Greenwood Triple IPA: Chuck's Hop Shop 5th Anniversary Beer
Sound Brewery

Color is a golden orangey amber. Modest foam in the Ciney snifter, but the mouthfeel is crackling with carbonation to keep the power brew zinging. Flowery nose with gardenia.

Sweet and spicy in a satisfying combination. Piiney with a grapefruit peel bitterness. Lucious apricot and pineapple fruit flavors. Hot and bitter, but a treat for sipping with respect.

From the 22 oz bottle purchased at Chuck's 85th St. Market in Seattle.

Pours an incredibly opaque deep rich amber with ruby influences. Small white head offers nice lacing down the glass.

Nose is big juicy fruits and caramel sweet. Mango and guava primarily. Clean and sticky sweet. Some woody meat to the body of it. 'Bout it 'bout it.

Flavour follows through with a big round juicy sweet intro with notes of spicy hops and a nice balancing bitterness of the pinier variety. A bit of alcohol to the finish which augments (and vice versa) the hop spice. Resin and guava and mango without any one note dominating. Meaty middle the connotes woods of various heritages. Carbonation is almost an afterthought but the tiny pinpricks are there. Good medium body. This one comes together really nicely. The triple aspect of the TIPA is less just being punishingly bitter and more just... biggerness to things. I dig it.

EDIT: didn't realize it was aged on oak until just now. That would explain the woody notes I was getting. Again, I dig it.

Poured into a Seattle Beer Week pint glass. Pours a medium coppery amber with a thin white head that dissipates to patches, leaving light lacing. Aroma of piney hops, lightly dank, big caramel malt, tropical fruit, oaky vanilla, a hint of booziness. Flavor is resinous piney hops, caramel malt, vanilla and a bit of oaky earthiness. Finishes with strongly resinous piney hops with a long lingering bitterness that has interesting hop herbal flavors. Medium bodied with good creaminess and carbonation. A nice hop forward triple IPA that, like this style should, borders on the territory of a barleywine. The malt is substantial enough to support and complement the hefty hopping. Nice herbal hop flavors and this is despite the fact that this bottle is three months old. I'm a big barleywine fan and although this emphasizes the IPA hopping as the style should, it hits my barleywine requirements as well. I liked this a lot, and at this price point, I'm going to put a few away for a year; this has all the character of an ale that will mellow nicely for a while. I've always liked Sound and this adds another notch to their tally. A sleeper if you like your IPAs with a rich caramel malt body and good strong hopping.

 

22oz into a tulip. Pours a hazy coppery amber w/ a thin sudsy head.

Aroma is dank sticky tropical fruits. Mango, papaya, a touch of peach.

Taste follows nose. Heavy thick tropical fruits accompanied by a powerful bitterness. Just a touch of booze reminds you that this is a 10% beer.

Mouthfeel is thick and chewy, coating, a bit oily and slick. Lingering bitter finish.

Overall not my favorite type of DIPA, as I prefer them more light and citrusy. This reminds me of a number of Colorado DIPAs I've had from Avery et al. Could be the oak aging. It's good for what it is though, and some will like it more than I did.