We love IPAs, especially strong ones..like this one. From the lads in Mount Tamborine QLD, comes this no nonsense, 8.6% (2.3std drinks) in a 330ml bottle of simcoe and chinook hoppy goodness. Yummo.
Popping the cap, there is a decent waft of sweet malt, and sweet juicy fruit hops. Passionfruit and mango come to mind. We pour into a half pint, we get that typical imperial colour of burnt orange. Virtually no head here formed, it just looks like pure beer. Very minor carbonation seen. More aromas of candied lollies, and a bit of booze coming in here now. First sip..whoa! Big hit of booze astringency, and solid bitterness smashes the tongue. Makes you breathe out as you have taken that first sip. This is a full bodied, full flavoured beast. The carbonation level in the mouth remains fairly mild, but the main feature here is the citrus bitterness and alcohol volume. You can’t escape it. We must admit though it’s super smooth as it goes down the gullet. Before that though, the whole mouth is just hammered with bitterness. The tropical fruit aromas at the start are more more subdued as you drinking through it. We notice a bit of patchy lacing down the glass as we nearing the end, and a decent buzz going on in the brain. Look, we have had better imperial IPAs from Australian breweries, but this has been enjoyable. The flavours just need a bit of tweaking, or the booze volume needs to come down a tad.