Double IPA
Zipline Brewing Co

 

I’m rating this as high as I am because I think the brewer achieved what he or she set out to do and I think they made a flawless beer. However, the aroma, flavor and body profile are not to my liking. And I truly enjoy a good modern Double IPA.

Reading old reviews I see comments about “tropical” and “juicy”. The March 2019 version I poured from a large (24 ounce?) bottle here in nebraska has none of those qualities.

Pours a hazy dark orange copper with a rocky head. Smell is intense spicy, herbal, earthy with a kick of anise. Taste is instant hop bitterness, spiciness, resin, medium caramel malt flavor. Body is intensely bitter that is mostly balanced with a malty backbone. This feels like a DIPA from the early 2000s.

It doesn’t feel like there are any mistakes in this beer, it’s just not for me. I prefer more late hop flavor and aroma. This does not have any of that. If you like big, intense, and bitter IPAs with old school hops, like listening to Outkast and All American Rejects while making DIPA tasting notes on your Palm Pilot, this might be great.:) I kid, it just tastes very dated to my palate. This is a good brewery that makes good beer, and I’m sure many people really like this beer.

 

In my quest to drink beers from different states, Nebraska makes this the 45th state. The beer is 50 degrees and served in a tulip glass. The pour on the beer produced a two-finger ivory head. The head has excellent retention. The beer dissipated slowly and left a generous amount of lacing on the glass. The color of the beer is SRM 5 a gold color with amber hues. The clarity of the beer is a touch hazy. A few carbonation bubbles dance lazily from the bottom of the glass. The appearance of the beer is beautiful.

The initial aroma of the beer is citrus and resin. Next, I smell toasted malt, oranges, floral esters, grass, pine, grapefruit, and bready.

The flavors in the beer are pine, grapefruit, pineapple, mango, lemon, oranges, medicinal, bready, floral esters, cut grass, toasted malts, and resin.

The mouthfeel of the beer is astringent and dry.

The body of the beer is medium, medium carbonation, and a full finish.

This beer is intense. The hop profile is substantial. The Mosaic and Citra hops are coming through rather strong. Loads of herbal, pine, and citrus flavors in the beer. The DIPA is a solid competitor in the beer market. I want to try other beers from Zip Line Brewing.

 

$ 8.46 (Including shipping)/750 mL bottle ($ 0.333) from Tavour, Seattle, WA. Reviewed 1/31/19.
“Best by xx-xx-19” in smeared yellow ink on the shoulder. Stored at 42 degrees and served at 52 degrees (Per bottle directions) in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter.
Appearance – 3.75.
Body – Orange, slight haze.
Head – Large (Maximum 6.0 cm, aggressive center pour), off-white, dense, good retention, diminishing to a four mm ring and a rocky layer.
Lacing – good. Wide irregular band of tiny to small bubbles, connected to the ring by multiple strands of bubbles.
First pour – Yellow, clear.
Aroma – 3.75 - Pineapple, a little grapefruit, and malt on the end.
Flavor – 3.5 -Very resinous and only slight presence of the nose fruits. It ends slightly bitter and slightly malty. No alcohol (8.5% ABV), no diacetyl, no dimethylsulfide.
Palate – 3 – Medium, watery, soft carbonation.
Impression and interpretation – 3.5 – Somewhat better than average DIPA, but the muted flavors detract from the enjoyment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

750 ml bottle June 16, 2017.

 

Pours a bright burnt orange color. Lots of citrus hops, fruity malts, tropical fruits. Medium body and low carbonation, smooth and easy easy to drink.

Overall a really good DIPA; way better than their IPA.

Pours a burnished copper with two and a half fingers of stark white head foaming on top. Great head retention, with expansive lacing left behind. Aroma is riddled with hops - citrus, mango, and papaya. Bready, biscuit malts form a thin, supportive layer underneath the extensive hops. Flavor profile is citrus, mango, papaya, and pineapple, with biscuit malts swelling up right towards the end, providing a firm footing for the hops. Mouth feel is thick, with a resiny stickiness to it. Overall, a flavorful double IPA that provides resounding hop notes without being forceful or over-powering.

Served in a 12oz snifter. From a 750mL bottle.