Hoptometrist
Roughtail Brewing Co.

Very drinkable IPA

 

Appearance: A cascading bubble show produces three fingers of foam perched above the clear amber liquid; excellent retention and sheets of lacing

Smell: The piney hops waft and are supported by some candied citrus and caramel malts; a touch boozy

Taste: Up front, there is a blend of candied citrus and caramel malt with the somewhat dank, piney hops taking over, after the swallow; a touch boozy, in the finish

Mouthfeel: Medium to full body with moderate carbonation; some warmth in the gullet

Overall: A nice DIPA that is well-balanced; a tip of the hat to the old school

From a can produced 12/21/21. Orange color with white head. Piney hop smell. Full bodied and a little sticky. Big caramel malt presence with piney and floral hops. Very good

 

 

 

 

 

 

On draught:

Pours a hazy, dark, burnt orange color. Thin, murky white head that doesn’t hang around for long, but laces well.

Aroma is a slap of pine with citrus notes that remind me of lemon zest.

The taste is exactly what you might expect from an imperial IPA with “hop” in the name. The description of the beer is spot on - pine, citrus, hops, and a bit of malt. It really is balanced quite well.

Feel: crisp and well carbonated. Finish is relatively dry. The 9% is evident but still very easily drinkable.

Overall, a good IPA. It’s a bit different from your run-of-the-mill IPA.

 

A fantastic DIPA. Resin. Bready, piney, sticky, with a solid malty sweet backbone.

 

 

 

This has become my go-to IPA. And to think it's brewed in my hometown. Being an unrepentant hop-head, this beer never fails to provide that hop fix I so often need. The brewers at Roughtail are true Hop Hedonists. They know how to use them to provide the perfect balance of fruitiness and bitterness. Unlike some of the hop-crazy beers I've tried, this one is actually balanced. There's enough of a bottom bass to round out the treble of the hops. It looks like liquid amber and leaves enough lacing to indicate a nice mouth feel. This beer never disappoints.

 

 

 

Bottom of the can stamped 08/23/2018.
Thanks Russ.
Poured into a tulip.
The appearance was a rugged burnt orange malty color with a small white foamy head softly sliding off at a decent pace. Little bit of concave lace along the sides.
The aroma had some honey blossom, tobacco leaf, orange marmalade, sweet grass, lemon puree' and tangerine playing with a stiff yet clean malt bill.
The flavor lends a hand towards the sweetness of the prior mentioned aromas. A slight dry malty sticky honey character leads in the aftertaste.
The mouthfeel was about medium bodied with a fair sipping quality about it. Carbonation felt fine. ABV felt on par. Malty honey - sweet finish.
Overall, the other Roughtail was extremely better than this but honestly, this wasn't bad.

When first introduced to Hoptometrist, it was an in-your-face “all that” IPA; hoppy, bitter, and dry: get me a glass of water to go with this!! That being said—-I was drinking it, if only on occasion. This last version/offering was more mellow, less in-your-face. That was confirmed by my friend who had developed an aversion to all-things-IPA due to his two-year-long IPAs-only sabbatical!! Although I liked the initial Hoptometrist, I must say this was clearly a more “welcoming” version. Roughtail does excellent work. American Imperial/DIPA @ 9.0% ABV

$ 14.20 (Including tax and discount)/4-pack of 16 oz cans ($ 0.222/oz) at Spec’s, DeZavala, San Antonio, TX. Reviewed 9/4/18.
“Canned 7/10/18” on lower lip of can. Stored on the shelf in the store. Served 50 degrees (Per can instructions) in a hand washed and dried glass coffee mug.
Appearance – 4.25.
Body – Medium yellow, hazy and translucent.
Head – Average (Maximum 3.5 cm, controlled center pour), off-white, medium density, good retention, diminishing to a one cm cap. Head retraction leaves behind an upper thin band of lacing and a wide lower band, both consisting of small bubbles and torn curtain lacing.
Lacing – Excellent. In addition to the lacing bands from the head retraction, the action of the level of the beer dropping as I consume it leaves behind wide rings of small to medium bubbles with many stalactites.
First pour – Yellow, hazy.
Aroma – 3.5 - Initially very piney, rapidly fades.
Flavor – 4 – Begins with the malty backbone showing. This segues into a moderately bitter, slightly fruity, very tasty hoppy middle. Every flavor trails off at the end, leaving only a vaguely fruity aftertaste. No alcohol, no diacetyl, no dimethylsulfide.
Palate – 4 – Medium, almost creamy, soft carbonation.
Impression and interpretation - 4.25 – Overall, a pleasing sensory experience, one I would seek out again. Despite being nearly two months old, this is an above-average DIPA.

