The Hop Boss
Beer Thug Brewing Company

A: hazy; deep gold in color; 1 finger finely pored off white head that receded to a wispy cap; OK lacing;

S: orange and tangerine;

T: balanced between orange and tangerine for a moment, then bright tangerine through the finish; very mild bitterness at the end;

M: medium bodied; moderate carbonation; moderately dry finish; soft; ABV was very well hidden;

O: dangerously smooth;

DATE: May 1, 2021... OCCASION: the last of six IPAs tonight, a monster to finish with... another winner from this sense--citrus, mango, melon and a full, balanced malt backbone... a blurry orange amber body couples with a nice thick white head that doesn't leave.... is this ten percent? Didn’t notice… it kills with a smooth, chewy quality that makes me want to eat it all night, and find some cans for tomorrow... goodness, this delivers the citrus and dank hops that you hope for... I am glad this finishes the night--a home run in every sense… juicy and full, strong and memorable…

This may be my first triple IPA. The head looks awesome, white foam for days. The brew itself is cloudy-hazy and light gold in color. The smell is hoppy with a nice malt balance. The feel is medium and strong in flavor and character.

 

Pours a completely opaque bright orange color. It lacks the thick appearance of the NE style IPAs - its just opaque not cloudy or sludgy. Thin, bubbly, off-white head forms on the beer - about a finger and a half.

Aroma has bright notes of sweet candied orange, tangerine, peach, pineapple, and melon. Light hoppy bitterness comes through on the nose.

Taste follows the nose with notes of candied orange, peach, pineapple and mango. Dank, but not herbal - its got more of a overly ripe fruit dankness going on. Lightly sweet, but not overly so which is very nice for a TIPA. Moderate grassy bitterness on the back end that also has some dank characteristics.

Feel is moderately bodied - and pretty easy drinking. It does have a bit of a warming character to it as the beer is consumed. On the drier side on the finish.

Overall its a really nice TIPA.

The brew pours a cloudy yellow-orange from the can with a thin, soft, white foam cap and an aroma of orange and pine.
The flavor is rich with citrus and tropical fruit notes and resinous aspects. Alcohol heat is not detectable.
The mouthfeel is smooth.
This is well-executed and tasty.

 

Big head and wonderful and copious lacing. Cloudy and dull yellow liquid.

Nose has a lovely malted grain backbone. Loads of melon and tropical fruits.

Taste is the big surprise. Juicy, hoppy and surprisingly low bitterness. Malt is broad and supportive
without taking the spotlight from the exceptional hop blend. Not trace of alcohol and a clean short finish.

Feel is light than a brew of this abv has a right to. Active carbonation and a crisp lively feel with a smooth carbonation and a supple swallow.

A really smooth, easy drinking and delicious beer. It begs to be sessioned and for a beer of this strength that is quite a feat. I'm a big fan and will grab as many cans of this as I can.

 

Cloudy amber with a cream colored cap. Nose is super piney with some dankness, lots of citrus, peach and melon. Taste has great citrus and pine through the whole sip, graepfruit in particular bonds well with supporting melon, clementine, and pineapple, on the sweeter end from the left coast. Super refreshing feel, you can feel it is a big beer but it doesn't impose any weight or harshness, abv well hidden. This boss is a pleasant one to deal with, no surprise weekend shifts- er I mean- off notes to deal with

Poured from can into tulip, good 2 finger offwhite head, good retention and lacing. Hazy Pale golden in the glass. Smells sweet, tropical fruit, citrus and ripe pineapple. Taste is aggressive, hops and carbonation scrubbing the tongue, first sip is bracing, expecting palate reset for the remaining. Bitter orange on the palate, gives way to citrus/grapefruit pith bitterness, yet laced with tropical notes along the way. Kind of a reverse IPA, good firm bitterness on the front and fading sweetness on the back. Very easy drinking after the first few sips, and has a lingering sweet orange/ripe pineapple lingering on the palate. Really enjoying this one. Nice job

 

The beer pours a nice and white foamy head that has a creamy texture. The beer itself is a cloudy orange yellow color and looks nice.

The smell is good. It has a good mix of sweet tropical fruit notes and a spicy bitterness. The sweet notes are that of a tangerine and a grassy pine bitterness in the finish.

The taste is good. It has the same notes but the taste starts off bitter with hints of sweetness in the finish. The hop notes start with a bitter orange and a grassy pine before giving way to a sweeter peach.

