Gnarpocalypse
Gnarly Barley Brewing Company
- From:
- Gnarly Barley Brewing Company
- Louisiana, United States
- Style:
- Imperial IPA
- ABV:
- 9%
- Score:
- +6 ratings needed
- Avg:
- 4.07 | pDev: 12.04%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 1
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Jan 16, 2022
- Added:
- Jan 03, 2021
- Wants:
- 1
- Gots:
- 0
NO SCORE
-
-
We stacked this Juicy Hazy Double IPA with a clever combo of American and Southern Hemisphere hops, achieving a maximum punch of tropical stone fruits, citrus, white wine, and pineapple. We've jazzed up the body with the addition of wheat and oats plus enough lactose to complement and not compete with the complex hop arrangement.
Recent ratings and reviews.
Reviewed by Jugs_McGhee from Texas
3.31/5 rDev -18.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
3.31/5 rDev -18.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
$18USD plus tax per 64oz growler fill at a beer store in New Orleans, LA. This is my first growler fill/review in years...I always struggle to justify the cost. Here's hoping Gnarly Barley makes me change my mind about growlers being a ripoff. Fill happened ~30 minutes ago and they got the keg Tuesday, so it couldn't be fresher...
9% ABV. "Juicy double India Pale Ale." Brewed with lactose.
FERMENTABLES: 2-row, Wheat, Oats
HOPS: Cascade, Nelson Sauvin, Mosaic, & Pacific Sunrise
Served cold into a dimpled mug.
HEAD: ~2 fingers in height/~4cm. Surprisingly frothy and creamy for a 9% ABV ale. Retention is similarly impressive at ~8-10 minutes...not too shabby for a growler pour at all.
BODY: Murky, turbid, and dull, a victim of a lack of filtration. Looks pretty poor; more clarity and vibrance would really help it along.
Appears well carbonated but doesn't look great for an IIPA...not filtering it was a poor call and doesn't help its appearance in any way.
AROMA: Pineapple, subdued lactose sugar sweetness, wheat malt, citrus puree, melon, mango, fruit juice, zest, floral hop character (Cascade), vague tropical fruit (Mosaic). I'm not finding the subtle white wine character I'd expect in a Nelson hopped IIPA, nor is there any of Mosaic's signature subtle blueberry. Maybe some pear, but I'm not getting loads of stonefruit or anything.
Aromatic intensity is moderately high. Aroma promises a balanced IIPA with a soft mouthfeel and a scattered but enjoyable hop profile.
Not piney, resinous, acidic, grassy, oily, or berry-redolent in its hop profile.
TASTE & TEXTURE: Melon, mango, pineapple, and lactose sugar coalesce to good effect bolstered by subsidiary notes of soft malted wheat, vague citrus, vague tropical fruit/fruit juice, and lemon. Those hoping for Nelson-derived white wine flavour or Mosaic's dazzling blueberry will be a bit let down (as I am - why else use those hop varietals and why use them if you aren't going to showcase their strengths?) but the hop profile as a whole is pleasant and enjoyable - and a good bit more focused than the beer's aroma made it seem. Hints of stonefruit do emerge as it comes to temperature, and it's all in all a rather well balanced IIPA considering its high ABV.
Smooth, full-bodied, a bit pulpy, juice, wet, not unrefreshing, and weighty on the palate without feeling too filling or overbearing. Perfectly carbonated with a soft presence on the palate. Not too acidic or anything. The juiciness of it does accentuate the juicy fruit flavours offered by its hop profile, but the better hop flavours (the Cascade floral flavour in particular) aren't emphasized as a result.
I have to say it doesn't milk Mosaic and Nelson for the best they have to offer, but it pulls off its hop profile better than I expected just trying to imagine what they were going for reading the hop varietals on their website before I bought this. I don't think the lactose sugar is necessary or an improvement and would like to see them drop it altogether (the oats and wheat are smoothening enough).
Shallow in terms of depth of hop flavour...there isn't a lot to it and lactose sweetness masks any hop bitterness, sapping the varietals of their essence. Flavour duration is average for the style. It's not an intense beer despite being a 9% IIPA, which some drinkers will like and others won't...I'd prefer more hop pungency and assertiveness myself since this has less hop pungency than a mere IPA like Ballast Point's Sculpin or Sierra Nevada's Torpedo. If they let more of the bitterness come through, it'd be more balanced and flavorful.
