187 On An Undercover Hop
Parallel 49 Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

Appearance - Pours a pale copper with three fingers of foamy cream coloured head.

Smell - piney and citrus hops, pine resin, grapefruit peel, and bready caramel malts.

Taste - Piney and citrus hops upfront. The taste is sweeter than the aroma would suggest. The pine resin, grapefruit peel, and bready caramel malts help to finish this brew off.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Finishes with a pleasant bitterness and sweetness.

Overall - A enjoyable DIPA that is balanced. The hops are well executed and the malts make their presence known to balance out the bitterness from the hops. Another winner from the folks at Parallel 49.

Very wonderful aroma of pure grapefruit. Hazy brew with moderate lacing around edges. Initial sip is sweet, followed quickly with a sharp, delicious bite, followed next by a lingering citrus bitterness. A really great beer! And very probably my all-time favorite IPA-style beer.

 

Had this cellar'd for the better part of a year, time to see how it stacks up to some of the other reviews…

Appearance: Golden Orange-Amber clear but with plenty of unfiltered goodies floating about. One finger chunky and loose foam head, leaves behind a rather nice lattice of lace and only a few remnants of small foamy patches on the surface.

Aromatics: nice and sweet, the hops don’t really stand forward as I thought it would. Everything seems so subtle - a little pine resin, a little toffee, a little toasted bread, a little fresh yeasty bread, a little sweet citrus… all of these little things add to a wonderfully fulfilling aroma.

Taste: My first impression was looking for any indication of that 10% super sauce… and I tell ya, nary a peep! So smooth in flavour, the big bread flavours are still there and probably most prominent feature. Light toastiness in the pilsner malt, the earthiness that probably would have big green and leafy last year has matured a bit, and doesn’t have that newly green grassy quality anymore. The sugars and yeast are nearly on equal terms - having settled any differences with a glorious sweet AND hoppy profile.

Feel: A solid middleweight, has some good residual carbonation that sticks it out for the long haul. Interspersed with some of the crisper pieces of bubbly is a rich and buttery fluid, somewhat oily texture, so soft and just caresses the palate. Dry and clean finish, and the bitter linger near the end is almost non-existent, the sweeter yeasty textures doing a marvelous job of smoothing that right out.

Overall: To be honest I was scared when I read 187 IBU on the bottle’s scorecard. I’ve had a 100IBU before that made me wince, and here is one with 87% more! “It’s going to be way too bitter I thought?When are these brewmasters going to stop?” I settled in expecting the worse - plenty of pretzels and water at my side just in case it all went awry. But OMG, the balance of the malt while retaining this level of hop is extraordinary. It actually went down my gullet far faster than I expected and I was looking forward to that next sip.

Pairing : Ambiance this baby up! Half way through this brew (once that 20 proof started to kick it up a notch) I just had to throw on “Deep Cover” I just couldn’t get through the bottle without doing the sing-a-long with the Snoop D-oh-double-g. It is an aptly crafted brew and I absolutely embraced it. Now for a food pairing - I love DaveBar’s suggestion - sushi would be a good choice, and don’t go with the plain - they have to be more North American versions like tempura prawn, tamago, beef and/or chicken - and if you can access the spicy rolls, do it! or make good use of the pickled ginger and wasabi that are usually on the side. I personally like mine with tempura dipping sauce, which I add a touch of sriracha to for some added heat. This is a fantastic savoury beer, and I think matching it up with equally robust flavourful food is the way to go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, this one is not fooling around. Full on hop punch to the face. Whammo!

I don't know how old the bottle I picked up is - which is a continual frustration with breweries. Put the bloody brewed on dates on the bottles!

Anyway, this beer does not have any nuance or subtlety. My main complaint with this beer is it is a one note wonder. It's an assault of hops - which I figured I'd be happy with - but it left me thinking there is more to a hoppy beer than being punched in the mouth.

 

187 motherf***ing IBUs in this b***h. 355 ml but who cares.
A- Has a golden copper color with a thin off white head. 4.25
S- Piney with orange and pineapple. 4.25
T- Sweet and piney with hop bite on the front end and malts coming in shortly after to curb the 10% abv. 4.25
M- Biiter bite at first with smoothness coming in after with a syrupy feel.4
O- a 10% alcohol beer shouldn't be this tasty, typing this review after downing one was difficult. - 4.25

10% abv, 187 ibu, 341 ml bottle.
A - cloudy orange golden with half finger off white head, sticky lacing on the glass. floating hops.
S - tropical, pineapple, gooseberry, grapefruit, orange. some kinda chemical or medicine smell, honey. earthy, peppery/cumin spice, mineral, raisin.
T - low carbonation, smooth sticky syrupy mouthful, like barely wine. massive hoppiness, but is it really 187 ibu, or my tongue just can't differentiate because it's so bitter. well hidden 10% abv. lingering bitterness, positioned at the throat, yet sweetness balances, fruity tartness. malty, cumin.
O - unquestionable big delicious beer, but questionable 187ibu. balance between tropical sweetness n insanely ibu! not overpowering from either. no doubt big booze even with few sip, and you can only taste the bitterness by sipping. despite whether 187 ibu, treat it as an imperial ipa, it was heavy body heavy hops, chewy, really really good!! get it if u see it!!