk saison", and nothing like any sort of IPA, let alone double dry hopped.

Palate: Okay, now I'm really beginning to think they put the wrong label on here. This tastes nothing like Any sort of IPA. This is a Belgian Pale Ale to the core. Really disappointed here. No hop character, no dank, fruity, floral, sticky, grassy hops anywhere. Just some Belgian yeast and a touch of bittering hops. Even the lactose they claim is dimissable. And I'm still not convinced that this isn't mis-labeled. It tastes like bad Allagash Hoppy Table Beer.

Mouthfeel is medium light and moderately carbonated. Semi dry in the finish, with a lingering medicinal bitterness. Warming going down.

Overall: If this is the right stuff in the right can, this is one of the biggest fails I've encountered. I am an undeestanding and often generous rater, as anyone can check, but this is just bad beer. Very poorly executed. I'm honestly even contemplating a drain pour, which has only ever happened 2 or 3 times. Not good. If you want a DDH DIPA with or without lactose, this is not the answer. I'm sorry. My numbers here are generous.
Nov 09, 2018
 
Rated: 4 by Hayley_86 from Netherlands

Nov 05, 2018
 
Rated: 3.75 by krome from Illinois

Oct 30, 2018
Photo of monkist
Reviewed by monkist from Hungary

4.39/5  rDev +7.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
This was my first lactose beer - and maybe the last. Just needed to try it, to know how it is like. Well:
This double dry-hopped double IPA had plenty of hops, both in the aroma and in the flavor but "thanks" to the added lactose, the feeling became mild, creamy and lost all that raw hoppiness for me that I like so much in IPAs. Somehow this milky creaminess also started to make me feel sick somewhere halfway through the beer. It's like adding milk to tea - some people might like it, some don't but it is okay. But adding milk to beer is, hmm, not for me, for sure. The base of this diuble IPA was okay though, that enough was plenty to save the day.
Oct 14, 2018
 
Rated: 4.24 by Aurascoper from Missouri

Oct 07, 2018
Breaking The Waves from Evil Twin Brewing
Beer rating: 91 out of 100 with 111 ratings