Hopasaurus Rex
McKenzie Brewing Company

 

19.2oz can from Beer Emporium Corvallis. Light cloudy golden pour with a thin foamy head. No hazy here, a classic NW DIPA all the way. Aroma is light sweet malts and piney hops. Taste brings caramel flavors before a thick layer of piney hops covers the palate. Bitter finish.

Look: Cloudy dark orange to amber in color with a huge billowing white head that forms a creamy pillow up top and slowly recedes, leaving behind sticky lacing
Aroma: Resinous hop flowers, grapefruit, pine sap, bready malt, some grassiness, and although still cold, not getting any alcohol heat
Taste: Follows nose well – huge pine needles and sap notes, citrus fruit flesh and rind, chewy hop flowers, and earthy and grassy notes galore. Malt keeps a lid on things – or tries – and is ever-present throughout and closes with a big and bold hop bite and some alcohol heat
Mouthfeel: Full – flirting with chewy, medium-high carbonation, and a strong hop bite as well as being quite dry on the finish
Overall: I dig it. This is big, bold, and screams throwback WCDIPA throughout. Citrus/pine hops dominate on top of a huge bready malt body and a good punch of alpha acids and booze leave little doubt of the 9.5% ABV. Damn, I would have tried to crush several of these in my younger years and glad something like this is still around. If you can handle it and like big and unapologetic C-hopped imperial IPAs, this one will be up your alley. Recommended

Hazy deep gold with one finger of cream color head. Lots of fine bubble lace as the levels drop.
Smell is bready malts with some floral hops.
Taste is sweet malts with a somewhat lower hop flavors. Orange zest and some mild pine.
Mouthfeel is medium to full with just enough carbonation. The finish is balanced or maybe slightly malt forward.
Overall a decent DIPA wish the hops were a bit more interesting though. The label says 100 IBUs. I would have guessed more like 65IBUs. Note date on can.

Well made. Exquisite. Delicious. The double IPA is my favorite (flavorful) and most admired (hard to make) beer style. So much that can go wrong making the DIPA which is why I'm always delighted to find a good one. Key to this style is balance, and this brew is just that, balanced. Easy to drink, warm, and enjoyable. I can see why this beer is becoming their flagship. Never disappointing. Easier on the tongue than it is on the waist-line, but worth the indulgence.

Dark amber brew with enthusiastic foam in the Ciney snifter. Quite sudsy sloshing over the tongue. Mouthfeel is sharp and spritzy. Malty body but not overly sweet. Vivid aroma of peach and mango. Really peachy, pickled in booze.

Flavor is massive malt somehow subdued by monstrous hops. Plenty bitter as the fruit melts in your mouth, but it passes away as the alcohol works on the throat. This is a big velvet hammer of a double IPA. Actually, nothing scientific, I’d call it a triple for how the hops and alcohol and malt all crowd together in a delicious onslaught of the senses. From the 22 oz bottle purchased at Central Market north of Seattle. Label says 9.5% ABV.

Purchased on 11/30/2016 from Whole Foods Market Eugene, OR. Bottle date unavailable.

Poured a golden, syrup colored hue with a white rocky head. The head lingered and the lacing was pronounced throughout consumption. The aroma consisted of predominant malt, syrup, with a moderate herb character. This doesn't seem to be a classic "C" hop PNW IPA, but an imperial that accentuates the malt character and leaves the bitter hop to make the big statement.
Taste is much of the same. Primarily a heavy malt backbone with a powerful earthy bitterness that drives its way onto the palette. After a few sips the powerful bitter settles nicely into what I would expect from an imperial.
The mouthfeel is full, pleasant, and coats the palette well.
Overall this is a solid beer for the price ( around $5 I think?) Definitely nothing to write home about, but surprisingly easy to drink.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Served on tap into a shaker glass.

A- Poured a hazy dark orange color with off-white fluffy head that left webbed lacing.

S- Pungent grapefruit, some tropical notes, and sweet malt notes.

T- Quite a bit of pungent grapefruit and tropical hops, sweet caramel malt, and some alcohol in the taste with moderate bitterness.

M- Big warming, light burn, fuller bodied, and a little syrupy.

O- Lots of nice hop flavor and a ton of malt sweetness. It is a solid DIPA that doesn't hide the booze all that well.