Hat Trick
Reuben's Brews

This is a seriously alcohol-fueled brew that is hot in the mouth and brain. Dark amber color with adequate foam in the Pilsner glass. Some honeysuckle aroma. Really sharp mouthfeel.

There's a fruity and hot taste of apricot eaux de vie. Intense and sweetly malty. After some sipping the old tongue is getting very sleepy. From the 22 oz bottle purchased at Elizabeth Station in Bellingham.

 

22 oz bottle poured into a Dogfish Head pint glass. It's a beautiful copper color with a moderate off white head that leaves plenty of lacing. The aroma is fruity and floral. The taste is a little harder to put my finger on. Somewhat hoppy, but not overwhelming. Some taste of caramel and fruit, but not overpowering. Some malt and some alcohol, but not as much as you might expect from the 12% ABV.
Somehow this beer hits perfectly for what I like in a beer. I'm impressed.

 

 

 

 

Deep penny color. Slightly off white head that fades upon drinking. Huge flavor. Malts up front. Pretty sweet but has a nice danky backbone. Very good.

Poured into a Reuben's Brew pint glass. Pours a medium coppery amber with a fine two finger light khaki head that continues building after pouring. Aroma of caramel malt, light stone fruit, citrus, an unusual resinous component almost like balsamic oil and root herbs, interesting. Flavor is piney, resinous hops, once again less evergreen than exotic tree oils, and those dried fruit in fruit cakes that you can't figure out what they are. Finishes with earthy spice, toffee and pine and extract resin. Long lingering, flavorful hop finish. Medium bodied with a nice creaminess. One of the more unusual and hard to describe IPAs I've head. The first taste was a bit jarring, because the flavors almost seem familiar, but are hard to describe. By the third taste, I was quite enamored with this beer. The flavors are not what I expected from a big NW IPA, but they are good and interesting. A nice detour from piney resin flavors. Complex and malty. This is a big IPA, almost boozy, but with plenty of unusual (and well integrated) flavors to make it all worthwhile. I sincerely hope this is brewed again. What the hell is that flavor in the finish?

 

22 oz Bottle stamped clearly with 012716 in the side of the label, making this one just 19 days old. Not too shabby considering the lengths that most beers have to go through with the current three tier system in place, even though this brewery is within driving distance.

Appearance — An orange tinged amber hued, heavy looking liquid flows into the 13 oz glass, some bright coppery hues form around the edges as well. A slowly settling, nearly pure white colored head forms and leaves behind it some great lacing with each sip.

Aroma — Surprisingly dominated initially by huge caramel malt characteristics, candied hops, chewy lime, light cereal grains, and a slightly piney hop aroma. Fairly light and sweet malt notes dominate the senses here. A hint of lime leaf and honeydew melon rind as well. Very malt forward, much more so than anticipated, though not in a particularly bad way.

Flavor — Dominating tropical fruit characteristics lead way to an herbaceous and resinous, pithy body. Big notes of Kaffir lime leaf, lemon peel, citron, pine, earth, and tree bark. Sticky and bitter hop notes. Leading way to a fairly sweet malt profile featuring caramel, toffee, honey, and candied ginger, this tastes like gnawing on fresh hops covered in pine needles, then covered in honey. This is like hops on steroids. A real chewy, bitter, semi-sweet hop assault, with a satisfying warming finish.

Mouthfeel — A full bodied beer with low to medium carbonation level, an unsubtly slight warmth on the finish, with a lightly sticky and lingering finish.

Overall — Not quite as expected, though still very, very good. Exceedingly malt forward and is almost lacking hop balance, it could use a bit more juiciness or sweetness. That said, this leans heavily on a strong malt foundation with an aggressive and assertive, piney hop balance. This is a very solid triple IPA, but it errs heavily on the malty side of the spectrum, almost too much so. A very rich, heavy, assertive hop showcase. A piney and resinous showcase of earthy bitter hops balanced upon a sweet caramel base.

 

 

Bottle. No description at all of how this is different than Blimey, but it's certainly stronger. Pours a deep auburn - lots more color than I would expect for the style, but it's damn pretty to look at. Nose is quite intense. A huge blast of sweetness, followed up by a strong dose of intriguing hops - forest, pine, and something I can't quite place that conjures up thoughts of Italian cooking (deep fragrant garlic against sweet tomato), or maybe even a bit cheesy, but in the BEST possible way. Taste follows - a hugely pungent and tropical hop taste sits atop an almost dessert-like malt base maybe akin to a blonde barley wine, if that were more of a thing. The mouth feel has some chew, and the carbonation is pretty masterfully done: medium, not at all overwhelming, but also enough to refresh the hops on every sip. Would definitely buy again, but this is most certainly a sipper. Would love to try with food or against a strong cheese like a stilton.

Pour is a bit darker than I anticipated it comes out to being a roughly mid-amber, maybe a touch rust as well. Crisp and clear though. Nice clean head which nods in appreciation and settles back into a compliementary position.

Nose has rich sap and strong... something I can't quite put my finger on. THer'es some fruits for sure though I'm having trouble naming them.

Taste is that big big amped up IPA that marries combinations of overripe peach and sap and pine bitterness and almost fir woodiness. It always reminds me of hauling firewood as a kid.

Body is decent midrange with reasonable carbonation, though a little less sticky than I expected given the profiles involved. Finish is long and pine bitter with a touch of meaty sweetness to balance. But the bitterness is what's important here.

 

 

 

I get the sense this was a bit of an experiment by Reuben's, some attempt to brew an *extra large* imperial IPA in time for Hop Mob and offer it alongside their two other IIIPAs. The name definitely fits, and it actually turned out pretty good, though something short of great. It's not too sweet for a beer of this size, but it's noticeably bitter, and the alcohol is perceived in the aroma and taste. Somewhat over-ripe peach, candied orange, and a "peppery" flavor I have a hard time putting my finger on predominate. Still, if it doesn't quite reach the high-water marks that were previously set by Blimey and Gobsmacked, it's definitely worth trying.