Douple Ipa
Bristol Brewing Company

Douple IpaDouple Ipa
Beer Geek Stats | Print Shelf Talker
From:
Bristol Brewing Company
 
Colorado, United States
Style:
Imperial IPA
ABV:
Not listed
Score:
90
Avg:
4.08 | pDev: 10.05%
Reviews:
17
Ratings:
17
Status:
Retired
Rated:
May 05, 2008
Added:
Feb 27, 2006
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  0
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Domingo:
Photo of Domingo
Reviewed by Domingo from Colorado

4.1/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5
This is now part of Bristol's "Edge City" line and comes in 22oz bombers. Of note, it's 10.9% ABV and claims to contain 29 varieties of hops in it!
Pours a murky brown/red color. If someone handed it to me, I'd say it it was a filtered dunkel-weiss. I think some of the murkiness is from all of the hop oils in it. With no effort at all it formed a really nice 1.5" head that laced the glass and stuck around until I was done.
Smell is VERY hoppy. Unlike anything I've ever really had, too. Stong pine smells, but with a little sweetness.
Flavors range from immediate puckering bitterness to a lot of sweetness in the finish. As this one warms, you start to get the various hop dimensions contained within. Pine, flowers, sweet malt, and even a little cherry in there. My fiancé claimed it had a green olive flavor to her (and she likes hops), which was different, but still a good thing. Alcohol's definitely present, but it's not nearly as pronounced as you'd expect from something this powerful.
Mouthfeel's perfect. A nice mix of a thick head, but still keeping the body thin enough to drink.
For a beer that's nearly 11%, this brew hides it well. I don't think it feels much more potent that a normal IPA. The catch is, the flavor isn't something you're going to want a ton of.
This is one of only 2-3 beers I've had from Bristol, but I'm highly impressed. If their other premium items (like Skull & Bones) are even 1/2 this good, they're doing something right down there.
Easily among the best DIPA's I've had!
Jun 18, 2006
More User Ratings:
Photo of rye726
Reviewed by rye726 from Colorado

4.5/5  rDev +10.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Amber color with a silky tan head. Nice bubbling from the glass.

Delicious bouquet of hops folowed by a complex and rich malt profile. Really opens up as it warms.

Enjoy at cellar temp or warmer. This is an amazing brew. This and the cuvee's are the breweries true assets. Bready candy malts with a salad of ripe fruits. Then the hops. What can I say? Simply delicious.

Creamy body with light but present carbonation.

This is a near perfect Double IPA. Huge malt and hop structures create vast complexity while remaining in perfect balance.
May 05, 2008
Photo of jwc215
Reviewed by jwc215 from Arizona

4.17/5  rDev +2.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Pours hazy amber with a thin head that leaves slight traces of lacing.

The smell is of citrus and resin with a grainy, bready background.

The taste is of citrus/resin/pine with a grainy/bready background that keeps the hops forward but balanced. A touch of warming alcohol mixes in in the bittersweet finish.

It is full-bodied and warming. Flavors hang on.

This is a DIPA with a nice hop profile with enough balance to it. Tasty, and drinkable despite growing alcohol presence.

Thanks to jcwattsrugger for bringing this one back and sharing it! It's a goody!
Oct 13, 2007
Photo of ArrogantB
Reviewed by ArrogantB from Colorado

3.56/5  rDev -12.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Golden and hazy with the stickiest of frothy white heads. The head left a sticky white film all over the glass; impressive. It smells hoppy, sticky, and awesome. Not quite a west coast IPA but still very hoppy, which makes sense considering the 29 fucking varieties of hops in this beer. The alcohol is well hidden which I like because I can get a good buzz and not taste the bullshit alcohol. Good, but not quite awesome which means I am better than this beer.
Jul 23, 2007
Photo of ChrisA
Reviewed by ChrisA from Florida

3.97/5  rDev -2.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
I very much wanted to rate this beer higher. Perhaps I drank this at the wrong point of the evening, which was after having three other very high ABV beers. I loved the hop nose (over 29 varieties as per the label). The hops on the palate were even better. Unfortunately at 10.9% ABV, this tends to run a bit thick on the back end. It was just a wee heavy for that portion of my "session". I know this is a fantastic brew and if I were to drink it again, I would make it a single sitting to enjoy the full 22 ounce bomber.
Jul 02, 2007
Photo of russpowell
Reviewed by russpowell from Arkansas

4.71/5  rDev +15.4%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5
I figure I need to round out the trinity & review this on growler/draft. Since I was still on the clock, Growler it is!

