#008 Double Session XXXPA
Exit Brewing

Ahoy me mateys! Here’s yet another awesome Imperial IPA ready to walk the plank straight into my gullet - it’s a limited release from Exit Brewing called #008 Double Session XXXPA (XXXPA, whatever the flip that means... Extra extra extra Pale Ale?!). Anyway, I’ve got to stop questioning why brewers come up with odd names and acronyms and spend more time drinking :) Note: This review comes from my notes when I tried it at The Durham last year - it won at GABS so we already know it’s going to be good - I’ve liked every GABS winner I’ve tried so far so no surprises there.

Poured from tap into a Schooner.

A: Presents with a tastylicious cloudy deep caramel brown body and a thin cream-coloured head. definitely a beer you can’t wait to tuck into (sorry international readers for my Aussie colloquialisms - which is ironically a tough word for us Australians to pronounce: “colloquialisms”). 9/10.

S: Nice: Big piney/citrus and floral hops with a malt base that lies almost undetected under the weight of those hops but really who cares? If I could pick one quibble that holds it back from DWG (DirtWolf Greatness - because I compare every IIPA to DirtWolf now) it would be that it could use a more interesting hop combination. 8/10.

T: Wow, this is like an IPA that has had the Eisbock treatment - everything is concentrated to 11. Massive piney/citrus and floral hops, plenty for caramel malt to balance it out and earthy notes towards the end (typical Aussie craft beer with earthy notes towards the end). The wow part of this beer though is how restrained the bitterness is in the finish. It's all terribly well balanced, I hate you Exit. Again the only thing to detract is the somewhat now tiresome piney/citric/floral hop flavours. 8/10.

M: Medium bodied, perhaps a touch thin for 9%, with a light carbonation. 7/10.

D: This is a big ABV (9%) IPA that I could drink all night without getting big beer fatigue (the other 'BBF'). I'm not surprised it won at GABS, which I still haven't been to yet [insert my own chagrin here]. I want another but I have to drive... *sadface* Other than that this brew is a safe pair of hands, albeit a bit too safe on the hop flavour profile, however I am getting flavour fatigue from years of piney/citric hops - so be that as it may. 8/10.

Food match: Can’t go wrong with Kan Tong... or any bold Asian flavours.

Pours copper with a large head.
Nose shows toffee, some buttery diacetyl, piny and resinous hops.
Flavours include pine, sweet rich malt and some toffee.