Hoptimum

Hoptimum is awesome. I'll agree that last year's couldn't hold a candle to this year's. Last year's was a good beer for sure, but this year's is superb. I've still not had a Pliny, but throwing Hoptimum in the scale of highly hyped IPAs I've had, it'd have to fall Heady-Topper > Hoptimum > Abrasive > Hopslam. For reference I'd probably stick Double Jack in right below Hoptimum as well.

 

that's a good point about the ABV. when hop 15 from port brewing is on that is one of the best 10%+ abv IIPAs out there.

 

I think Heady, Abrasive, and Pliny are far better than Hoptimum. If those three beers are had fresh I don't think there is even a contest.

 

Hopslam is what made me fall in love with the style, but Hoptimum is damn tasty too. My taste buds put Hopslam in the lead though. Have yet to have Pliny, will hopefully be remedying that in 23 days when I leave for my west coast road trip.

 

After tasting Hopslam, Pliny, and Heady Topper, Hoptimum is IMO the tail end charlie of the group by a decent margin. and that being said I LOVE hoptimum and drank A LOT of both batches. It says more about the beers it's being compared to. I'd bump the 91 to 94 personally, but that would still be lower than the others. The 2012 batch of Hoptimum was the better of the 2.

 

Pliny>Hopslam> .....way way down the list comes Hoptimum. Really wanting to try a Heady at some point this summer

 

Yeah there's something to be said for segregating beers by ABV range, because it's not a bad indicator (but obviously still extremely imperfect) of what kind of other flavors and combinations can come out in the beer. Still, I usually refer to (D)IPAs as being on the "hoppy/pale spectrum" exactly because some of these distinctions are so arbitrary.

Bottom line is, Hoptimum ≠ Pliny ≠ DFH 120 ≠ Sculpin ≠ Zombie Dust. I think we can love them all, no?

 

Yikes...sorry about that..Had Hoptimum and enjoyed it. Had Hopslam and enjoyed it more....Still wanna try Pliny.

 

in order for me it goes: hoptimum, hopslam, pliny.

 

This times 1000. A 10+% DIPA is not going to be nearly as dry as an 8%. Lower ABV DIPAs and 10+% DIPAs are not comparable IMO. I've found the cutout for differences in DIPAs is typically 9%. Anything under is usually pretty dry while anything over usually has very good hop flavor but there is a big difference in sweetness.

 

Hop Venom > ALL

 

Ah what the hell I'll chime in, Heady>Hopslam>Pliney>Hoptimum....BUT I really love them all. It's like picking your favorite kid.

 

My favorite kid is Hoptimum.

 

Yeah the booze factors into the flavor quite a bit, too. I've noted this in a couple reviews I've written for DIPAs, but a well-done, boozy example like Hoptimum does this neat little trick where the alcohol burn blends with and becomes hard to tell apart from the hop character. Like, you can tell them apart, but they're dancing :-)

Point is, you won't find that in a (D)IPA around 8%. Also, I have this theory that the highest-rated and most popular (D)IPAs all hit this hop-to-ABV sweetspot around 7-8.5% ABV. Again, just go through the list of consistently highly-rated American IPAs and DIPAs, and very few of the top dogs are under 7% or over about 8.5%, give or take—but generally not over 9%. While I end up making this disclaimer more than I feel comfortable with, it bears repeating: I am NOT claiming to have a superior palate or analytical skills, this is just amateur observation. But if you ask me, I think it's no coincidence.

So that said, I'm totally comfortable saying that Hoptimum is a world-class beer, among those (D)IPAs over 10% ABV—what some people call Triple IPAs and the like (a distinction which, again, is admittedly a pet peeve of mine).

 

I am assuming if it were a four pack you had a C-section?

 

Yep! Hurt like hell, too!

 

Good thing Hoptimum counts as decent anesthesia :-)

 

While I love all 3, this is how I'd rank them:

1. Hopslam
2. Hoptimum
3. Pliny

...although I feel Hopslam and Hoptimum have more in common with each other than they do with Pliny.

 

I will tell you that I was totally impressed with Hoptimum this year. Past years I thought was a sweet mess of a beer, but this year it is superb. I've been drinking it from about 6 weeks ago when I first got it and it's still excellent out of the bottle. I have 4 left, but guaranteed they won't last long.

That being said, Hoptimum can not live up to Pliny. Hopslam? Hoptimum is just a notch below. Hopslam is more complex, Hoptimum is more drinkable.

 

I really wasn't crazy about Hoptimum. I found it to be extremely spicy to the extent that it wasn't very enjoyable. Based on it's malt bill which I couldn't see contributing that to the beer, I'd have to believe it was coming from the hops. I also found it a tad boozy.