Moylan's Hopsickle Imperial Ale

Part of a small stash of strong beers in much-too-large bottles brought back from the States by a colleague, Moylan's Hopsickle Imperial Ale, from California, is a reddish amber with a touch of haziness provided by a thin layer of yeast in the bottom. Well, once there was room in my tiny UK pint glass again - this thing was 650ml of 9.2% beer, yeah, I should have shared.

It has a fantastically huge hop aroma: big grapefruit and bitter orange pithiness, a touch of pine needles, all on a sweet, malty foundation. And it's smooth. With a soft carbonation and a slightly oily mouthfeel, it coats the mouth  with a solid caramel malt base and toast. But yeah, it's the hops that are the stars of the show. All that pithiness in the aroma comes out in spades giving that classic grapefruit and orange sherbet effect that I associate with some of my favourite US IPAs. Then you swallow, and a spiciness washes down your throat, giving a ginger-like heat and more and more pine, grapefuit and spicy fruitiness. This leaves a long-lasting bitterness melding with a toasty malt backbone. Despite the huge hops (100+ IBUs apparently), and my poor description above, this is actually wonderfully balanced, and the 9.2% base holds the whole thing up just fine. I was glad I didn't share.


Thanks Rudiger! I'll get back to the German programme again...