Secret Sauce
Burley Oak Brewing Co.

Secret SauceSecret Sauce
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From:
Burley Oak Brewing Co.
 
Maryland, United States
Style:
Imperial IPA
ABV:
7.7%
Score:
88
Avg:
3.93 | pDev: 9.16%
Reviews:
31
Ratings:
157
Status:
Active
Rated:
Feb 18, 2018
Added:
Mar 28, 2014
Wants:
  6
Gots:
  42
Using the same base as our Aboriginal Gangster, this experimental IPA uses five different hop varieties from the South Pacific, giving it an exotic, nuanced bouquet and a unique spicy flavor.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by WheelsPSU:
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Rated by WheelsPSU from New Jersey

3.53/5  rDev -10.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Jun 03, 2016
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4 by Dizzy242 from Massachusetts

Feb 18, 2018
 
Rated: 3.96 by dfhhead25 from Pennsylvania

Jan 08, 2018
 
Rated: 3.77 by LoudRed from Massachusetts

Dec 29, 2017
 
Rated: 4.25 by TedStrosser from Pennsylvania

Dec 26, 2017
Photo of ThisWangsChung
Reviewed by ThisWangsChung from Maryland

3.67/5  rDev -6.6%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.75
December 5th, 2017 batch.

Pours a murky golden color. It's not the most turbid IPA ever, but it certainly features a nice haze. The head is two fingers high and white in shade. Though quick to recede, it leaves behind thick splotches of lacing.

The Mosaic hops offer a nice dankness, which works well with the grapefruit also noted aromatically. There are additional piny and grassy touches encountered, natch. Malt is substantial, though it errs closer toward cracker and table sugar than it does caramel and toffee. I could use a stronger tropical fruit aspect, but otherwise the aroma is hard to criticize.

It's actually a little maltier than the nose suggested. Notes of grapefruit, grass, pine, and (dare I say?) sweet onion open the flavor profile up, and then much of the malt backbone takes over past the middle into the end. Of course, zesty grapefruit pith helps finish it off alongside the moderately assertive table sugar, cracker, and bread. It almost tastes like there are notes of rye spice, too. I want more explosive hop goodness for this to earn a 4, but this is nonetheless satisfyingly balanced, unique, and easygoing.

This is very firm and crisp in texture, evoking a west-coast IPA. Despite the firmness, it's also quite full-bodied and even a touch yeasty. On the other hand, bitterness is fairly low (though not as well muted as other New England-style IPAs). Even if the mouthfeel isn't nailed spectacularly, it drinks very easily for the strength. Carbonation is medium.

Previous batches of this IPA were a total malt bomb. This, though, is an enormous step forward. It's not in the elite tier of IPAs, but it's a welcome improvement that gives me another rock-solid IPA choice on Maryland shelves.

3.67/5: The secret's finally out
Dec 20, 2017
 
Rated: 4 by petewheeler from Maryland

Dec 19, 2017
Photo of cyclonece09
Reviewed by cyclonece09 from Wisconsin

3.95/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Poured from a can into a tulip. Pours cloudy reddish orange with a fluffy white head. Smells of spicy earthy hops. Tastes of thick citrus and earthy hops, with great grain backbone. Beer is full bodied and an easy sipper, good carbonation. Overall, a very good beer.
Nov 18, 2017
Photo of BJB13
Reviewed by BJB13 from Maryland

3.87/5  rDev -1.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
12 oz. can poured into a nonic pint glass.

Look- One finger of khaki fluffy head that had areas with an orange tint throughout and some slick lacing. It was colored a nice caramel brown and was cloudy with a small amount of visible suspended sediment.
Smell- Tangy and slightly pungent with what I would call tropical fruit aromas. Mango perhaps? Different. Enjoyable.
Taste- Sweet. Started fruity and moved to caramel and biscuit malts. Finished dry with some hop bitterness. Less hop flavor than I expected for a DIPA.
Feel- Smooth with low carbonation and medium bodied.
Overall- Different but good. I want to drink another one before I decide if this is for me.
Mar 17, 2017
 
Rated: 3.75 by mdaschaf from Indiana

Jan 23, 2017
 
Rated: 3.76 by Jofroi from Massachusetts

Nov 24, 2016
 
Rated: 3.87 by BillRoth from Maryland

Sep 18, 2016
 
Rated: 4.33 by madelf66 from Pennsylvania

Aug 26, 2016
Photo of Jadjunk
Reviewed by Jadjunk from Georgia

3.64/5  rDev -7.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
"This double IPA was forged from our creative and experimental exploration of hops with a variety of 4 exotic hops. We've managed to create a resinous and tropical flavored sensory experience." Brewed in the style of an American Double IPA, available in 12 oz. canned 6 packs and on rotating draft.

