Imperial India Pale Ale

Anderson Valley Brewing Co.
Boonville, CA

Available: AZ, CO, ID, WA, CA, IL, KY, MD, DC, MA, MI, NE, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, UT, UT, VA, WA, WI

This Imperial IPA was created to mark the 20th anniversary of Anderson Valley Brewing Co.

Alcohol (vol): 8.7
Alcohol (wt): 6.93
Color: n/a
Bitterness: 100
Original gravity: 1080

Deep copper color reflects light like an Old Master painting. Dense head stands proud, completing a pretty picture. Popping the top releases an aroma devil — hoppy as hell, but with earthy malt perfume. Luxurious mouthfeel is sweet, complex, balanced and powerful with a lingering finish that will satisfy the biggest hophead. Too alcoholic, powerful, and herbaceous for many dishes, it was a superb compliment to a salty Reuben sandwich on toasted rye, smothered in sauerkraut and rich Russian dressing.
- Charles Finkel

Somebody didn’t get the memo about a hops shortage. In Boontling (the dialect of Anderson Valley) this is a beer for those Stook On hop flavor, hop aroma and hop bitterness. The trick is delivering them all in a balanced manner, with substantial caramel and toffee flavors (signaled by a bright copper pour) matching a blast of juicy hop aromas, then more on the palate — oranges, fresh-cut grass, pine needles, grapefruit. The tongue remains coated with hop-oily flavors even after a long, bitter finish.
- Stan Hieronymus

Charles Finkel
Founder of Merchant du Vin and the Pike Brewing Co., Charles Finkel is a pioneer in the marketing of craft beers in America.

Stan Hieronymus
Editor at Realbeer.com, a professional journalist for 40 years and amateur brewer for 15, Hieronymus is the author of four beer books, including Brew Like a Monk.

Comments are closed here.