The Big Looper
Double Nickel Brewing Company

 

Double Nickel Brewing Co. "The Big Looper"
16 fl. oz. can coded "BL0491251"
$5.49 @ Total Wine & More, Cherry Hill, NJ

Notes via stream of consciousness: Well I like this label better than some of their other "artsy" labels; and it's a double NE IPA with Nelson Sauvin hops so that's interesting. I'm expecting some white grape / gooseberry flavors but we'll see. It's poured a very hazy / cloudy golden-orange body beneath an inch and a half tall head of off-white foam. It looks a bit like a German hefeweizen and it even has the same quick rising bubbles. The aroma has some white grape but not as much as I expected, and there's some citrus to it as well. Mmmm, there's some sweetness to it from the malt, and some graininess as well. Overall I'd say it's a pretty good, bright aroma but I'm sure others will find it lacking even though most double IPAs are not as bright as a lot of standard IPAs. OK, on to the flavor... well, as suspected, there's a lot of doughy malt sweetness to it upfront, followed by fruitiness that's like apple and sweet white wine, but also with some orange and grapefruit mixed in. It's a pretty sweet beer, and I know it's a NE IPA but it seems a bit much. On the other hand it does dry quickly in the finish and a lot of standard double IPAs are pretty sweet as well. Back to the hop flavor itself, I get the Nelson Sauvin thing, I was hoping it would be a little brighter and more direct though. They're a tricky hop to work with though, and this is at least clearly what I was expecting if not as strong as I was expecting. Maybe that's because of all the malt though. As I noted earlier, sometimes, well usually, the hops come through clearer in a standard IPA because they're not competing with all of that extra malt. I should note now that I've still got a thin and mostly solid surface covering on the beer, and the lacing is very very good. I'm tempted to say excellent but it's not really quite there. Still, it's got good head retention and lacing and it looks good. OK, what did I miss, mouthfeel? It's medium bodied leaning towards full bodied, and gently crisp. I was thinking earlier given the bubbles that I'd seen rising that it would be crisper but there is a lot of malt to fight with. As it is, it comes off as velvety smooth with just a light bristle of tiny bubbles on the tongue. I don't know if that's good or if that's bad, meaning it could be better, but it is what it is. That said, I'm enjoying the smoothness and I'm not sure that any more bite is needed as it does dry up in the end. Some fruit lingers in the finish with some more pungent, resinous, earthy, leafy and grassy notes. Ahh, I just got a nice bit of citrus in the burp. If we're going to continue with the white wine connection I'd say it's a bit like a sweeter Sauvignon Blanc with that light grapefruit note. So what's that leave me, just the "overall"? Hmmmm. It scores good on appearance and aroma although I think there could be improvement in both areas; and the flavor is quite nice once you get a few sips into it and adjust to the malty sweetness. There's some bitterness there that balances it, and that comes out in the finish, but there's also a touch of alcohol to it as well that helps to balance it. I expect a bit of alcohol in a double IPA, so I don't see that as a flaw at all. In fact, I'd probably find it somewhat flawed if it wasn't there. Finally, the feel is quite nice and I'm going to go with that as a "good thing" considering that I don't think it needs to be and crisper or acidic seeing as how it's pretty well balanced once you get those first sips in. In fact, now I find it drying my mouth out. It's sweet up front but then it dries out in the end. So, overall, quite nice. I think they've done a very good job with this one even though it seems like a hard one to pull of (double NE IPA w/ Nelson Sauvin).
Review #6,548

 

My first Double Nickel beer.

Uggghhhh. No date stamp. Picked up day of delivery at local beer store, not four hours from the source. So it's probably fresh. But come on Double Nickel.

Was looking for an in your face double dry hopped Nelson aroma. It's not there. Not even a little bit. If you told me this was dry hopped, I'd not believe you. x2 dry hopped? Yeah, okay.

First sip is sweet/sticky/boozy. At 9.2 I'd expect that. Finishes rather bitter. Not a pleasant resin bitterness, but an unpleasant ear wax bitterness.

Was really hoping I'd dig this. But the Nelson isn't there. The booze is strong. And the kettle hops are unpleasant.

My last Double Nickel beer.