IIPA
J'ville Craft Brewery

Poured from a 16oz can (NO freshness date, but was told it was packaged 4 days prior to this review) into a Spiegelau IPA glass.

A - Pours a clear, dark amber/copper with a single finger of an eggshell white head. Color is much darker than one would expect for a DIPA...certainly one brewed at a Vermont brewery. (3.5)

S - Apples, Red Grape, Peach, Cedar and Pine are are present in the nose. It's aromatics are equally pungent and unexpected for a beer dry hopped with El Dorado and Mosaic. However, the hops are clearly combining with those Crystal malts to create something completely unique. (3.75)

T - The dark color is deceptive since any crystal malt sweetness is very minimal. Red Grape, Citrus pith, Cedar and Pine resin are the boldest flavors. As a matter of fact, that earthy/tannic component that would suggest that it spent time on wood. Since I enjoy IPA's aged on wood, this is a desired attribute. (4.0)

M - Medium-Minus mouthfeel. Very well attenuated and finishes with an extremely dry, woody quality...perhaps a bit too dry but drinks well below the advertised 9.3% ABV. However, the lack of sweetness keeps this from mistaking it for a Hoppy Barleywine. (3.75)

O - Upon pouring, I was convinced this was going to be more akin to a Hoppy Barleywine. However, this is a very clean and hop-forward beer with no detectable alcohol in the nose or flavor. Although the appearance, aroma and flavor profile is (again) not expected for a DIPA, this gets points for being a well executed beer that is unique in those categories. Certainly worth a try. (4.0)

 

 

L - burnt emVera red coming out of the glass. Most peculiarly, it appears to grow darker the longer it sits in the glass. I'm looking at a dark red amber. Fully opaque. Intriguing.

S - similar to the pale ale, I'm getting sugary fruit juice up front. White grapes and star fruit. Earthy.

T - I don't know how they do it, but J'ville is back at it again with the Juicy Juice. Apple raspberry grape juice, to be precise. I can hardly tell this one is almost 10%. Sticky, yet dry flavor that finishes with a moderate bitterness.

F - not as syrupy as I'd expect for the ABV. You can tell there is a bit of booze based on the sugar up front, but the dry bitter finish wraps the feel up tightly into a neat little package that will kill you if you unwrap too many!

O - this is really similar to their pale ale, but kicked up a few notches. I suppose some people consider that the definition of "imperial" though, right? Take a base beer and crank up all the ingredients. That's certainly what this feels like.

Very tasty.