Aroma Coma | Drake's Brewing Co.

4.21/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

On tap at Drakes Barn, West Sac CA. Pours a clear copper/gold with white head leaving moderate lacing. Nose is big citrus and tropical fruit sweetness. Taste follows with a balanced bitterness . Mighty fine IPA.

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4.32/5  rDev +2.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Good distribution Drake’s, these guys consistently get their beer on the shelf in less than two weeks if you live in Oakland.

Bottled on 7/13/18, reviewed on 7/27/18.

L: beautiful copper brew, obviously filtered
S: citrusy hops galore, pineapple, orange, mango, very nice
T: big tropical hops, nicely balanced with carmel and malts. Just bitter and dry enough
F: Easy drinker, very refreshing
O: Solid DIPA, well done Drakes

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4.45/5  rDev +5.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Pours the most appealing cloudy copper with solid head .

Aroma is an enticing orange, tropical fruit, and spices.

Taste is an absolute blast of amazing citrus flavors that makes a lot of other IPA's seem muted.

Solid medium feel. Overall an outstanding DIPA. Definitely one of my favorites and will always pick a pack up when I see them around.

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4.13/5  rDev -2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Slightly cloudy, copper colored, with a sudsy head. Streak lacing. Aroma is sweet, bread malt and pineapple. Hints of orange blossom and honey. The flavor is spice and fruit, apricot, tangerine, pineapple, grapefruit, peach, all blended so well. Sounds too good to be true? Add some caramel sweetness to the mix, and just the right touch of that hops oily, resinous bite. A very well balanced and flavorful beer. The flavor lingers in the back of your throat, with just a slight hint of alcohol vapor. Clean though, not thick and heavy. Just right. A very good beer overall.

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4.31/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Poured from a 12 oz bottle into a Dogfish Head tulip

L: Cloudy golden copper pour. Massive fluffy white head. Ridiculous lacing.

S: Big, tropical, and juicy. Bready sweetness... pineapple and spice.

T/F: Big rich malts... caramel and bread. Nice bitterness but very balanced. Hops are big and fruity... juicy and tropical. Grapefruit, pineapple, and a bit of apricot. Earthy and resinous... medium in body and oily on the tongue. Finish is bitter fruit.

O: A stellar IPA... smells amazing, dank tropical fruits and overall delicious.

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4.22/5  rDev -0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Bottling date of 02/24/17

Appearance - Pours slightly hazy and copper-orange in color with an off-white, near two-finger width head. Good retention, resulting in a thin, brrken layer of surface suds. Fair lacing, mostly consisting of a few broken lines and spotting.

Smell - Oh man, the name is fitting. Punches through with loads of caramel, spice, citrus and tropical goodness. So heavy that it's really hard to pinpoint any specific notes, but I'll try: in addition to the caramel and spice you'll find peach, grapefruit, lemon, passionfruit and a hint of breadiness.

Taste - A hard aroma live up to, but it does a fairly good job here. More earthy notes found in the flavor. Caramel. Bright citrus and a hint of peach come through mid-taste. Finish is balanced, with the afroementioned flavors melding together and hint of pith bitterness in the aftertaste.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied with fair carbonation. Easy drinker with a slightly dry finish.

Overall - Pretty sure I've reviewed this before, but it got lost in an old cellphone or misplaced notebook. Regardless, pretty tasty one from Drake's, though the aroma is the star of the show.

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4.6/5  rDev +8.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

I love this beer. Full bready nose. Great fresh hop throughout with full malty backbone. Med to full bodied. Creamy hoppy finish great balance.
I thought this was a summer release? Released end of Nov..Make it year round!

For those who want full bodied hoppy IPA!

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4.16/5  rDev -1.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On draft at the Drakes Dealership in Oakland.

L: Pours a hazy deep copper color, with a small head. Average head retention and lacing.

S: Strong citrus nose that jumps out at you, with some pine resin in the background.

T/F: .The citrus taste wasn't as powerful as the nose, but still very nice. Nicely balanced, with a medium bitterness. Carbonation was a little on the light side, with a medium body and slightly creamy mouthfeel.

O: Overall a good citrusy IPA. Would definitely have again.

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4.43/5  rDev +4.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Hits the glowing orange with a little dull copper to keep it from looking radioactive. Hits all the pine and citrus notes, abundantly. Citra and other c hops I'd guess. Sometimes the aroma varies, when its fresh, its perfect, but I've had some older bottles, and their bottle dating wipes right off, a trick I've seen bottles shops exploit.

The bittering hops are good and not overpowering, the dry hopping is top notch. Sucks that this is in a bomber only format, wish it was in 6 packs.

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4.75/5  rDev +12.3%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75

L: Pours hazy gold under a 2” cream colored clingy, lacy, rocky foam stand with gold highlights that takes 3 minutes to reduce to 1/3 of its original size. At 6 minutes it is still a very thick film. S: Some citrus, fruity, earthy, woodsy, resiny aromas. Medium to medium light biscuit malt behind medium to medium high hop aromas. No diacetyl, no DMS. T: a fruity palate with medium to medium high bitterness up front that grows to medium high by the middle. Definite orange flavors. Hop forward flavors medium to medium high, bitterness medium high. Malt low to medium with some biscuit to graham cracker flavors and light sweetness. Lingering bitter fruit flavors with light biscuit and a faint caramel sweetness. F: Very luscious, creamy, mouth filling texture with soft, aove average carbonation. Medium to medium low body with very light warming. O: A bitter, big flavored beer with a wonderful texture.

