Skip's Imperial IPA
Boundary Bay Brewery & Bistro

taste- bitter finish

color- honey amber

clarity- cloudy

smell- fresh hops

body- mellow mouthfeel

appearance- off-white head

overall impression- easy drinker

notes and comments- hint of a double ipa but very subtle; well balanced. bought this beer in a 22oz. format at bottleworks in seattle in 2003.

Served in 10oz goblet at the brewery. Poured very dark for the style, a deep amber, and probably the darkest ImpIPA I've seen. Less than an inch of off-white head dissipated quickly leaving a moderate amount of lacing.

Solid and formidable hop aroma grabs the nose right away, featuring citrus with some pine on the finish. The flavors are likewise bold and strong, with a solid malt foundation for the hops to build upon.

Great body, much more substantial than many of the style. For a hop bomb, this beer is dangerously drinkable. Enjoy several but be prepared to walk home. A beer worth seeking out.

Notes: The information on this beer in the description is wrong. This is not a year-round brew from BB and is over 10% ABV, not 8.5. The brewery does not sell growlers of this beer and the current batch is selling for $6.00 for a 10oz pour.

Update on 9/11/09. The current batch of BBs ImpIPA is perhaps the best big IPA I've had. Yes, the flavors and quality vary with batch, but this batch puts most every hyped example of ImpIPA I've tried to shame.

Pliny the Elder, I'm looking at you. When you grow up, you want to be this beer. I admit that when BB misses, they are still very good. When they hit it, as with this batch, you will not find a better example of the style. I've never had Pliny the Younger, but for all the hype, I can't even begin to believe it would stand a chance against the fresh, local, flavor of this brew.

If there were a perfect example of the style, this would be it. I am very thankful for local humility, we don't need to unnecessarily pimp our shit.

If you're in the region, when there's a batch like this, there is no reason to miss it. Go out of your way if you need to, but get this beer.

Appearance - pours a straw to golden amber with some evidence of dry hopping
Smell - strong hop/citrus aroma
Taste- excellent hop to malt balance (more on the hops side for at IPA). Strong hop presence later in the taste.
Mouthfeel - excellent body with very little stickines
Drinkability- Very drinkable until the ABV catches up with you.

Appearance: Pours a medium amber body with a thin, white head.

Smell: Pungent grapefruit and floral aroma with some notes of caramel.

Taste: Sugary sweet caramel malts. Citrusy grapefruit taste kicks in. Some flowers. Moderate bitterness. Peppery alcohol taste on the finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium-plus body. Medium carbonation.

Drinkability: A decent Double IPA.

Stumbled into the Collins Bar near the Smith Tower, grabbed at the offer of a local DIPA, what a find.

Served in a large goblet, it was a hazy, golden color, almost milky amber. Not much head, but a ferocious nose that yelled fresh hops. Slightly piney and very citrusy, quite enjoyable.

Taste was complex, sweetness outweighing the bitterness but only by a little bit. The malt flavor was honey on toast, the hops were grapefruit under the pines. Alcohol was *very* well concealed, not at all apparent. The mouthfeel was smooth and medium- to full-bodied, not quite oily but leaning toward the syrupy.

Overall drinkability was very good, hindered only by the high ABV. This is a great sipping brew, each swallow renewing the pleasure. One would like to drink a few, but that would be at great peril :-)

Deep copper to amber colored topped by a thin white head. There is plenty of carbonation, so the head seems to be held by the alcohol content. The aroma has a huge grapefruit component with just a light touch of piney hops. The flavor has a ton of the grapefruit, a little herb character balanced by light caramel sweetness. There is a little alcohol heat on the finish. The mouth feel is a bit sticky sweet. This beer needs a little more balance, but it really holds up well with the spicy entree I had.

This beer pours a slighty hazy orange body with a foamy white head. Aroma is that of hops but more intense than most other beers, it's like smelling a fresh hop cone. The taste is hops to be sure but there is a little sweet malt detectable in there for sure. This beer is medium bodied and highly drinkable for the ABV.