Poured from a 12 oz. can to a tulip glass.

(Appearance) Pours a foamy frothed head of a pastel white note over a densely hazy caramel amber body with a heavy cloud of fine sediment. Retention is very good and lacing is light and patchy. 4

(Smell) Aromatic hop nose generates the brazen aromas of spicy pine and pithy citrus with undertones of tropical fruit and herbal hop characters, balanced with a softly bready malt body with caramelized sweetness, softly grainy and medium bodied. A hop-forward aroma with a substantial malt potency to back it up. Potency is moderate. 3.75

(Taste) Spicy, resinous pine with lesser citrus notes make for a sharp and heavy-hitting hop bitterness, although the milder qualities of tropical fruit, herbal tea and citrus fruits are largely obscurred by the piney qualities, resulting in a largely one-dimensional hop profile. Malt flavors of caramel grain, biscuity malts and the hint of spicy rye build a substantial malt body that largely compliments the hop profile for an overall balanced Double IPA. 3.5

(Mouthfeel) Texture is lightly oily, softly chewy, lightly resinous, moderately dry. Carbonation is light, generating a mild frothiness and a mildly crisp finish. Body is medium for the style, medium+ overall. Balance is nearly even hoppy bitter to sweet malt body and graininess. Alcohol presence is modest, and there are no off characters. 3.5

(Overall) This is a decent Double IPA with seemingly a bit more focus on the malt profile (which does fine by me) than the hop profile, which I found lacking. The ever-popular spicy pine hop impact is evident as ever in this beer as the leading hop focus with a respectable enough bitterness, although this beer overall falls short on delivering more complexity on the hop front in both flavor and bitterness, and thus the malt build has a bigger pull in this beer's overall impressions than expected. Overall an enjoyable and drinkable IPA but I'm not overly fond of the limited hop flavor window in this one, and the malt profile, while enjoyable, isn't enough to carry this beer alone without an outstanding hop flavor to match. I was a bit surprised that five experimental hop varieties put together couldn't pan out more vibrantly than this, but then again not all experiments go according to plan. 3.75

Burley Oak Brewery's
Secret Sauce Double IPA
3.64/5.00
Aug 25, 2016
 
Rated: 4.1 by Jeffwise from Pennsylvania

Aug 17, 2016
 
Rated: 4 by briandaube from Delaware

Aug 08, 2016
 
Rated: 3.75 by paresis from Massachusetts

Aug 08, 2016
Photo of woodychandler
Reviewed by woodychandler from Pennsylvania

4.1/5  rDev +4.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
This CAN came to The CANQuest (tm) via a fellow CANta Claus, Summer Dave, not to be CANfused with Autumnal Dave. CANta Claus is born of the idea that sometimes, they just will not split a four- or six-pack for individual sale, but since part of The CANQuest creed is "No CAN shall be left behind", one ends up with duplicates. I like to bestow mine on my Friday night tasting group and this was one that came in return.

From the CAN: "This double IPA was forged from our creative and experimental exploration of hops. With a variety of 4 exotic hops, we've managed to create a resinous and tropical flavored sensory experience."

The loud Crack! was closely followed by an inverted Glug, which used to drive The ex-Old Lady crazy. It puffed up with two-plus fingers of dense, rocky, puffy, tawny head with great retention. Color was an oh-so-slightly hazy solid Amber (SRM = > 7, < 9). Nose was pungent with pine and mint, fitting since my earlier beer was a mint beer, so I seem to be CANtinuing the trend. Mouthfeel was medium-to-full. The taste was very hot, initially, with the alcohol making no attempt to hide itself. Once the initial shock passed, I really got a lot of pine and mint flavors, hearkening back to about a decade ago, when DIPAs first made the scene. I immediately fell in love with them, as a hophead, and while they CAN sometimes be a bit much, this was scratching an itch today. I was rassling with hoses earlier, washing the soot & grime off of the front of the house & I really worked up a thirst. Finish had a long, CANtinued fusel heat with a dry mintiness that simply lingered. Wow.
Aug 07, 2016
 
Rated: 3.75 by jkrug5 from Maryland

Jul 18, 2016
 
Rated: 3.84 by Gmartin75 from Pennsylvania

Jul 14, 2016
Secret Sauce from Burley Oak Brewing Co.
Beer rating: 88 out of 100 with 157 ratings