The feel is good. It has a medium body within tingling carbonation to it.

Overall, a pretty solid beer and worth go through two days of beers for.

The last of the IPA Fest beers. Pours a thick, viscous, hazy glassful of hoppy goodness. Strong aroma of fruit and citrus. Medium dry, hint of sweetness, pure hop experience with no flaw with the tropical fruit holding its own through the finish. The stiff 10% ABV is dangerously muted. A tiny brewery from their BA profile, butshowing great promise.

Received from Half Time for IPA Cyberfest 2021. Poured hazy yellow from the can. Smells of tangerine and orange and tropical fruits. Taste was in in alignment with the aroma. Drinks super easy for a 10% ABV. Sweet malts are there to balance this one out, but the hops are predominant on the palate. There is a good amount of carbonation. I liked this Imperial IPA.

 

 

Pours a big beautiful juice bomb lookin' 'STR8 OUTTA COMPTON' 04/12/21 I saved this one for later after IPAFEST. Orange, pineapple juicy looking with a head to match. Has an aroma to match. Citrus, fruity and a little dank hoppy. The taste is matching the aroma and it's superfine. Confirms to me my brewers at Turning Point are doing a great job. This is right up their alley. Mouthfeel is smooth and creamy silky. Alcohol is well hidden and overall another fine juice bomb I'd love to have in the rotation. "ATTABOY EDGAR" Outstanding beer! Thanks for sharing.

Pours a super hazy golden color with a soapy white head. Meh retention, settles into a soapy cap.

Big tropical notes on the nose. Pineapple and mango are forefront. Sweetness is in check. Inviting.

The taste is of dirty orange and grapefruit rind. Pineapple and mango. Good tropical notes without being super sweet. Some melon. It is fruity but balanced.

The feel is moderate with weakish carbonation. Sweet on the palate but its from the hops. Drinks easy for the ABV.

Good IPA. Doesn't need the beefy ABV

From the can (IPA Fest in Cyberspace Provided), it pours a hazy amber color with a surprisingly modest white head that reduces as you watch and leaves a bit of lacing. In the nose, it is citrus, mainly pineapple, and some pine. in the mouth, it is grapefruit forward with sweetish malt behind.

 

Decanted from a 16 oz (473 ml) can into a BeerAdvocate IPA Fest; canned 01/02/2021, code STR8 OUTTA COMPTON.
A: Pours an opaque, golden orange color with a one finger, short-live, egg shell white head, a bit more than rim retention, and decent rings of lacing given the glass.
S: Aromas of grapefruit, caramel, marijuana, tobacco, black pepper, and pine predominate.
T: Semisweet. Very fruity with flavors of grapefruit, caramel, pepper, oregano, and Pixie Stix®. Very peppery, strong bitterness but a distinctly minty finish.
M: Medium bodied with solid carbonation.
O: Enjoyed it immensely and thought Edgar was a riot.

The Hop Boss from Beer Thug Life. 16 oz can stored at home at 42 degrees. Received from Half Time for IPA Cyberfest 2021, $127.19 (Including shipping) for 12 16 oz cans ($ 0.662/oz). Reviewed 9/5/21. Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Bottom of can stamped “STR8 OUTTA COMPTON 04/02/21”. Served at 50.1 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. Final temperature 55.0 degrees.
Appearance – 3.5.
First pour – Pale Straw (SRM 2), hazy.
Body – Pale Gold (SRM 4), murky and opaque. When rear-lite, becomes slightly translucent.
Head – Average (Maximum 2.5 cm, aggressive center pour), floral white, medium density, short retention, diminishing to a five to seven mm mildly undulating crown fed by moderate effervescence and a thin, rocky cap. Second pour produces no head.
Lacing – Fair. Produces a tight, slightly undulating, band of extremely tiny to tiny bubbles.
Aroma – 3.5 – Moderate pineapple and a little tropical fruitiness, maybe a hint of pine. No malt, no yeast. Slowly fades.
Flavor – 4 – Begins slightly bitter with grapefruit, some tropical fruit, and a touch of pine. No malt, no yeast. Lightly dank on the aftertaste. No ethanol (10% ABV, as marked on container) taste or aroma. Slow gastric warming. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl.
Palate – 3.5 – Thin, watery, soft carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 3.75 Decent IPA with somewhat subdued flavors and aroma. For 10% ABV, very drinkable. I suspect the high ABV has adversely affected the head and lacing.

