Hop Suplex
Saucony Creek Brewing Company + Gastropub

 

DATE: February 8, 2019... OCCASION: chilling on a Friday night with the family... GLASSWARE: Maudite snifter... pours a reddish brown opaque body that allows little light or insight into it... its creamy, soapy head is off-white, clumpy, and uneven... a fragrant resin permeates as a strong grapefruit, mango, apple and toasted malts ply their aromas as well... banana and pepper seem to be present as well... its first dram is weighty, wine-like and warm--almost a dessertif, with its thickness late creating a lengthy draw... a mega-syrupy thickness sticks in the teeth, with a chewy and lasting sweetness... the hop impact is intense, with more pine and resin than fruit present... its mango and grapefruit is almost crippling in its wine-like sweetness and authority... boozy with apple and pear to boot... by its glass's end, ripples are sent through the body... this works, though its ABV seems to drown out some of the finer edges of its flavor profile...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dark amber bordering on brown with a nice head that lasts several minutes and leaves some great lacing behind. Aroma is sweet, floral hoppy. Taste is very balanced. It starts sweet and caramel-y and eventually ends in an intense bitterness. Very chewable in terms of mouthfeel. This is one great double IPA.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

pours nice syrupy orange tranparent but just barley. not much head. nose is sweet melon and some resin with orange and mango. kind of nice but you can tell this is a heavy hitter. mouthfeel is fairly heavy with nice coating of the mouth. I get nice up front big orange followed by some pine but gives way to intense peach and apricot and some biscut. end palate leaves you with sticky hops and leaves a nice bitterness lingering. this beer is a nice surprise and the flavors really burst out for me mid palate. I feel this is well balanced but hop fotward and hides alcohol well. each sip leaves me puckering for more and overall a very good beer. glad to have tried this one.

 

 

 

 

 

Saucony Creek Brewing Co. + Gastropub "Hop Suplex Ale"
12 fl. oz. brown glass bottle, no apparent freshness dating or production code
$1.99 @ Giant, Havertown, PA

Up until now I've really liked everything I've had from Saucony Creek, but this one has me scratching my head. I don't really find it that hoppy, which is odd for a double or "Imperial" IPA. Of course maybe it's old, and I just don't know it as there's no freshness dating on the bottle, but I don't find any oxidation so I'm sure it's at least fairly fresh.

What I do find is fruitiness, and sweetness, giving it a candy-like aroma and flavor that's mixed with sweet white wine and wild flowers. There's alcohol there as well, which should be expected at 10% ABV, but it seems to stand apart from the maltiness which isn't good, leaving it candy-sweet upfront and then alcohol-spiced in the finish. Fortunately the bitterness is not overdone, checking in somewhere along the lines of a standard IPA (perhaps a little higher). Some citrusy and other tropical fruity hops are present along the way including soft orange, mango, melon, white grape and some pine - but the whole just comes across as sloppy and muddled. The overall balance is OK: it's not too bitter, and the alcohol does a lot of the drying in the finish, but it's just not refined. Perhaps this is an example that proves the adage "sometimes less is more". I enjoyed it as best I could as an American strong ale, but I don't know that I can get behind it as an "Imperial IPA".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poured from a 12oz bottle into a US tumbler pint glass.

A: The beer is a dark golden brown color with a short off-white head that fades slowly and leaves a thin lace on the glass.

S: The aroma contains grassy hops, caramelized malts and some citrus.

T: The taste starts out sweet with flavors of caramel and citrus. Then a subdued hops bitterness comes in. The malt character is very hearty and creates a good balance. The after-taste is slightly sweet and slightly hoppy.

M: Crisp and smooth, medium body, medium carbonation, finish is slightly sticky.

O: Tasty, goes down easily, not too filling, strong but well-disguised kick, good representation of style, it’s a decent beer but there are others in the style that I would pick first.

 

 

just had this fresh and really loved it. pale honey in color with just a bit of visible sediment, the beer is quite light in appearance and grain character for its strength. I am wondering, and am in fact rather certain that there is some dextrose or some other sugar spike in this, because it just doesn't have the grain character that a beer this strong would otherwise have if it were all grain sugars. its almost light in texture too, which kind of confirms that. the hop complexion is what its all about though, and I have no problem with the apparent use of adjuncts to allow them to shine more. seems like a fair few variants going on, I get citra and simcoe coming through im pretty sure, their synergy is pretty distinct. plenty of citrus and pineapple notes in here too, even cranberry tang for a second before the finish. there is some residual sugar, and the alcohol comes right out, im not sure it benefits much from being so strong. it would be just as good if not better near 8% abv. still, this is definitely underrated on here, its way better than folks are giving it credit for. freshness must be critical here...

L - Hazy (almost murky) dark orange with two fingers of white head

S - Subtle citrus with strong resin

T - Surprisingly subdued hop intensity. Some orange, peach, and grapefruit keep this sweet enough to over come the hop oils and resins which dominate throughout. A small kick of pine on the finish.

F - Appropriate for the style without being syrupy or thick. Slight warming, but no alcohol taste. A little undercarbonated.

O - Bland-tasting for a Triple IPA as hops are surprisingly lacking and were put aside for strong, resinous notes.