Mad Hops
Boston Beer Works - Canal Street

 

 

 

Got a nice 22 oz. glass at the bar.

The beer had a deep, rich amber/brown color to it. The server poured with a small 1 inch white head.

The smell was definitely subdued hops. We get a little bit of hop flavor however I was expecting more from a beer named "Mad Hops". Needless to say it was still appealing.

My first couple of sips were wonderful. It tasted very light, and barely let me notice the 8% ABV. Unfortunately I had to deduct some points because the name suggests some intense flavor. Mad Hops provided an easy going beer that tasted more like a regular IPA.

The mouthfeel was good. I can never complain about a fresh beer on site however I was expecting a more intense experience from an IIPA.

The drinkability was up there. This beer's light drinkability made it good before dinner. Definitely decent.

Final Thoughts - I usually start my night out with this beer. It is a really easy going IIPA, and perfect for a social gathering, but for a flavorful hop experience, this beer is lacking.

Pours a dark honey/cola like color with a medium white head. The color is clear and you can see light thru this beer. The smell is sweet malt and a blast of citrus hops. The taste is very bitter hops followed by alcohol and a citrus hop flavor. The flavor is almost overwhelmingly bitter and "sticky'. The m/f is heavy with the flavors not mixing all that well. This isn't bad,but it's tough to have more than one. I think this would be a good canidate for cellaring.

Stopped by BBW Canal St yesterday (21MAR09) with Caitlin after the B's stirring 2-1 win over the Rangers... Had three more pints of this. Lovely! Seemed to be poured from nitro, as it came in with the carbo roiling withing and cascading upwards the way a proper Guinness does. Very smooth, and loads of hops. It really hit the spot. Prosit!!

*** *** ***

Brought the Mad Hops in as my closer during the "Scheister"-Dad pre-Sox game lunch yesterday (03MAY07) at BBW Fenway...

Served in a "stange" glass, Mad Hops was a dull, deep copper/chestnut color. Beer was somewhat cloudy and opaque. Head was thin yet frothy, a bit off-white, and with good cling. Nose was big and solid with citrus, though suggesting little else right off. A solid medium/smoothness rating for body/feel....

Surprisingly, it has a light sweetness evident, with a touch of caramel, at the outset. Soon thereafter, loads of citrus come out to play. It's a strong mix of grapefruit along with some rindy, piney action. Hops last and last in the finish, too. Though heavy with the hops, it's not over the top or outrageously palate-numbing, and the abv is quite well-hidden. Time-permitting, I'd have had another or 2, but the game beckoned.... (which was an exciting come-from-behind 8-7 win over Seattle. Thnx Manny!).

Zum Wohl

overall: 4.05
appearance: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | mouthfeel: 4 | drinkability: 4.5

984

Appearance: clear dark amber in color with a short 1/2" head. Some spotty lace develops.

Smell: floral and pine hop bitterness are detectable. Citrus tones linger in the background.

Taste: nice sweet malt proflile that is balanced with grapefruit citrus and strong bitterness. Alcohol is detectable but not offensive.

Mouthfeel: lightly crisp from start to finish. The finish is also a bit dry. Long bitter aftertaste. Medium bodied beer.

Drinkability: decent for the style. One of the better Beer Works brews.

Reddish dark amber in color, clear. Very fine-bubbled head with lots of lingering lace.

The smell is of fresh floral dry hopping. Secondary aromas bring out the sweet malt

Strong alcohol warmth; very powerful hop. The swallow features the lingering alcohol, similar to a brandy. The body is slightly oily, but full bodied. Carbonation is low.

Close to my favorite style, this one doesn't disappoint. If an IPA isn't potent enough, this is a fine alternative.

Unifltered. Liked this beer a lot. Also served on cask. It poured an almost brick red. With a light head but hardly any lace. The arom was of fresh cut grass. The flavor has a sweet melon finish, but begain with a nice hoppy bite. Also, was a bit sweeter and malter than other American doble IPAs. Almost like brown bread. It had a very full body that mellowed out in the mouth. I really wish I tried this on cask. Very smooth and very dangerous.

