Twenty One percent. Yes, a beer with21% ABV. This is the most serious beer I’m willing to drink.  The Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA, brewed in Milton, DE is an American Double / Imperial IPA.

Appearance

Poured into a goblet, the beer is thick looking. The color is a cloudy soft golden orange. The off-white has little retention, and falls after a minute or two. The lacing is slight.

Smell

Massive sting of alcohol hits you at first. Its not at all what you’d expect from a beer. Citrus notes are present. The extra top hopping leaves a wonderful floral aroma that does manage to cut through the static. Also, there is a more than fair amount of sweetness here. Cane sugar sweet. That may be my one dislike here…

Taste

Ooh! Takes a minute to get used to the almost overbearing sting of all 21%. But after that… the taste is quite complex here. Citrus, like maybe grapefruit. It has a taste similar to unfiltered, very young Gewuerztraminer wine.

It does seem to be on the very far end of most Imperial IPAs. The added daily dry hopping that lasts a full month does give it a tremendous sense of floral notes, both in taste and flavor. But there is no sense of the the extreme dryness that really heavily hopped beers often impart. Your nose can’t help but get involved here. The end result is a warming of your entire mouth.

Mouthfeel

The initial shock of 21% brings an unusual heat. The carbonation is just right.  Very full in the mouth, but doesn’t coat in a slick way. Coats yes – but not negatively. There is a nice citrus aftertaste that seems to stay put longer than most Imperials.

Drinkability

Sipper for sure. The heat off the alcohol alone keeps you from slamming it down. I gotta point out one thing here. This beer gets better and better as you drink it. I think some of that comes from the shock wearing off and you get down to the meat of it.

Bottomline

Did I mention the 21%? Not sure if I got to that yet. Man, this is another beer that I wait all year for… and it does not disappoint. The “wayyy higher than everyone else” ABV is a little out of my comfort range, but it is still very tasty. At $12 a bottle, it isn’t a beer that I have often. When I do, its worth every penny. Ok, I might be a little drunk now. Final grade…

A-

Ok. i’m pretty drunk now.

Thunderhead IPA from Pyramid Brewing. A traditional India Pale Ale with an ABV of 6.7%

The beer pours into a pint glass with a nice light yellow color but certainly cloudy as well. The head is slow to fall and lacing is present. The aroma is very forward, standard to the style. The hops give it a nice floral note without being overbearing. And my cat Kody seemed to like the aroma as well.

The mouthfeel is light and dry, almost smooth for an IPA

The taste is hard to describe. It is definately a well hopped IPA but it really lacks the bitterness of really good IPAs. It is tart and fruity but not terribly lingering. Personally, I find it more satisifying than most IPAs in that regard. It had enough flavor to speak to me despite being in the 5th position of a night of varied beers. Would recommend it.

Nice IPA. Smooth and not too agressively hopped. I’d drink one or two any night – at most. It rates higher than most IPAs for me as I usually find the style a bit overbearing after one. The final grade…

B-