Hop Lava
Back Street Brewery & Lamppost Pizza

I love good double IPA's. However this one was a huge dissapointment. Beer was very cloudy, I thought they gave me a german style hefeweiss it was so bad. Color was dark gold. Hops were present but were lacking for a double IPA. The beer was really out of balance, big bitterness but no flavor to back it up.

Had this on tap, many times, at Backstreet Irvine. the idea for this brew was spawned from doing a kicked up version of their Hopopolis IPA.

Poured a deep orange color, like you're looking at the center of an orange that was just cut in half, with a small ivory colored head. The aroma is a solid bouquet of fresh citrus and green meadows that just mushrooms in your face... this then leans towards hints of malt. Dry hopped with perla, simcoe, amaraillo and another i cant remember, really just establish the aroma!

The taste is delicious. Taste of a floral tangerine/grapefruit citrus really come out and immediately satisfy your tastebuds... a harmonious dance of fresh hops and malt. Very balanced and what i mean is there is the malt backbone to carry the hops where they both work in harmony. A clean light malt sweetness finishes up after the hops. A good mix here that really hides the alcohol.

Very clean on the palate, nicely carbonated and not too heavy... it's actually just right. You'll keep drinking more and because the alcohol is undetectable due to the perfect pairing of malt and hop.

Get some growlers to go! I did.

Poured dark orange with a half finger creamy head that disappeared rather quickly.
Aroma is immediately fresh, FRESH green hops with just the slightest touch of sweet malt.
Taste is surprising. Fresh green hops, sweet toasted carmel malt, finishing back to grapefruit (not rind) hops. Actually balances well while the hops are definately dominate, you don't foget the malt in this beer yet there is none of the overpowering cloying sweetness common to DIPA's.
Aftertaste dries very quickly for a DIPA making you want another sip, and another.
Carefull though. While very drinkable this is not a session brew. You won't find the 8% ABV in the taste, but it's in the beer.
Good job!

Billed as an "Imperial IPA"...I'm expecting a boatload of alpha's here.

Beer pours with a deep orange core and little foam. Nose projects pure hoppiness...largely citrus with a floral backdrop.

Entry is stimulating with just-right carbonation brushing the sides of the tongue. Midtaste begins with the anticipated hop attack, but the crystal malt manages to peek through for a fleeting moment. The finish peaks with Simcoes and Amarillos...but in a flavorful, not-so-over-the-top way. Grapefruits and pine needles are left behind in a dusty-dry fade that leaves one grateful that there is still additional liquid left in the glass.

This baby nicely avoids the 'thickness' that seem to plague many of the over the top IPA offerings here on the Left Coast.

Oh yeah, that 8.0% ABV? Good luck finding it as it is buried almost as well as Jimmy Hoffa.