The nose has a sharp, grassy quality. There’s definitely a moment of hop intensity that comes from cutting into a bag of hops for addition to the boil. That’s great-finally getting one of the most important qualities of an IPA, the scent, down!
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like the flavors make a throughline in the beer. The middle isn’t offering me much, flavor and while the finish doesn’t seem to be too bitter, it doesn’t correspond to anything in the nose.
As the beer warms up, a little more malt flavor steps in, so that’s nice. But I don’t know that I can call this a complete win. Is it decent? Yeah. Would I be afraid to offer it to a stranger with a mild caveat? No. But is it great? No, not quite.
Brew date: 8/22/21
Steeping grains
3 lb Lamonta pale
4 lb Idaho malt
.5 lb Biscuit malat
Fermentables: 3 lb pilsner dry extract
Hops
1 oz Centennial, .5 oz Simcoe @60
.75 Centennial, .5 oz Simcoe @30
.25 oz Centennial .5 oz Simcoe @5
Yeast: Imperial’s Flagship, 3rd use
OG: 1.072
FG: 1.01
Added .5 oz Simco pellets on 8/27
Bottled 8/29
ABV: 8.4%
A pint for Dionysus 