Hellboy - Abe Sapien Indigo Blue Beer
Gigantic Brewing Company

500ml bottle thanks to Doug. Sky blue pour with pale blue head. Aroma is light and fruity, some citrus. Taste is subdued, light sweet notes and a touch of bitterness.

The pour from a 500 ML brown bottle is unimpressive, in fact, it's worrisome. There's so much fluffy white starch foaming, that the lack of a well bodied brew inside this clear glass liter mug is already expected. There's very little to none of the glass lacing. The blue tint to an uniquely colored AIPA may not be enough to salvage this one. But points must be awarded for that uniqueness. There's no discernable aroma, no surprise considering the fluff on top. There's a hop character to the taste, but it's green, not blue and shallow. Obviously, this is a novelty beer, because other than the intriguing blue tint, everything else is underwhelming. It drinks thin, somewhat bitter without a malt balance and for a lack of a better word, unfinished/green. Go ahead and try it, but it should be one and done for a serious beer drinker.

 

 

 

 

500 ml bottle into tulip glass, bottled in 7/2019. Pours slightly hazy deep golden amber color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense and fluffy off white head with great retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice spotty foamy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of tangerine, red grapefruit, lemon, lime, peach, pear, pineapple, passion fruit, papaya, mango, honeydew melon, blueberry, gooseberry, indigo flowers, citrus peel/zest, wood, mint, peppercorn, pine, wheat, cracker, white bread dough, lightly toasted biscuit, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness. A bit malty/muddy aromas. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance and complexity of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and bready malt notes; with solid strength. Taste of big tangerine, red grapefruit, lemon, lime, peach, pear, pineapple, passion fruit, papaya, mango, honeydew melon, blueberry, gooseberry, indigo flowers, citrus peel/zest, wood, mint, peppercorn, pine, wheat, cracker, white bread dough, lightly toasted biscuit, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness. Light-moderate pine, citrus peel/zest, herbal, floral, woody, grassy, peppery bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of tangerine, red grapefruit, lemon, lime, peach, pear, pineapple, passion fruit, papaya, mango, honeydew melon, blueberry, gooseberry, indigo flowers, citrus peel/rind, wood, mint, peppercorn, pine, wheat, cracker, white bread dough, lightly toasted biscuit, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a while. Great complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and bready malt flavors; with a great malt/bitterness balance, and no astringent hop flavors after the finish. Fairly crisp finishing. Light-moderate increasing dryness from lingering bitterness. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth, moderately creamy/bready/grainy/sticky, and lightly resinous/rindy mouthfeel that is great. Zero warming alcohol for 6.66%. Overall this is a very nice flowered IPA. All around nice complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and bready malt flavors; very smooth, easy, and fairly crisp to drink with the mellowly bitter/drying finish. Nicely soft feel, and not aggressive. Great Nugget, Citra, Mosaic profile. Very vibrant and fairly juicy/dank/earthy hops; with a great clean pale/wheat malt backbone. Minimal residual sweetness with crisp dryness. A very enjoyable offering, and well made style example. Indigo did not turn it blue at all as claimed.

Bottle poured into a pub glass

A: Pours an impressive teal to mossy green, depending on the light, with a frothy white-ish head that has a faint light green tinge, settles to a light layer and laces nicely.

S: Dank, spicy, herbal, earthy, kinda faint citrus and fruit, and lightly toasty crackery biscuity malt.

T: Dank, spicy, herbal, floral, and earthy notes dominate, light citrus and fruity side, lemon, lime, papaya, hints of berries, toasty crackery biscuity malt, with a dry finish.

M: Medium body, moderate carbonation.

O: Not sure what I was expecting. Definitely haven't had a beer this dank in a while, and one this color, well, ever. Fun one to say I've tried, but I'll leave it there.

Poured into a Chuckanut pint glass. Pours a weird green with maybe a slight blue tint and a one finger white head with good retention and thick lacing. Aroma of biscuit malt, celery, melon, grapefruit. Flavor is biscuit malt with a little graininess, citrus hops, grapefruit rind, carrots, green melon; grassy and lightly citrus rind hop finish. Medium bodied with light creaminess. Meant to be weird and it kinda is. For one thing, it looks clearly green to me, to the point that I actually did a Google search to see if I got a outlier bottle; all the photos look green to me. There are some entries on Untappd that say "it's blue!", under a bright green glass of beer. Is this like that weird dress photo last year where there are two distinctly different colors perceived by different people? Anyway, green, blue, it's an odd color, but with a normal white head. The base seems to be a grainy lager with fruit and vegetal character. The flavor is unusual and is closest to a couple of carrot beers I had last year. Like those, this is a different flavor, but the vegetal notes meld well with the grainy malt. Interesting, weird looking and quite drinkable.