This year's is a 11% abv beauty. Pours a semi-hazed caramel with 3 fingers of fluffed up beige colored head. Cleared & left insane lacing & head retention

S: Piney hops & booze.

T: Huge breadyness. herbal, piney & citrus hops up front. A hint of boozewarmth follows. Finishes fruitty, herbal, citrussy, & piney hoppy with giant breadyness& a hint of brown sugar

MF: Rich, chewy & resiny, with perfect carbonation to flex the hop/malt biceps of this monster

Drinks way too easy for the style, a superior nice example of the style. Don't drink this, this way I can keep it all:). I prefer the 1.5, but not by much. Another success story for Bristol!
Apr 13, 2007
Photo of aaronh
Reviewed by aaronh from Pennsylvania

3.31/5  rDev -18.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
Deep orange body topped by an off white head. Aroma had more alcohol and malt sweetness than hops. There was a bit of citrus in there, but it took a back seat to the malt. Flavor is very sweet. Hops show their presence in both citrus rind and bitterness, but it's more about the malt. Mouthfeel is thick. Palate never gets a chance to rest, as the hop flavor lingers around as well. Drinkability is OK. High alcohol, a little unbalanced on the malt side, and bitterness that seems to work against the malt instead of in harmony with it make drinking a bomber of this a bit of a chore. Better than a bomber of Bud, sure, but there are better choices out there.
Feb 09, 2007
Photo of belgbeerdrinker
Reviewed by belgbeerdrinker from Colorado

4.05/5  rDev -0.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
a: copper color with head that retains some & gives some lace
s: spicy, hoppy smell
t: remind me of an american barleywine but with less of a strong finish, which is a good thing to me. starts bitter but finishes sweet -nice change-of-pace. nice warm alcohol feeling without the overpowering alchohol taste.
m: medium body with good carbonation.
d: almost too easy to drink given high abv, but i really enjoyed this one from bristol.

coming out of co springs, it's too bad it's not well distributed up north in the denver area.
Feb 01, 2007
Photo of benito
Reviewed by benito from Oregon

3.81/5  rDev -6.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5
I bought a bomber of this back in July and cellared it until now. When I took my first sip of Bristol's biggest bottled brew (save the soon-to-be-released behemoth XXX Warlock), I could have sworn that I was drinking a Sierra Nevada Bigfoot.

This beer, part of the Edge City series, has the strength and complex hop profile of a strong American barleywine, and six months in my cellar may have helped the malt backbone really shine through in the finish by giving the hops time to mellow. The flavor has nice overtones of oak and vanilla, and it hides its strength well. I wish this had a slightly stronger malt base, as there were a few times when I found it to feel surprisingly thin.

Nonetheless it's a DIPA that hides its potency under the dangerous cloak of easy drinkability. Highly recommended to anyone who can find a bottle.
Jan 15, 2007
Photo of Gueuzedude
Reviewed by Gueuzedude from Arizona

4.15/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Pours with an almost three-finger thick, tan colored head that has some staying power to it and even leaves a pretty, layered lacing pattern on the sides of my glass as it slowly subsides. The beer is a brilliantly clear, bright red amber color, that shows an orangish tinge when held up to the light. The aroma is clearly hop dominated with bright citrus notes leading the way. Aromatic notes of sweet tangerine, bergamot, lychee, and mandarin orange are all here. There is a touch of herbal, pine-like character here (especially as one digs around a bit), but only just so as the aroma is quite smooth and citrusy overall (even almost a candied citrus character).

