Knee Deep Brewing Co. ‘Hoparillo’ Triple IPA

Rating:

1499_493174760866674_7876522492134818636_n“Triple IPA brewed and dry hopped with large amounts of Citra, Mosaic and Amarillo hops that delivers exploding tropical fruit and citrus aromas and flavor. Intense hop aromas that are sure to stimulate your olfactory receptors”

Served in an IPA glass. This behemoth of a beer actually pours quite conservatively – a bold golden orange hue lies beneath a finger of off white foam. A little lackluster in carbonation which in effect contributes to the retracting head which settles to a fine film with reasonable lace trailing it down. The hop combination of Amarillo, Citra and Mosaic shine in this pungent yet gorgeous aroma. Big in tropical fruits like pineapple, mango and lychee and just as big in citrus fruits such as grapefruit, lemon and passion fruit. The 11.1% ABV provides a sharp alcoholic scent which is emphasized by a fresh pine/spruce character. The malt profile is understandably neglected here but a kind of bready/crusty note does meekly try to balance out the gigantic hops. All in all they’ve done well to contain the extremely high ABV on the nose. The mouth feel is slick and surprisingly smooth initially. Although once the alcohol burn sets in it becomes astringent and sharp while the 122 IBU adds a certain prickly dryness. The body holds up a decent weight too, sitting around the medium mark but leaning to the fuller side. An explosion of hops is detonated on the palate upfront. At first dank and resinous but a dose of citric lemon, pine and grapefruit meets the burning booze midway. The aggressive bitterness develops late as it sucks the tongue of saliva leaving a bone dry, bitter and boozy finish. Plenty of legs here too, this dry bitterness on the rear is relentless! Ooph! Tread lightly here friends this beer is the equivalent to a cut snake – vicious and seriously snappy and could land you in hospital if not careful. Full credit to the brewers though, this is a hop heads heaven. Just stick to one….the 11.1% really creeps up on you.