Craft Circa: 1997
Style: Triple IPA
ABV: 12%
Notables: Specialty brew available in July
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| Picture taken at the fine establishment of Fountainhead, northside of Chicago. Fine place. B&B review to come soon. |
Overall: Just when you think you start to get a handle on the entire field of artisan beers, along comes Founders with their dry-hopped, ten hop varieties triple IPA. The complexity of this beer is quite something, and it certainly packs a punch while you try to decipher the triple IPA code. As we noted in one of our earlier reviews, the IBUs provide a measure of the bitterness of the beer. Coming in at 112 IBUs, in order to balance out the flavor of the beer a higher quantity of malt is needed. A malty backbone is an understatement; however, I believe the malts did not realize it was a marathon because it just could not keep up with the bitterness. Solid effort though.
The color is crimson, with the looks of something bold and chalked full of flavor. All these elements make for a wonderful glow. It also has an intimidating factor knowing it’s a double IPA on steroids. But overall, all the factors make for delightful anticipation before imbibing. I remember sitting out with my wife, trying to get a decent picture of the beer for B&B intentions and settling with what was posted because I was too eager to try it.
The brew is a heavy dose of Founders, and sits like a block of led. It’s very dense for ale, but there are a couple faint aspects from say a Founders Centennial or even a Double Trouble IPA that creeps in here and there with a touch of their citrus and fruity remarks, but overall the brew is annihilated by the outbreak of hops that are relentless. It’s an extreme beer, for hophead thrill seekers. A hophead application should come with each bottle or 4 pack.
~gY
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