Rotting Earth (Purple Edition)
Abomination Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

 

It's like one of those real saccharine DDH IIPA's, minus the saccharinity. Quite an experience. The mouthfeel, the aroma, the look, the hop notes, it all points towards those overly-saccharine DDH IIPA's that I dislike. So I was pleasantly surprised when I swallowed her down and didn't get that sickly-rich syrupy kind of taste that such IPA's normally have. This is really wonderful, actually. I've always admired everything else about those aforementioned IIPA's, but could barely experience them from behind a wall of sickly rich saccharinity. Now that Abomination tore down that wall, I can taste all the other notes that such IIPA's offer. The true brightness of the malt and hops shines through. It's really pretty cool. 'Tis quite a drink to behold. However, there is this overall murkiness and I can't tell if it's intentional or not. Perhaps it's not the freshest DDH IIPA... it's a bit hard to tell when Abomination won't put "canned on" dates on their cans, which is a big strike against them, or any brewery that forgoes said practice, in my book. Make sure to pour the whole can into your glass as soon as possible -- it definitely seems to be a beer that has settled towards the bottom in the can. The aforementioned "murkiness" balances out much more nicely once this is done.
Definitely worth at least one purchase of a 4-pack for any true lover of great DDH IIPA's. Well... I paid $21 for the 4-pack of tall boys, which is pretty steep for what this ale is offering. $16-$17 would have been much more appropriate. This conundrum, again, BEGS for a "value" rating category on this website!