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4.35/5  rDev +2.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Gold with an orange tint and a slightly off white head that leaves great lacing. Smells like pineapple and oranges with some dank pine. The taste is citrus and pine with a great hop bitterness and a pleasant caramle malt sweetness. Nice medium mouthfeel with a silky smooth creamy feel. Really nice and tasty beer.

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3.51/5  rDev -17%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.75

Appears very rustic, not much polish so not filtered to a very find degree. Almost wheat beer appearance. Grapefruit and fresh hay in the nose and solid finish.

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4.4/5  rDev +4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Bottle poured into a Drake's Brewing pint glass

A: Pours golden amber with a frothy off white head that settles to a firm layer and laces very well.

S: Juicy sweet, bright citrus, lemon, lime, and tangerine, tropical fruit, passion fruit, pineapple, and mango, a little pine, a kinda dank herbal note, and just enough light caramel malt.

T: Pine and grapefruit lead the way, backed with more citrus, tangerine, lemon, and lime, tropical fruit, pineapple, passion fruit, a little peppery spice, a faint kinda herbal dank note, and some light caramel malt sweetness.

M: Medium body, moderate carbonation, creamy smooth.

O: I could smell this one all day long. I would be fine with drinking it all day as well. I love special release beers that pack this much flavor and aroma, but don't immediately shoot for being imperials with high %. Awesome beer!

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4.25/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Pours an orange gold color with a nice off white head that settles to a very thin lacing. Smell is definitely incredible: tropical fruits, pineapple, mango, orange, and some pine. Flavor is an immediate hop burst, with bitterness and resin for days. Pine almost overwhelms. Balanced by a sweet honey malt and a lot less tropical fruit than the nose, but it's present; a lot of bitter grapefruit pith which ideally would be slightly more juicy and less drying. A palate wrecker for only 6.7%. Great bitter hop forward California ipa.

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3.96/5  rDev -6.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

There's an explosion of tropical, citrus flavor smells upon opening. However, the flavor is less intense with the addition of an underlying dankness and some resin added. Has a thick resiny mouthfeel and sticky lacing on the glass.

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3.93/5  rDev -7.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Great floral smell on this one. Definitely expecting for the taste to match up, but it just doesn't. Flavor is a bit dull and tastes watered down. This is a good IPA but nothing to go running to the store in search of.

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3.25/5  rDev -23.2%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25

(draft, Drake's Brewery, San Leandro) pretty solid IPA (citrusy) but bitterness lingers a bit too much for me. Will give it another spin down the line.

Others:
Aroma Paloma (favorable)

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3.75/5  rDev -11.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

2015 Bottle (bottled on 8/5 - so 10 days ago)

Pretty clear, light orange with thin head that dissipates kind of quickly

Smells like mild pine and citrus with a sweet undertone. Definitely not in an aroma coma.

More of a balanced IPA with plenty of malt, some bitterness and some pine/citrus coming through. Tastes kind of smokey on the back end.

Thiner body than I would expect with moderately low carbonation.

OK IPA

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3.91/5  rDev -7.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Looks hazy golden/orange with a lingering milky-textured, mostly white head.

Smells like tropical-dominated grainy malt and pine.

Strong tropical and pine flavors with medium hop bitterness and moderately high maltiness for an American IPA. Bitter grainy flavors stick around after sipping.

Medium body with moderately low carbonation.

This is a good IPA with a better smell.

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3.94/5  rDev -6.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A very nice, dankly hopped west coast IPA. If you are looking for a resinous, piney, somewhat stinky (Sweaty/BO type stink) IPA than this should work for you. Personally, I liked the cleaner and slightly more subtle Aroma Prieta hopped with New Zealand hops a little better than the northern hempisphere brother.

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4.38/5  rDev +3.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A. Pale orange hue with just enough carbonation. Plenty of lacing
S. Grapefruit, orange and some dank in the background. Very inviting
T. A complex mix of citrus bitter that simply makes you want to have another gulp. Very dry backend.
M. Medium and velvety for a single IPA
O. This is truly one of the best WC IPAs out there. I look forward to this one every summer. I'd love to see this year round.

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4.25/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Thank you SanFranJake for this bottle.

A - Pours a clear, bright orange gold color with generous carbonation and a bright white, soapy looking head.

S - No malt aroma at all and dominated by tropical, fruity hop dankness and tropical fruit rind.

T - Follows the nose, spicy and dank bright tropical fruit from start to finish with a dank, piney finish.

M - Medium to medium heavy body with light pricklies on the tongue.

O - Another superb hoppy California beer.

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4.27/5  rDev +0.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Poured out as an amber color with a white head on top. The smell was a bit more malty than I was hoping for, my bottle wasn't the freshest. The taste is nicely balanced with some caramel flavors and some dank hops. The feel of the beer is medium bodied. Overall this beer is good, I would like to try it again someday.

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4.34/5  rDev +2.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

I cracked this bottle in my apartment and poured it into a Lost Abbey taku glass. The smell is dank with hints of pineapple and tropical fruit the look is fairly clear with a light fluffy head taste is dank and bitter with hints of mango and pineapple. The feel of the beer is fluffy and light. Overall this is a solid IPA especially for the price point of $9 for a bomber. Great offering buy drinks

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4.11/5  rDev -2.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

I went to Drake's for their Aroma Coma event. I had the double dry hopped version at the brewery but I brought home a bomber that is labeled 7/15/15.Took about two days before I cracked it open.

Look: Amber and frothy head.
Smell: Tons of tropical notes. Pineapples and mangos.
Taste: Tropical and piney.
Feel: High carbonation. Bitter at the end that lingers.
Overall: One of my favorite offerings from Drakes. It screams west coast IPA.

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