Skullbanger
Mad Swede Brewing Company

A-beautiful dark copper with prodigious maple colored head
S-roasty malts, earthy grass
T-Brown sugar (but average sweetness?), pine resin, char, above average bitter, a little alcohol
M - medium full
O-Different, very good, repeatable. Not sure what style that I would use for classification.

Taster at BitterCreek. Medium-amber, small bubbly head. Mild malty aroma, gets huge at first sip, brings some of the hoppy zing, and sticks around on the palate for a while.. Pretty tasty stuff.

a very strange, even offensively liberal interpretation of the style here, amber in color and malty as can be, almost more fo an american barleywine to me, not overly sweet, but robustly alcoholic and grain driven more than the hops to me, which just doesnt work in something that is supposed to be an ipa, i even had to check with the server to make sure they poured me the right beer, and overall i was quite unimpressed with this, even as a just a beer and not an ipa, it seemed a step or even two below their normally high quality across the board. wispy white head on it and good clarity, but the color is a rich copper, and it has a toasted and nutty smell, glad its not real caramelized or sugary, but its also not that hoppy in aroma, a little pine and cooked citrus to it, but totally unexciting and almost more of an accent. the flavor is of a generic american strong ale, some malt heft, alcohol burn, and bittering hops, but really just the basics, and even if there is some balance, its really pretty basic, even uninspired. i have to hope this was an old batch or something, but in this instance it definitely stands as one of their weakest offerings ive ever had, and a recipe that could use some updating if this is in fact not some sort of mistake...

On-tap at the Brewery, Boise ID.

A: Clear, rich amber with off-khaki head and lacing.

S: Earthy resin and pine; rich malt backbone; hint of alcohol.

T: Malty; orange peel; pithy; earthy pine; borderline boozy.

MF: Sticky full body.

O: A strong double IPA that leans towards an amber/red ale, kind of a NW double IPA.