King MacAlpin Double IPA
Highland Brewing

King MacAlpin Double IPAKing MacAlpin Double IPA
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From:
Highland Brewing
 
North Carolina, United States
Style:
Imperial IPA
ABV:
10%
Score:
90
Avg:
4.06 | pDev: 8.13%
Reviews:
21
Ratings:
59
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Jan 11, 2017
Added:
Jul 17, 2015
Wants:
  9
Gots:
  15
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by smakawhat:
Photo of Smakawhat
Reviewed by Smakawhat from Maryland

3.75/5  rDev -7.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
Poured from the bottle into a Spiegelau IPA glass. Filled July 9th 2015.

Deep bronze amber, very clear and nearly crystal. Fine lines of slow rising carbonation through the glass. Head is creamy to frothy with an off white yellow brown tinged color. Sitting three fingers, and slowly sinking to two in a single line. Some swiss cheese like fine bubbles, but a creamy top prevails.

Aroma is interesting. Deep woody earth, herbal slightly and some toasty notes and mild sweetness of caramel. Nothing really is overpowering, not even that hop forward but it's all very nicely balanced. Slight hints of mint as well, with a classic evergreen quality.

Palate manages a bit more sugar sweet than expected. Heavy notes of sweet caramel, a slight punch of hop bitterness with pine and minty qualities. Finishes quite hot, nearly sulfur-y with a good amount of alcohol like sugars and sweetness. Good amounts of tea like softness after some time, but there's a lingering harsh bitter quality to the hop finish. Feels slightly thick and oil a bit as well.

Even at this age, still has some good hop flavor and punch, but the alcohol kick on this really needs to be dialed down to make it more enjoyable.
Oct 16, 2015
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4.09 by West_Chester_Ale_Tester from Ohio

Jan 11, 2017
 
Rated: 4.19 by 13tido from North Carolina

Dec 31, 2016
Photo of cjgator3
Reviewed by cjgator3 from Florida

4.51/5  rDev +11.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
12oz bottle poured into a snifter. The aroma is fantastic with a lot of citrus and pine from he hops. The taste has a big sweet malt backbone with a nice lingering bitterness from the hops.
Nov 12, 2016
 
Rated: 3.54 by BMBCLT from South Carolina

Nov 10, 2016
 
Rated: 3.4 by Kegatron from Pennsylvania

Oct 06, 2016
Photo of pathman
Rated by pathman from Ohio

4.5/5  rDev +10.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
10/4/16 bottle (bottled 8/17/16); Chinook, Amarillo, Simcoe, Centennial
Oct 05, 2016
Photo of BB1313
Reviewed by BB1313 from Ohio

3.83/5  rDev -5.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.75
Bottled on 8/17/16. 12oz bottle poured into a tulip. Pours golden with nice transparency; fluffy off-white head that falls leaving great retention and sticky lacing. The aromas have tons of pine. Lots of citrus and some subtle tropical notes as well. Orange and melon is there. The pine notes really shine. Malts are there and blend well with the hops. The flavors are bold and clean. Lots of fresh grass and pine needles. Orange and grapefruit is there. There's also some melon and watermelon in the mix. The malts are there, but the hop bitterness seems to shine. This one has a nice crisp and sharp bitterness. It finishes dry. The alcohol is well hidden. It's not hot or boozy at all. It's dangerously drinkable. Mouthfeel is very nice. It's on the lighter side of full-bodied with active carbonation. It's very smooth and easy to drink.

This is a nice DIPA. I've had alot of DIPAs with a similar hop profile that come off as solid, but there's something about this one that I really like. It's very clean and refreshing for being such a big brew. It might not be "flashy", but the craftsmanship is very impressive. It's a nice traditional example of the style. It's very enjoyable and fun to drink.
Oct 04, 2016
 
Rated: 4.21 by CavemanRamblin from North Carolina

Oct 04, 2016
 
Rated: 4.37 by zachthelaxer93 from South Carolina

Sep 28, 2016
 
Rated: 4.33 by Dave1999 from North Carolina

Sep 18, 2016
 
Rated: 4.27 by RochefortChris from North Carolina

Sep 15, 2016
Photo of macrosmatic
Reviewed by macrosmatic from Florida

3.64/5  rDev -10.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Reviewed from (long-standing) notes. Poured from a 12 oz. bottle into a Cycle Brewing pint glass.

A: Nice gold color. Mildly hazy, especially for the style. Forms a half-finger of white dense head with good retention despite fairly low visible carbonation.

S: Resinous pine, caramelized bready malts, mildl dank and grassy hops, and an even lesser note of citrus pith.

T: Pine, sticky resin, caramel malts with extra biscuity sweetness. Some vegetal hops and bits of citrus rind. It finishes with caramel and a bit of ethanol sweetness along with the resinous bitter in hang.

M: Medium-bodied, alcohol content obvious but not obnoxiously hot. Carbonation sensation on the low side.

O: Not a bad beer – while there's a good bit of caramel flavor to the malt it's not quite overly sweet. It's a pretty old school hop profile – none of the melon or tropical notes that are becoming more prevalent. Still, I prefer the DIPAs with the cleaner malt body, more attenuated, and a different hop profile. But this is more than drinkable.
Sep 01, 2016
 
Rated: 3.92 by TheDogHouse from Florida

Jan 30, 2016
 
Rated: 4.1 by BeerBeast from Florida

Nov 02, 2015
 
Rated: 3.75 by khargro2 from Tennessee

Oct 27, 2015
 
Rated: 3.94 by hopkrid from Florida

Oct 09, 2015
Photo of mntlover
Reviewed by mntlover from Tennessee

4.24/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Pours a clear brass colored with a thumb sized off white head

Aroma is nice big aromas boozy rich caramel malts, lots of pine resins, grapefruit rinds, tobacco notes, sticky kind bud.

Taste is like the nose big malt backbone, good boozy notes that add instead of distract. Big bitterness pine, grapefruit rinds, pepper spice, some good herbal notes. This is one big brew almost a old ale more then a double IPA. Very tasty brew, hope the listing as a brewed once is a mistake.

Mouthfeel is big medium approaching full, carbonation is pretty mellow with a pep in the finish.

Overall like this brew a big kick your taste buds with bitterness and malt goodness.
Oct 04, 2015
 
Rated: 4 by Brewsed from North Carolina

Sep 24, 2015
Photo of SPLITGRIN
Reviewed by SPLITGRIN from Kentucky

4.24/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Head stands at a solid inch of egg shell off white creamy foam that fades as fast as I type this first sentence. Body is a deep rich amber tone that is perfect for a DIPA. Nose is big with piercing resin based hops, medicinal alcohol and a noticeable malt backbone. With first the resin of these hops really coat the tongue. You get both pine and sappy resinous hop notes. It brightens with a little bit of sweetness that is supplied from the strong malt backbone. This beer is big but has amazing drinkability and balance for such a monster Double IPA.
Sep 10, 2015
King MacAlpin Double IPA from Highland Brewing
Beer rating: 90 out of 100 with 59 ratings