Test Flight Experimental IPA
Hellbent Brewing Company

Beer Geek Stats
From:
Hellbent Brewing Company
 
Washington, United States
Style:
American IPA
ABV:
7.5%
Score:
+7 ratings needed
Avg:
4 | pDev: 1%
Ratings:
3 | reviews: 3
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Mar 14, 2025
Added:
Mar 12, 2019
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  0
Ground control to major Tom, commencing countdown Test Flight is on! Forget protein pills and take your helmet off! It’s that time of year already for our brewing team to try out some new hops that aren’t even named yet. Someday hop X13459 will have a catchy name like Simcoe or Falconer’s Flight, but right now it just has a codename and a ton of citrus, strawberry and stone fruit flavor dominating our latest West Coast IPA. There’s another new hop floating round this tin can, but that’s G7 level classified, so don’t ask. Test Flight might make you float in a most peculiar way, so get some while it lasts. Can you hear me Major Tom? (2021 v)
Recent ratings and reviews.
Photo of CoasterRider
Reviewed by CoasterRider from Washington

4/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
This is the 2021 version of this beer. They brew this every year in slight variations. I believe I had this one at a Brewfest in the greater Portland/Vancouver area. Gave it a good score.
Mar 14, 2025
Photo of Mister_Faucher
Reviewed by Mister_Faucher from Washington

4.05/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
16oz can served in a nonic glass.

Look- Hazy golden amber color, modest off-white head with nice retention and great lacing. Light carbonation streams visible.

Smell- Tangerine/orange and pithy grapefruit, melon, candied tropical and stone fruit, faint pine, herbal/floral hops.

Taste- Similar to the aroma, citrus, tropical fruit and peach, grainy malt, wet pine with a moderately bitter hop back end.

Feel- Medium bodied, fairly crisp and dry. Moderate carbonation on the tongue.

O- A really solid hazy IPA, worth checking out.
May 11, 2020
Photo of hreb
Reviewed by hreb from Washington

3.95/5  rDev -1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Growler fill from the brewery, served in a beer mug. Gold brass, almost clear, small head formation. Aroma is a sweet, floral hop profile that reminds me of honey, melon. Not sweet like malt, but there's an incredible sweetness from the hops like wildflower honey. The brewer claims this beer is made with Sabro and Strata hops, neither of which I am familiar with at all. The taste begins with that floral and fruity sweetness, though there is a significant alpha acid content in this IPA. As that delicate flavor dissipates, there is a more pronounced bitterness in the aftertaste. It's actually harsh in the aftertaste, something I wasn't at all expecting. The notes claim only 55 IBU, which is not all that high for an IPA of this magnitude.

Super interesting aroma. Not that exciting to actually drink. We'll see if the growler grows on me, and hopefully the aromatic compounds will survive for a couple days.

TONS of lacing, fwiw. Add a quarter point to the Look just for that.
Mar 12, 2019