 

I like the hoppyness , so the malt throws it off a bit. Other than that, super good summer day ipa.

A cloudy, copper orange that had a nice head and good lacing. An excellent hop aroma that follows the nose and taste is hoppy and smooth with a slight amount of bitterness on the back end. Alcohol is not noticeable and goes down smooth. Reminds me of Pliny the Elder a bit. Overall a very enjoyable DIPA. Canned 01/10/18. Fairly aged for IPA.

Pours a murky dark orange-brown with a finger of white foamy head. Head retention is okay. Aroma is resin, dank, pine, and light citrus and floral hop notes. It smells like a forest in the thick of a hot, humid summer day. Flavor profile is like hop syrup, with notes of resin, dank, pine, and floral hops. A light layer of biscuit malts behind forms somewhat of a foundation, but it doesn't do too well to support the heavy hops. Mouth feel is medium in thickness, with a smooth consistency. Overall, a DIPA that doesn't shy away from showing off hops, which unfortunately keeps it from being very well balanced.

Served in a 12oz snifter from a 16oz can.

16 fl oz can nabbed as part of a 4-pack at a petrol station in Austin, TX. Cost was $16.99 USD.

Pours a somewhat thin off-white head atop a clear copper body. Head retention is good for the ABV - ~6-8 minutes.

AROMA: Pale malt sweetness. Probably crystal malt too. Alcohol warmth. Citrus/candied orange peel. Marmalade. Hints of oily hop character. Resin. Floral hops. Faint tropical fruit (pineapple, maybe mango).

Not herbal, grapefruity, grassy, juicy, or piney.

The alcohol is off-putting, but it's generally inviting. Suggests a beer with a hop profile that's a bit run of the mill, and it does seem disharmonious in terms of the balance between hops and malts.

TASTE & TEXTURE: Creamy and soft, playing into the orange marmalade notes nicely. Tastes like a scaled-up imperialized version of Deschutes' Inversion IPA what with its emphasis on candied orange peel and its undertone of sticky pale malt sweetness.

Well-carbonated. Smooth. Wet. Has obvious alcohol warmth to its detriment.

Not too bitter, but it's lacking in hop pungency unfortunately. Floral and fruity. Hints of hop oils. Hop profile is underwhelming, which is something of an issue in a style meant to showcase hops if nothing else.

Not dialed in or well-balanced. I do like it for what it is, but it leaves a lot to be desired hopwise. Ticks the boxes of the style's conventions without dazzling.

OVERALL: Decent fare in an oversaturated style. Hardly worth $16.99 a 4 pack, not that that affects my rating. I've enjoyed working my way through the 4 I bought (this is my last can), but it's far from impressive work. I'd sooner take Lagunitas Sucks or an equivalent widely distributed more affordable expression of the style than this, but it's not by no means a bad beer. Its soft mouthfeel is its best attribute, but its candied sweetness and lack of hop pungency really hold it back.

C (2.93)/ AVERAGE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

16 oz can dated 10/25/17 poured into large snifter. Deep golden amber color reminiscent of Maharaja, good head but not overflowing.

Smells piney with mangi and tropical fruits. Tastes piney, chewy resinous. Loads of mango, grapefruit, pine. Heavy DIPA here.. Not for the faint of heart.
Top quality IPA up there with the best I've had from Texas brewers. Look forward to more from these guys. Keep up the good work!