Pours a deep amber with a thick, off-white (almost brown) head that sticks around and leaves a good amount of lacing. Aroma is mostly of piney hops with only a small amount of malt detectable. The first sip is similar, with great forests of pine and bitterness barely touched by a slight bready sweetness. Not much body, which makes this beer amazingly drinkable for such a high ABV. The strong hop flavor does wonders to cover up the alcohol, but about halfway through the 23oz glass I began to notice its strength. The finish was more of the same piney hops, but without too much lingering bitterness. This beer was an excellent pairing with BeerWorks' steak tips.

This brew poured a deep copper color, almost mahogany like with a firm offwhite head that left a decent lace. Aromas smelled great up front potraying some beautiful piney resiny hops with just a slight hint of bready malts.. For flavor this brew initially smacks the pallate around with hops. There is a clear resiny hop flavor that just makes my entire mouth tingle with bitterness. Following there are tones of caramel and others malts, followed by some more notes of floral and almost citrusy hops. The finish to this brew is fairly bitter and citrusy, but at the same time fairly one dimensional. The mouthfeel to this brew has a creaminess to it, but it was also quite thin (it really needed some more body).. Overall this brew was fairly quaffable, but much more like an IPA than a DIPA.. This brew truly needed some more body to make me content..

On tap @ the Canal location. Deep reddish amber with a thick medium sized bubbly head. A good amount of haze. A coarse hop aroma and flavor shun any kind of malt sweetness, there is a dry toasted grain and a mild fusel alcohol in the middle. The hop flavor showed a bit of fresh oil but mostly a hard bitterness ... tasty, not too astringent.

Nice dark caramel with very small 3mm head. Somewhat impressive complex foamy lace left on sides of glass. This is a good start.

Very hoppy and malty nose -some fairly pronounced alcohol esters suggest either a barleywine or a strong celebration ale type smell.

Taste is as smooth as can be up-front but then has a strong back kick from the hops. There is also some stickiness on the finish. Mad hops has a slight syrupy mouthfeel yet it still delievers a quenching feel.

Drinkability is not very good on this one. It reminded me too much of a barleywine which I do not care for as a rule. The regular CO2 version of this beer is way more drinkable and seems to fit my preferences better. BBW does have one beer which I strongly prefer on-cask and thats the Fenway Pale Ale.

Pours a cloudy leathery orange-brown topped with a one finger light tan head, leaves bits of lacing.
Citrus, herb, spruce and sweet malt aroma.
Toasted bready malt with a good hop backbone (citrus, herbal, pine) to the taste.
Medium-bodied with a good hop bite. Goes down very well, almost too well for 8% ABV. Could really sneak up on you if you don't keep the ABV in mind, because it's not noticeable in the beer.

Kumar and I both had "pints" of this at the Canal Street location during a crawl.

Poured with a 1/4 inch, creamy head. The hue was slightly cloudy with a copper/mahogany overall tone. Bouquet, quel suprise, was hoppy, but not like the DFH 90 Minute, or even others in the style. We also noted a coriander sweetness on the nose. There was an initial true, strong hop bite on first sip, but none of the wonderful alcohol expected of an imperial. A tiny hop bite lingered while examining one of the six televisions above the bar. Unlike most of the other Beer Works offerings, however, this one was distinctive and eminently drinkable. If they would just serve them in better glassware, I'd have more of these, sans hesitation (that's French for "without hesitation").

Appearance: Very dark. Looked like a stout before I tasted it.
Smell: Weak malty smell.
Taste: Lots of hops and malt, I though this was mild yet somehow prominent in taste. The alcohol grew stronger as it warmed.
Mouthfeel: Light carbonation, but smooth mouthfeel.
Drinkability: Smooth and easy, one could drink a number of these.

This beer was very interesting, espeically in the mouthfeel and taste. Anyway, pint served was a cloudy dark orange amber. Aroma was almost all grass, but there was some piney notes in the background. Here's were things get weird (in a good way): I thought it was actually rather smooth considering the abv. That may be due to the fact that it didn't seem so potent at first, perhaps from being on cask. On the other hand, my tasting notes are all about some roughness in the mouthfeel, due to the husky hop finish. So it is easy to drink, but you do get that huskiness, which isn't always the most easy to drink. Alcohol does assert itself a lot more with this one as it warms. I enjoyed this offering from BBW the night of the BA St. Pattys pubcrawl.