The taste is sweet and citrusy up front; notes of ruby-red grapefruit are quite prominent in the flavor. It has a nice, biting hop bitterness to it, but not so much that it becomes overly noticeable. This double IPA has chosen to focus on hop flavors and aromatics, which I prefer, rather than a dominating hop bitterness. Herbaceous, a touch of menthol and even a little bit of pine character round out the hop flavors. Clearly the citrus notes dominate though, notes of grapefruit, zesty oranges, fresh lychees and fragrant tangerine character are among the suite of citrus flavors. It is interesting how sweet I perceive this beer to be; much of it is a sweet fruitiness from the citrus-like hops because the malt is not all that noticeable. In fact this beer is quite quaffable and has quite a light mouthfeel, especially when compared to some of the sticky, way too chewy, double IPAs being made these days.

This is certainly aggressively hoppy, and even could be characterized as raw by someone who is more sensitive to hop character. I am quite enjoying this, and I really like how smooth the "aggressive" hop character is in this beer. This is one of those big beers that I am quite happy that it is in the 22oz format; a perfectly quaffable amount for this enjoyable brew. It is not light (in either the palate or mouthfeel department), but is certainly far from heavy. The beer coats my mouth with a palate coating note, yet still . As time goes on, the alcohol becomes quite a bit more apparent in the nose, but is still quite manageable. Speaking of alcohol, I just checked out the avb of this brew, I never would have guessed this was 10.9% by the flavor, it certainly hides it quite well.
Dec 07, 2006
Photo of warriorsoul
Reviewed by warriorsoul from Pennsylvania

3.5/5  rDev -14.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Big thanks to mikeys01 for this one...never even heard of it until it arrived on my doorstep.
Hazy copper in color with a full finger and a half of off-white head...half disappears right away, but some thin, yet sticky lacing hangs around.
Pink grapefruit, citrus hops in the nose...caramel malt balances out the nose with just a hint of alcohol.
The flavor is definitely in your face with almost every aspect of the brew...boat-load of citrus hops with a huge, overly sweet maltiness to finish out. The alcohol is definitely there, but not too distracting...along with the sweetness, is just as much bitterness, it is just not feeling "balanced" for a double IMO.
Mouthfeel is slightly cloying and the mouthfeel is quite carbonated.
Not gonna be easy to throw back a bomber of this one, but I'll manage somehow.
Oct 10, 2006
Photo of Beaver13
Reviewed by Beaver13 from Colorado

3.6/5  rDev -11.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
22 oz bottle. Pours a golden orange with a large fluffy white head that retains well and laces the glass.

The aroma is very sweet with pine, pepper and fruitiness and a little DMS.

The flavor is sweet sugary melon-ey malts followed by some spicy peppery pine. The finish is a subdued hop bitterness - kind of underwhelming for an IIPA. The alcohol is fairly well hidden but it sneaks up on you. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with some sharp carbonation.

Overall, this was decent, but a little unbalanced towards sweetness. I would've like to have seen a bigger hop bang. This seemed more like an English-style barleywine than a DIPA.
Jul 09, 2006
Photo of warmstorage
Reviewed by warmstorage from California

4.26/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
22 ounce bomber, $5 at Bristol, poured into beer clean pint glass. Simple label, prinetd on side with "Double IPA", and a small paper tag hanging over the neck of the bottle with some details about the beer, like 29 hop varieties, and 10.9% ABV. Tasted, notes made, and rated twice, from two different bombers, the two experiences are basically identical.

Medium copper, retains limited, dense head, some lace remains on side of glass.

Aroma is limited, especially for the style, and hints at malty alcohol. Comes arounda bit more as it warms to near room temperature, but still too limited for such a huge hop and alcohol beer.

Taste is just absolutely damn lovely. Hops, hops, and more hops! I certainly can't taste all 29 varieties, but it's an intensely complex hop taste: every imagineable hop character might be found in here: grassy, floral, citrus, spicy, herbal, earthy, bright, resin/piney, lemon, grapefruit, perfume-y. In fact, if anything, my only real criticism of the taste is that it's almost too busy. (I wonder if I'd sense all the hop tastes, though, if I hadn't already read the label stating 29 hop varieties: probably not.)

