Hoperation IPA
Wicked Beaver Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

22 fl oz brown glass bottle with uninteresting green label and unbranded silver pry-off pressure cap acquired at a local Austin, TX bottle shop at served into an Independence Brewing pilsner glass at low altitude. Batch #1332. Best by: 06/2014. 7.25% ABV.

Side-poured at fridge temp. Expectations are average.

A: No bubble show forms as it's poured.

HEAD: Six fingers in width. Off-white in colour. Okay creaminess and thickness. Full and billowing. Retention is good - about 7 minutes. Not too soapy. Leaves inconsistent lacing on the sides of the glass.

BODY: Hazy murky orange-copper. Nontransparent. Translucent. Appears adequately carbonated. No yeast particulate or sediment is visible.

Overall, it's a pretty standard appearance for an IPA. Not unique or special. There are no obvious flaws. It looks unfiltered.

Sm: Hop notes include floral character, pine, bubblegum, faint onion, and some resins. It's not a great hop aroma by any means, and the bubblegum dominates, which is concerning.

Pale malts, some starches, dry crackery malts, clean barley.

No yeast or alcohol is detectable.

It's an inoffensive aroma of average strength. I'm not terribly excited to try it.

T: Surprisingly resinous, with way too much hop bitterness. Bubblegum is the dominant note here, much to the beer's detriment. Other than that, I just get floral character, pale malts, and some pineapple fruit (which I hate in beer). It also has that stale orange juice note I despise in IPAs. It's a painfully simple IPA with all the wrong hop notes. Lacks balance. Build is subpar.

Below average depth of flavour. Average flavour duration and intensity.

Mf: Overcarbonated to the point of being biting. Too coarse and dry for an IPA. Unrefreshing. Medium-bodied. Scratchy and rough on the palate. Has too much heft, weight, and thickness on the palate for the lack of deep flavour.

Overall, this texture isn't a good fit for this flavour profile per se and doesn't suit the style. Presence on the palate is subpar.

Dr: I'll finish it with ease, but it's far from a great IPA and it doesn't make me excited to try this brewery's other beers. It offers little to the discerning IPA drinker, and the Texas market has plenty of better beers in the style at or below this price point. I'd steer friends away from this one. Pretty mediocre.

C-

Noticed 'Hoperation IPA' for the first time, and had to give it a shot.

The beer poured from a 22oz bottle with way too much head... persistent fluffy head. The beer itself was cloudy, but that doesn't matter so much.

Aroma is good, but does not match the taste. The taste is actually not that great... could be it was old stock at the store, because the hoppiness you would expect wasn't really there.

This was my second wicked beaver beer (previously tried the midnight ale). While this was not terrible, I will not likely try additional products from this brewery for a while.