Served from a Growler, apparently quite fresh from the brewery, courtesty of BA Jreitman as part of the GIF trade. Appearance is a nice orangey amber with a hearty head of light tan froth. Seems to be just a bit of particulate hops floating around in there too. Aroma is a lone grapefruit tree in a pine forest, surrounded by sugar cane, sweet and caramely. Taste immerses you immediately in floral and piney hop bitterness, followed shortly by plentiful pale malt and sweet caramel flavor. Quite smooth, finish leaves you with just a bit of bitterness and a craving for more. Very well done and very drinkable double IPA, the ABV only became apparent after a couple incredible glasses of this fine hop nectar.

Many little floaties swirl around the glass with this big IPA. Fruity hops dominate, with an overall dryness. Typical of the big west coast IPA in flavor. I enjoyed this very much, and the ABV is very well hidden in the taste. Not as "clean" as Alesmith or Two Hearted, as the mouthfeel is a little chewy, and the finish is a little dry. I would have no problem drinking this consistently if it were available. Thanks again, Rick. Youz guys up there make some damn good beer!

The beer pours beclouded deep amber to copper color, the head is pythonic in size, frothy in texture and a winsome light tan color, the lace is a thick sealing sheet to obscure the glass, heavily loaded with dross both in suspension and coating the bottom of the glass, “Yummy for the Tummy”. Nose is dominated by the citrus like crispness of the hops, malt sweet underneath, oh so fresh and clean this most marvelous of noses, start is sweet, thick and rich with malt, the top full and plentiful in its feel to the palate. Finish has a stern acidity, hops power their way pass the carbonation to blast your taste buds in to life, sweet and tart, dry and refreshing the aftertaste that lingers on for a long time, a fantastic beer, a great new brewery to me, ah the thrill of “Beer”.

It's a somewhat murky copper. Near the end of the bottle, seemingly thousands of tiny bits of yeast make their way into the glass, giving it a snow-globe appearance. The hops expode out of the neck of the bottle as soon as the cap is off. After the nose recovers from the hop blast, just a trace of grassy smell is detectable. Fortunately, the grassy smell doesn't carry over to the flavor. It's a very nice, hoppy IPA, with enough malt backbone to hold its own. The 8.5% abv certainly doesn't slap you in the face, contributing to the drinkability.

This beer was served in a glass. It had a grassy/apple cidery look to it which may have been from the lighting in the place but I thought it to be a little strange. The smell was definately hoppy. It had a great hop aroma that was grassy but yet somewhat fruity. Good robust flavor that was malty but yet pretty bitter. Not to sweet and well balanced. Kind of a palate shock if you are trying to eat and drink at the same time. My only dislike of the taste was that it had the typical yeast flavor that makes all the BB beers end with the same taste.

Got a glass of this while back in Bellingham. Somewhat muted straw color with a fairly roudy head. Bubbles of all size cap the beer. The aroma is a mix of grass and citrus, but not too overpowering. Malt follows the smell as well, and provides a welcoming sniff.

Taste nearly balances the malt richness with the abundant hops, though a slight sour bitterness follows the flavor. There's a plentiful bready feel, and a very familiar yeast taste to the beer which makes it a Boundary brew.

A glass of this is a good serving size, and it lasted me through my meal, which is complimented well.

Appearance – This was poured from the tap to the top of the glass, so I didn’t get a chance to see how it heads up. However, the beer itself was a deep, beautiful brown.

Smell – I could smell this beer from across the room. The complex hop flavors were sharp and inviting.

Taste – This reminded me of the fancy hop work done by Stone Brewery. There seems to be a little malt in there for balance, but mostly this beer is about the big, quality, complex hop flavors from start to finish. This is a hophead’s dream.

Mouthfeel – There was just enough carbonation to keep this one interesting.

Drinkability – This 8.5 ABV went down smooth as silk without a whiff or taste of alcohol. They serve this on tap at the beer store that I frequent, so I usually have a pint while doing my beer shopping for the week.

Had this at the Viking. Don't really get the "Imperial" bit. Was a very orange-copper color. Very citrusy odor. Taste was very hoppy (big shock) and tart, like a big glass of fruit juice, winding up with a buttery finish. This was nice after having walked a mile in upper 80s heat.