RoboHop American Double IPA
Great Lakes Brewery

At my lady Pamela's house; canned and chilled, 473mL in a pint glass. From my favourite LCBO at Tecumseh Mall in nearby Windsor. Best before August/26. My 28th beer from the Etobicoke, Ontario brewery, and 11th for 2026. Audaciously adored by Gracie the cat...

Feb 17 2026

Look: Pours a opaque bright golden orange ginger with a 2 finger tightly bubbled white head. The head pulls back to a 1/3 of a finger after 5 minutes leaving little lacing.

Smell: Oranges, apricots and shortbread fill out the sweet side of the smell, with some dry piney almost medicinal notes as well.

Taste: Grapefruit rinds, and plenty of pine on the front end. Mid sip tastes sharp and antiseptic, before finishing dry and tangy.

Feel: Medium bodied playing hard and sharp on the front and sides of the tongue and the top of the palette. Dry and sharp with an acidic profile.

This almost seems built around GLB's flagship Octopus Wants to Fight, but the Double Octo is far more satisfying DIPA for my tastes. I give this a B.

 

 

Pours golden orange with very nice collar that lasted well. Nose is full forward fruity orange with light grasses. Fizzy start ends with decent aftertaste of hoppy oats. All round a decent brew.

 

 

Part of Great Lakes Tank Ten series.

Appearance - Pours a clear copper with four fingers of frothy white head.

Smell - piney, earthy, leafy, floral, hint of citrus hops, pine resin, grapefruit peel, bready malts, caramel, and earthy yeast.

Taste - piney, earthy, leafy, floral, and hint of citrus hops upfront. The pine resin, grapefruit peel, bready malts, and caramel follow suit. The earthy yeast finishes off the brew. Nice balance between hops and malts.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Finishes sticky with the hops and malts lingering.

Overall - An exceptionally balanced and highly drinkable American Imperial IPA that displays the bitterness of the hops and the sweetness from the hops. Considering the ABV of this brew, this is a dangerously drinkable brew. Another great brew from the folks at Great Lakes!

 

Got in a BIF from Coronaeus. 16 ounce can into tulip glass, best before 3/28/2019. Pours lightly hazy medium golden amber color with a 1 finger dense and rocky off white head with great retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice dense foamy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of tangerine, red grapefruit, lemon, peach, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, honeydew melon, guava, gooseberry, citrus peel/rind, wood, mint, peppercorn, pine, cracker, white bread dough, lightly toasted biscuit, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance and complexity of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and bready malt notes; with solid strength. Taste of big tangerine, red grapefruit, lemon, peach, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, honeydew melon, guava, gooseberry, citrus peel/rind, wood, mint, peppercorn, pine, cracker, white bread dough, lightly toasted biscuit, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness. Moderate pine, citrus peel/rind, herbal, woody, grassy, peppery bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of tangerine, red grapefruit, lemon, peach, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, honeydew melon, guava, gooseberry, citrus peel/rind, wood, mint, peppercorn, pine, cracker, white bread dough, lightly toasted biscuit, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a while. Great complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and bready malt flavors; with a great malt/bitterness balance, and no lingering hop astringency after the finish. Moderate increasing dryness from lingering bitterness. Medium carbonation and medium-plus body; with a very smooth, moderately creamy/bready, and sticky/resinous/rindy balanced mouthfeel that is great. Minimal warming alcohol for 8.5%. Overall this is a delicious DIPA. All around nice complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and bready malt flavors; very smooth and easy to drink for the ABV, with the moderately bitter/resinous/drying finish; not overly aggressive. Feels like a lot of Columbus/Citra. Very juicy, vibrant, and fairly dank/earthy hops; great balancing bready oat/malt backbone. Mild residual sweetness with lingering resin dryness. A very enjoyable offering, well made, and classic tasting West coast style example.

 

 

Pours a very slightly hazy amber colour; a little more orange than some other IPAs I've been enjoying lately. Tall foamy head fades rather quickly to almost nothing. Little lacing while drinking. Aroma not all that enticing; reminds me of Mosaic Promise from Founders - not a fan. Can't put my finger on any aromas specifically. I would say the taste is dominated by spice & pine notes from the hops with a good mix of sweet bready malts. Not much in the fruit department save a little sour orange. Booze flavour & heat is evident - something I've come to not expect for an 8.5% IPA. Overall - not bad - but not great either. I'd drink it, but there are plenty of others I prefer atm.

Copper and slightly hazy with lots of carbonation and 3 fingers of off white head.

Smells of peaches, pineapple and pine, with a solid dank quality.

The taste follows the nose, but is much deeper, sweeter, floral and danker, with a clean linen quality.

Medium body, lots of carbonation. The ABV is well hidden, but apparent and burning in the throat.

Got this in Orillia, drinking in Muskoka, Apil 20th, 2018. Great taste, unique feel.

 

There's a natural haze to its rich honey gold body. The two inches of white head that sits on top is sticky and frothy, leaving thick streaks of lace behind.

The hop lean is towards sappy evergreen and earthy pine. Fresh lemon zest is elevating and bright while pithy grapefruit mingles with the resin. Chewy biscuit is the most perceivable barley character. It's pillowy and tucked at the back.

Similar to the aroma, this DIPA is more dank than anything. A mellow base of biscuit and light toast sweetens the grapefruit skin and softens the lemon. Pine needles pull through the finish along with evergreen infused sap. Slightly sweet ethanol adds a brightness and intensity that stops it from becoming too sticky and heavy.

A below average level of CO2 accentuates the weight of its medium-full body. There's a soft creamy texture to it that I love. The alcohol helps dry out the finish. The warming sensation it imparts lingers much longer than its bitterness.

I've found myself really enjoying the IPA/DIPAs that don't fall into the fruit juice, lupulin powder, triple dry hopped, jacked with lactose, yeast slurry haze craze category, as this style of IPA is becoming less common. I like everything the sugar addition does to this beer; packaging it up, drying it out, and elevating the hop flavor. A real sneaker as one more can change the tone of the night.

 

 

Can't beat this imperial IPA. Amazing citrus taste without overdoing it. Can't get enough!