 

IPA Fest Cyberspace

10% IPA you can drink - that's a win.

Pours hazy yellow with a thick white head. Aroma is hop forward, very dominant. Taste follows aroma, hop dominant, but good. Feel has a touch of alcohol burn, but it's mild and it is thick and juicy. Overall a good 10% IPA.

Poured from a can into a snifter

Appearance – The beer pours a very hazy orange yellow color with a one finger head of puffy off-white foam. The head has a great level of retention, very slowly fading over time to leave a light level of spotty lace on the sides of the glass.

Smell – The aroma of the brew is very strong of a tropical fruit smell with tons of papaya and pineapple as well as a big chowing of tangerine and orange. At the same time there is a big presence of a doughy and a candied like smell, bringing a degree of maltiness and more sweetness to the nose. With a little bit of herb and a touch of earthy hop, a very pleasant and inviting aroma is produced overall.

Taste – The taste begins with a rather bready and doughy flavor mixed with a good deal of tangerine and tropical fruits of mango and papaya. At the start there are also flavors of orange juice and a little bit of grapefruit and herbal hop flavor. As the taste advances the sweet fades a bit all while the hop gets stronger. Initially the hop growth is almost entirely of an herbal flavor, but towards the end a bit of earthy and pine develop as well, and with a touch of booze, one is left with a modestly dank and moderately sweet and malty taste to linger on the tongue.

Mouthfeel – The body of the brew is very thick and chewy with a carbonation level that is on the lower side. For the mix of flavors and abv, the feel is pretty decent and makes for a rather slow, but very appreciated sipper.

Overall – A good NEIPA with a moderately heavy presence.

Can dated 4/12/21 into pint glass. Pours a murky amber with a nice off-white head; great lacing. Initial impression is juicy orange, pink grapefruit, mango, and pineapple. Slightly sweet. Mouthfeel is medium and bordering on sticky. Alcohol is extremely well hidden. Finish is citrus-y and juicy, with a lingering sweetness. Overall, an outstanding DIPA. It bills itself as a "triple hazy West Coast India Pale Ale", but it's somewhere between West Coast and NEIPA. A good place, though!

 

This is my favorite so far of the IPA Fest beers! A delight to all the sense!

Poured from a can into a tulip glass. Hazy golden yellow color with outstanding head and lacing. Bright, fresh citrus smell and taste.
A kaleidoscope of fruit flavors. Flavors of juicy orange, tangerine, strawberry, mango and pineapple. Pleasant bitterness and burn on the backend. If anything, maybe just a hint too sweet. I would love to have more of this stuff!

 

 

Poured from a can - hazy orange/gold with white head leaving moderate foamy lacing. Nose is mild tropical and citrus, taste follows with another level of fruity sweetness. ABV is very well hidden but shows up on the finish with a bit of creep. Deceptively easy drinker.

 

Lumpy, slow-to-recede head. It starts off with three fingers. Fewer streaks than expected but they are chunky. Cloudy, dirty gold color.

Piney and weedy aroma. Slight tutti-fruity sweetness in the background.

Smooth and rich body. Neutral pale malt start, relatively dry. The hop bitterness dominates but is far short from overwhelming. The finish well-balanced, leaving a moderate length aftertaste. No notable alcohol makes this a dangerous beer--it's so smooth throughout.

 

05/01/21 can @ Cam’s (Beer Advocate’s IPA Fest in Cyberspace)

Hazy Deep orange liquid

Creamy one finger foam , settles to a ring with layered rings

Tropical aroma

Tropical taste, hint of grapefruit

Gentle hop bite , medium sudsing

Good beer

Part of 2021 BeerAdvocate Virtual IPA fest. Poured from a can into a tulip. Pours cloudy orange yellow with a fluffy white head. Smells of milky citrus with tropical fruit. Tastes of citrus and tropical fruit hops, very nice balance. Beer is light bodied and very easy drinking for the ABV, good carbonation. Overall, a very good beer.

 

Look: Gorgeous golden haze.
Smell: Pineapple definitely comes through.
Taste: Really nice tropical notes.
Feel: A little fizzy on the palate. Bright in the mouth, super clean.

Overall: Wow, Edgar, just crushed this one. Super well balanced all around for a TIPA. Great work.