New Belgium Rampant IPA

Name:                 New Belgium Rampant Imperial IPA

Style:                   Imperial IPA

Twist:                  None

Strength:             8.5% alcohol, 80-ish IBU

Notes: poured from a 12oz bottle into a Boston Lager glass.

First time having a new one from this company in a while.  The appearance is copper-gold with about a finger of white head on top, which recedes at a moderate pace.  Lacing is good, as is the carbonation.

The aroma has a nose-tickling hop oiliness which is a bit off-putting (literally, I had to sneeze after taking a deep whiff), but apart from that first sniff I like it.  It is a mixture of bitter citrus fruit (like grapefruit) and…cantaloupe, I think.  Mosaic hops are supposed to have a weird melon flavor to them.  The bottle proclaims this to have peach flavors, which I’m not getting in the nose.

The cantaloupe flavor is much more toned down than it was in the nose, though it is still there.  Peaches continue to be absent for me.  The primary flavors are grapefruit, hop oil and pine resin.  I could definitely do with more fruitiness in my IPA’s as a general rule and that is the same thing here, particularly tropical non-citrus fruit.  I guess the main drawback here is the beer doesn’t really taste that much like it smells.  The aroma: semi-bitter, grapefruit, and cantaloupe.  The flavor: grapefruit and full-on bitter.

Not bad at all, especially for the price….there aren’t really any other double/imperial IPA’s at this price point except maybe Lagunitas Sucks depending where you shop.  This is no Sucks, but it will do in a pinch.