Tasting Room Series: Imperial Hazy IPA
Boulevard Brewing Co.

Tasted on June 15th, 2021, at Boulevard Brewing KC. As I remember this was a good IIPA, slightly sweet with good malt body and a mild hop flavor. No strong hop bite. It has a nice medium body for an Imperial IPA, may be due to the fact that it is a hazy beer.

Appearance: Pours a moderately hazy, while still maintaining some clarity. A medium, bright orange color with a strong, white, milky head. SRM of 10-11. (3.75)

Aroma: Strong aromas of prickly spruce and pine upfront. Then lots of pineapple, grapefruit, and orange citrus. Some green grape, pear, slight berry, before it evolves into an candied orange and slight cantaloupe sweetness. (4.00)

Flavor: Drops off on the flavor here. Some hints of orange, pineapple, green grape, pear before a wave of candied-malt sweetness comes through like an avalanche to wipe everything out. Tons of orange, pineapple, and thickened syrupy sweetness. (3.00)

Feel: Heavier-bodied as expected for the alcohol. Relatively under-carbonated. Resinous and syrupy. Not creamy. Leaves a sticky candied-malt sweetness on the palate. (3.25)

Overall: I think this one drops the ball here. Nice aromas, but the flavor and body are a let down. It's thick, heavy, and syrupy. Not creamy nor airy like it's supposed to be. There's a reason why it's R&D and there's a lot of room for improvement in the flavor and body here. (Final Rating: 3.46)

 

 

 

 

12oz bottle. Poured out a slightly hazy, golden color with a fairly larger, white head of foam. It smelled of grapefruit, pear, citrus and toasted caramel. Sweet fruitiness with a sharp bitterness and caramel malt finish.

 

 

 

 

12 ounce bottle into tulip glass; bottled on 4/18/2019, best before 8/6/2019. Pours very hazy/murky/cloudy deep golden amber/light orange color with a 1 finger dense and rocky off white head with great retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice dense soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big tangerine, orange juice, red grapefruit, lemon, lime, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, red apple, passion fruit, papaya, mango, honeydew melon, berries, citrus peel/zest, wood, mint, peppercorn, pine, wheat, cracker, biscuit dough, light honey/toast, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and bready malt notes; with big strength. Taste of big tangerine, orange juice, red grapefruit, lemon, lime, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, red apple, passion fruit, papaya, mango, honeydew melon, berries, citrus peel/zest, wood, mint, peppercorn, pine, wheat, cracker, biscuit dough, light honey/toast, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness. Light-moderate pine, citrus peel/rind, herbal, floral, woody, grassy, peppery bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of tangerine, orange juice, red grapefruit, lemon, lime, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, red apple, passion fruit, papaya, mango, honeydew melon, berries, citrus peel/rind, wood, mint, peppercorn, pine, wheat, cracker, biscuit dough, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a while. Awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and bready malt flavors; with an awesome malt/bitterness balance, and no cloying/astringent flavors after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from lingering bitterness. Medium carbonation and medium-full body; with a very smooth, creamy/bready/grainy, fairly sticky, and lightly resinous/rindy mouthfeel that is great. Minimal warming alcohol for 8.8%. Overall this an awesome hazy DIPA. All around awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and bready malt flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to drink for the ABV, with the mellowly bitter/drying finish. Great soft feel, and not aggressive. Awesome Centennial, Citra, Galaxy, Amarillo, and Calypso profile. Very juicy, vibrant, and fairly dank/earthy hops; with a perfectly balanced wheat/oat/malt backbone. Light residual sweetness with lingering resin dryness. A really enjoyable offering, and impressive style example as expected.

 

Aroma is tropical fruit, grassy hops and a punch of sweetness. The flavor is fruit, tropical fruit, malts and a citrus/medium grapefruit/slightly hop finish.

Pours a near-murky orange with a finger or more of off-white foam, that bubbles up eagerly when swirling the glass. Head retention is good. Aroma is a sticky smack of hops, with herbal, resiny, dank, and citrus leading the charge. It smells a little like walking into an Asian seafood market. Just beyond the hop foreground is a small backdrop of bready and biscuity malts. Flavor profile follows the nose, with sticky herbal, resiny, dank and citrus hops all molding and melding together. Bready and biscuity malts lay just beyond and act as a much better support system here. Mouth feel carries a modest level of silty grain that breaks down into a soft, crushed velvet texture. It has a medium-thick consistency. Overall, hops are intriguing here, but play well with each other and the malt backdrop.

Served in a 15.5oz Speigalau tulip from a 12oz bottle. Release 001 from year 2019. BLVDR&D pack.