Double Play IPA
The Vermont Pub & Brewery

Poured into a tulip, the appearance was a golden orange color with a finger’s worth of white sticky head. Dissipates fairly slow. Then some lace. The aroma had a ton of caramel malty covered grapefruit bits with some honey. The flavor keeps to the sweetness of the blend of grapefruit to malt body. Smooth yet heavy sort of malty aftertaste with the same finish. On the palate, this one sat almost medium bodied, just a tad under with a mostly sipping quality about it. Good carbonation balancing against the bitterness and then a sturdy and agreeable ABV from what the brewer projected. Overall, tis good, I’d have again.

 

 

 

Served on-tap in an 10oz mug at Vermont Pub and Brewery (Burlington, VT).

A: Hazy golden with solid, sticky 1-finger off-white head with good retention and nice crusty lacing. (4)

S: Beautiful nose of mango, grapefruit, passionfruit, and orange with nice floral and a strong pine resin note as well. Maltiness is light caramel but mostly a light crackery grain note (4.25).

T: A delicious beer but I would not have wanted another one, but not because of flavor. The pine resin leads off but fades to a complex profile of fruit punchy flavors like passionfruit, mango, orange, and lime with a nice punch of grapefruit in the finish. No yeast and the alcohol is well-hidden. Very good flavor profile for sure.

M: The mouthfeel is not way off, but it does not finish as dry as it should. There is a sticky, oiliness that does not wash away, and the body is medium-full at least. The finish needs to be a lot drier to enhance the drinkability. Not bad, but just not where it needs to be in this area. (3.25)

O: If the mouthfeel improved, this would be a truly stellar find. As it is, it is still a very good beer that I am glad I had the chance to try -- a great nose with a superb flavor profile. Drying it out some more, and this would be a top-tier East Coast DIPA.

 

My previous rating was a slip of the finger on my phone.

This was a dangerously good IPA. Dangerous because it was 2pm and I was drinking a very good and rather strong IPA. It looked excellent, on par with the best DIPAs. The smell was just a tad lacking, I thought. The taste was heavy on citrus but the smell just wasn't quite there. I recall a very nice, dry finish to it, however, which I really like. The biggest bummer about this beer was that I could NOT get a growler of it to bring home. I really wish BA would make "Availability" a rank factor but, that aside, this was definitely worth the trip to the Vermont Pub & Brewery.