OVERALL: Downing the whole growler in one sitting would prove a chore, but it's drinkable enough by the pint for what it is. Not as good an IIPA as something like Lagunitas' Lagunitas Sucks - which is substantially less costly and a good deal better - but there are far worse IIPAs out there and I find this hides its 9% ABV well enough I'd recommend it merely for that reason. Best approached by those who favor Pacific Sunrise-dominant beers and those who want lactose sugar in them; unfortunately, I'm in neither camp.
B- / WORTHY
Jan 21, 20219% ABV. "Juicy double India Pale Ale." Brewed with lactose.
FERMENTABLES: 2-row, Wheat, Oats
HOPS: Cascade, Nelson Sauvin, Mosaic, & Pacific Sunrise
Served cold into a dimpled mug.
HEAD: ~2 fingers in height/~4cm. Surprisingly frothy and creamy for a 9% ABV ale. Retention is similarly impressive at ~8-10 minutes...not too shabby for a growler pour at all.
BODY: Murky, turbid, and dull, a victim of a lack of filtration. Looks pretty poor; more clarity and vibrance would really help it along.
Appears well carbonated but doesn't look great for an IIPA...not filtering it was a poor call and doesn't help its appearance in any way.
AROMA: Pineapple, subdued lactose sugar sweetness, wheat malt, citrus puree, melon, mango, fruit juice, zest, floral hop character (Cascade), vague tropical fruit (Mosaic). I'm not finding the subtle white wine character I'd expect in a Nelson hopped IIPA, nor is there any of Mosaic's signature subtle blueberry. Maybe some pear, but I'm not getting loads of stonefruit or anything.
Aromatic intensity is moderately high. Aroma promises a balanced IIPA with a soft mouthfeel and a scattered but enjoyable hop profile.
Not piney, resinous, acidic, grassy, oily, or berry-redolent in its hop profile.
TASTE & TEXTURE: Melon, mango, pineapple, and lactose sugar coalesce to good effect bolstered by subsidiary notes of soft malted wheat, vague citrus, vague tropical fruit/fruit juice, and lemon. Those hoping for Nelson-derived white wine flavour or Mosaic's dazzling blueberry will be a bit let down (as I am - why else use those hop varietals and why use them if you aren't going to showcase their strengths?) but the hop profile as a whole is pleasant and enjoyable - and a good bit more focused than the beer's aroma made it seem. Hints of stonefruit do emerge as it comes to temperature, and it's all in all a rather well balanced IIPA considering its high ABV.
Smooth, full-bodied, a bit pulpy, juice, wet, not unrefreshing, and weighty on the palate without feeling too filling or overbearing. Perfectly carbonated with a soft presence on the palate. Not too acidic or anything. The juiciness of it does accentuate the juicy fruit flavours offered by its hop profile, but the better hop flavours (the Cascade floral flavour in particular) aren't emphasized as a result.
I have to say it doesn't milk Mosaic and Nelson for the best they have to offer, but it pulls off its hop profile better than I expected just trying to imagine what they were going for reading the hop varietals on their website before I bought this. I don't think the lactose sugar is necessary or an improvement and would like to see them drop it altogether (the oats and wheat are smoothening enough).
Shallow in terms of depth of hop flavour...there isn't a lot to it and lactose sweetness masks any hop bitterness, sapping the varietals of their essence. Flavour duration is average for the style. It's not an intense beer despite being a 9% IIPA, which some drinkers will like and others won't...I'd prefer more hop pungency and assertiveness myself since this has less hop pungency than a mere IPA like Ballast Point's Sculpin or Sierra Nevada's Torpedo. If they let more of the bitterness come through, it'd be more balanced and flavorful.
OVERALL: Downing the whole growler in one sitting would prove a chore, but it's drinkable enough by the pint for what it is. Not as good an IIPA as something like Lagunitas' Lagunitas Sucks - which is substantially less costly and a good deal better - but there are far worse IIPAs out there and I find this hides its 9% ABV well enough I'd recommend it merely for that reason. Best approached by those who favor Pacific Sunrise-dominant beers and those who want lactose sugar in them; unfortunately, I'm in neither camp.
B- / WORTHY
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