Double IPA, Brah
Swiftwater Brewing Company

Picked this up at Gary's in Wayne recently, as I thought that I hadn't had a beer from Swiftwater before. That wasn't the case as this was the second offering from them that I've reviewed on here as it seemed to be too strong for me to fully appreciate. The hops were decent but somehow, they just didn't fully mesh together on my palate.

This had a very nice pour to it, which was the best attribute of this beer. Golden, hazy, and with fine bubbles, the head that topped it off was full and bubbly as the lacing left behind was extensive and beautifully layered. My initial impression from the aroma and taste of this beer was that of a very acrid and sharp citrus twang as that receded a bit once this fully warmed up. Lots of stone fruit like cantaloupe and melon could be felt to balance out the soapy mouthfeel and underlying sense of weed that made this dank in the aftertaste. A good amount of carbonation and moderate body let the flavors sink in and linger but I never quite got accustomed to them throughout my time with this.

Maybe it was because the booze was a tad too strong. Yes, this was an Imperial beer but this never held back from feeling like one. Pine and lemon lingered on the palate after I finished this off as I needed a chaser of water to get those down. Dated 9/20/19, this didn't have any sediment in it but could have held up better over time. Worth a go once if you like your beers to pack a punch in more than one way.

Bright opaque cloudy gold with a creamy and fluffy white head. Great retention and sheets of lacing.
Juicy tropical and stone fruits on the aroma. Peach, pineapple, mango, honeydew melon, and orange.
The taste is bright and medium-ripe tropical fruit perfection. Juicy and bright peach, apricot, pineapple, orange, and mango. Fluffy doughy malt, and just a touch of grassy and orange peel bitterness on the finish.
Soft and silky mouthfeel, moderately-well carbonated, smooth and creamy.
An incredibly good D/TIPA. Juicy NE perfection and utter smoothness.

 

 

 

Listed at 10.10% on the description, 9.4% on the pictured bottle, and a mere 7.6% on the menu when I ordered it. Hmm. Consistency issues?? Or is this a different beer which needs a new name? I don't know but it wasn't very good. Similar off-flavors to those which ruined the rest of the IPAs/pale ales on the menu. Guessing it could be the NYS malt but who knows.

 

 

 

A: The beer is hazy yellow in color. It poured with a half finger high white head that left a short head covering the surface and some bubbles coating the sides of the glass.
S: Light to moderate aromas of cantaloupe, grapefruit and lemons are present in the nose.
T: The taste starts out with flavors of cantaloupe and pine but finishes with flavors of grapefruit and lemon citrus. There is a moderate amount of bitterness.
M: It feels medium-bodied and crisp on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This beer has a rather interesting mix of aromas and flavors. The cantaloupe-like flavors really soften things up for an Imperial IPA.

Serving type: bottle

I was surprised to see this- I didn't know Swiftwater was bottling their beer! This is for the 9.4% abv. No bottling date.. lots of lacing, aroma of lily blossom, pear and melon. Mouthfeel is spongy. Taste is candied fruit. This is a tasty, unique beer. They need to show bottling dates.