Taste also has a distinctly warming alcohol, and malty fullness/sweetness, but the alcohol is not at all overwhelming, especially given the stated 10.9% ABV. Tingly mouthfeel, with a tingly spiciness. An immensely drinkable beer for how huge it is, on all counts.

Finishes and lingers long, with hops lingering, and resin back coming out more fully, rather than just as one of the many hop flavors.

A delightful beer, good both for style, and overall drinking. It's about 92 degrees right now while I'm drinking this, and it's immensely refreshing. (I know, I know: I'm a freak.) I'd buy it again in a heartbeat when I return to Bristol, and I'm glad I bought all three bottles they had in the cooler.
Jul 02, 2006
Photo of orbitalr0x
Reviewed by orbitalr0x from Illinois

4.42/5  rDev +8.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
The Bristol Brewing Edge City Double IPA pours from the 22oz bomber into my tulip glass a cascade of opaque, hazy orange/amber liquid with a healthy inch of creamy white foam firmly on top. The deep, rich color draws me in. Aromas are an all out assault of hops. 29 variaties to be exact. It plays a guessing game with my nose as I'm picking out piney, citrusy, earthy, spicy and green herbal notes all at the same time. Fresh, wet hop cones come to mind and with this resinous aroma you'd think they'd be floating in the beer. A definite grapefruit and citrus peel comes through even moreso on closer examination with an underlying bready, caramel maltiness. Quite a treat for the senses.

First sip brings a sweet bready, slightly caramelized maltiness followed quickly in suit by a blast of leafy green hop goodness. Lots of citrus rind and grapefruity notes swirling around along with a plethora of earhty, herbal, resinous character. Hop soup you might say! Flows down with a bit of alcohol on the way down. Lingering hoppy bitterness hangs on after each sip. A seriously tasty and unique double IPA.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied with a bit of prickly carbonation on the way down that gives the brew an arid quality. No clue on the abv here but it's nicely hidden with only a slight twang on the way down. Almost goes down too easily. A tasty DIPA from Bristol. Thanks to Crosling for sending this one my way, well worth your time to check this one down if you're a fan of big DIPA's.
Jul 01, 2006
Photo of Bitterbill
Reviewed by Bitterbill from Wyoming

4.37/5  rDev +7.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
Poured from 22oz bomber a hazy reddish gold with a large head of foam that shrinks quickly but leaves a solid layer for the entire session.

The smell is intensely hoppy but there's an immense amount of sweet malt nose there as well. Wow.

The taste is huge malt *and* hops....the malt is *very* sweet, lots of caramel notes and I find that works well on my palate and then.... the hops kicks in with a ton of bitterness that ranges from big time grapefruit to small doses of grassiness.

Hehe...This is a very nice DIPA that, imho, probably is in the 10%abv range but does a very good job of putting the flavour on center stage and the alcohol content in to the background.. I recommend it if you can find it.

Bottom line: A DIPA worth seeking out. I look forward to trying more Bristol offerings!
Jun 18, 2006
Photo of znarf
Reviewed by znarf from Wisconsin

4.79/5  rDev +17.4%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Have been told that this brew is available only on tap. This make sense since they had it on nitro. Hop, citrus and potent. Hop lovers will not be disappointed. No food (pretzels only) at the pub. Fun experience at the brewery. As you enter be prepared to a waft of yeast aroma. Home town feel with world class beer. Note: Have never witnessed more growler exchanges than at this place. That allone speaks to the beer quality.
Jun 03, 2006
Photo of Crosling
Reviewed by Crosling from Colorado

4.1/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
Dark Red. Hoppy and nearly equally malty aroma with hints of apples and caramel and a brutal and intense scent of raw, resinous, piney hop buds. Indistinquishable hop flavors that just seems to meld together. Outrageously bitter. Masterful balancing of 29 different hops. A different but impressive DIPA.
Mar 15, 2006
Douple Ipa from Bristol Brewing Company
Beer rating: 90 out of 100 with 17 ratings