IPA Squared
Willimantic Brewing Co.

 

 

Enjoyed on tap at the brewpub.

12oz glass presentation. Arrived with a smallish beige head that faded to uneven bubbling, tons of lacing, over a cloudy dirty golden brew. Aroma was pale grains and intense green hops. Taste was well-balanced for a DIPA, plenty of heavy sweetness upfront, more than able to amply balance the superlative amount of hopping. Nice to see a brew that doesn't need to strive for the bitter face, but can make all the flavors, intense as they are, work together. Mouthfeel was smooth and easy, and drinkability was great, even more so for the style. Must revisit.

Creamy white head that recedes just a bit. Thin and intricate lacing with pretty good strength throughout. A glowing peach in color with flashes of gold.

The aroma is bright and citrusy; grapefruit, peach, and orange peel. Notes of pepper and a few other spices that was tough to identify. The hop profile foreshadows a nice and juicy sip.

The juicy sip I was anticipating, was right on target. Grapefruit, orange, a touch of pine, and hints of lemon. The hops are a bit coarse and complimented with peppered spices. The bitterness is a lot more mellow than expected, but still screaming with a juciy hop flavor. The aftertaste is grapefruit, bubblegum, and orange.

Medium bodied; juicy, oily, and a touch grainy from the hop quality.

The abv% is rather light for the style, making this a nice choice for a session double IPA. I had a few of these to really appreciate all of its complexities (especially since they don't fill full pints of this guy).

Bit of a pricey growler. But so worth every cent.

Poured from the growlers lip into my glass almost like a nitro-tap beer. Even looked like that as the beer and gas separated, but the head was more white and fluffy than thick like a nitro-beer head. Rich amber color that looks like it may light up a dark room.

Nose is note as spciey hops as I was expecting, but has a decent malt presence that even provides nice balance in the aroma.

Flavor is kick-me-in-the-shorts nice. Candied orange rinds. Spicey and flavorful hops--not teeth rasping bitterness. Little bit peppery and coriander comes out. The malts provide a sweet backdrop to the hops. Flowery and herbal. Cannot pick up any of the alcohol in this beer.

Mouthfeel is heavy because of the hops, but lighter on the palate than I would think for some other DIPAs.

Very smooth for a DIPA. Does not exhaust the taste buds with super duper hops or over the top ABV.

Sampled first on tap at the brewery and later, the same weekend via a growler. Pours cloudy orangy amber, unfiltered. Off white head leaves nicely striated fine lacing. Nose is pure piney hop goodness. One or two sips tell me this is a fine quality, strong and tasty ale. Nicely balanced with smooth layers of malt in counter play with a nice crunch of citric and piney hops. Very pleasing on the tongue, moderate carbonation. First class all the way. Nicely turned out, not overpowering (drinkable) DIPA.

Picked up a growler on my visit yesterday....
Pours a cloudy copper color with a full finger of white head.
Aromas packed with fruity/citrus hops and a nice hefty dose of sweet malt...no alcohol apparent at this point.
The taste is fantastic...a bitter, citrus punch in the face w/ a huge amounts of carmelized malt to balance out this double.
Alcohol is apparent, but there is no "burn" to speak of...just enough detection to let you know this is definitely a double.
Mouthfeel is average and the carbonation is perfect...assisting in this one's drinkability.
Another gem from Willimantic...so glad I made the journey to enjoy this one.

finally, willimantic breaks their IPA funk with something new, fresh, and fun to drink.

this beer is bright and illuminated, yet somewhat cloudy. orange, primarily. amberish. minimalist soapy head. 12oz. aroma has some sweet caramel and pineapple to it.. hoppiness is there, of course. citrusey. flavor carries more hoppy mango though, and the beer feels substantial adding to the overall silky mouthfeel. good texture to this beer.. heavy without being chunky or syrupy. plays up to the double ipa category.. at least in feel. at 8% though, this is really on the fence. no barleywinish nature to this and loads of sweet citrus. entirely too drinkable, i probably drank about 24oz in 30 minutes. not much bitterness and rocks you with a clean finish.

danger! emergency! this beer is awesome.