“This imperial IPA pours a luminous copper colour in the glass, giving it some classic West Coast leanings. We get massive aromas of fresh orange juice, the body is BIG and there’s some nice, burnt orange bitterness before a long, warming finish. It definitely presents a more levelled flavour profile than you’d expect in a beer hopped this much. In fact, it’s dangerously quaffable at 8.5%.”

Glassware: IPA.

Appearance: Gorgeous colour – pours a bold amber with a sturdy two finger head that retains well. Healthy lace clings to the glass as it ebbs.

Aroma: A really robust malt backbone to it – which is no surprise once you lay eyes on this beauty – but the overarching hops are front and centre. The hop bill reads like a who’s who; Centennial, Cascade, Citra, Mosaic & Vic Secret and they all combine to bring tonnes of pine/resin, oily grapefruit, rind, tropical fruits like passionfruit, mango and pineapple, mixed stonefruits, light florals and slightly dank herbs.

Flavour: So on point. Really similar to the nose where the sweet malts provide the framework for the amazing hop bill to do its thing. We’re getting sharp pine needle, dank resins, herbals, grapefruit/rind and unripened tropical fruits. Gets really weedy and a little pithy midway then finishes with strong bitter citrus, rind and dank herbs.

Mouthfeel: Sharp, prickly and a little dry. Medium body, mild-moderate Co2. The 8.5% ABV is noticeable but fairly well behaved. Would love to the know the IBU.

Overall: Don’t think it’s a secret that Bridge Road are a lot better at brewing West Coast IPA’s than Hazy’s. This one reminds us a bit of Need #2 (which is also our favourite of this series thus far). Proper old school style WC IPA here folks. Boom.