Level Crossing - Soulless Rex: What we have here is a triple IPA, or "TRI-PA" as I'm fond of calling them. This isn't a '90s East Coast malt bomb, ala Dogfish Head Brewing's infamous 120 IPA. This is still a beast of an IPA, but it's not a dick about it. The ABV is a relatively subtle 10.4 percent, versus Dogfish Head's 16 to 18 percent hammers.
The beer is a nice-looking golden color, and almost perfectly clear. A tall (almost three-finger) head of off-white foam sits up top. Retention is good and the foam leaves a lot of lacing on the glass; a few bubbles of carbonation float up the side.
This is what I think of when I think of double IPAs: The aroma is a boozy, brash mixture of hop and malt. A warming, spicy alcohol note fills my nose at first, but once I adjust, I pick up suggestions of honied peaches, papaya, and a bit of grapefruit. This beer is quite sweet, too, with notes of honey and pancake syrup.
The taste leads with a flash of fruity hops, mostly papaya and mango, but it quickly devolves into a leafy green bitterness that comes as much from the alcohol as the hops. That boozy note continues through the finish, which is almost hot and spicy. Sweet malts suggest honey and syrup. The body is robust ,and the beer is moderately sticky on the palate. A soft, fine carbonation is moderate in volume.
Verdict: Not much subtlety happening here. This big-ass beer hits you with over 100 IBUs (International Bitter Units) of hop power. The average palate can't detect more than that, so you get an idea of the beer's hop potency. It all seems to come together with malt and hops blocking each other's punches.
2 Row - Face Melter: On the other side of the IPA spectrum, we have a relatively low IBU IPA made with Motueka, Citra and Idaho 7 hops. The IBUs here range into the low teens.
This beer pours a hazy golden-orange color with a one finger head of billowy white foam. The head has a good level of retention, slowly fading over time to leave a moderate sum of foamy lace on the sides of the glass.
The aroma of the brew is big of tropical fruits with lots of pineapple, papaya and mango with some orange and tangerine citrus smells mixed in as well. Along with these notes comes a bit of melon and bread, along with a touch of a pine smell.
The taste begins with a little of the tropical and citrus sweetness that was detected in the nose, all being balanced out by some cracker and bready flavors. There are some citrus hop tastes upfront, which match the fruit rather well, with these increasing a bit as the taste advances and is joined by some flavors of herb and grass. The bready taste almost completely fades toward the end, and the fruitiness seems to lose some potency in sugar, but not fruit taste (as odd as that sounds). With the lightening of the breadiness, and the sweetness dying out a bit, as well as with a little more hop of an earthy nature coming to the tongue, one is left with a somewhat crisp and moderately hopped taste to linger on the tongue.
Verdict: I actually really enjoyed this brew. It has a wonderful hop blend that is citrusy but still dank with a fruity taste that isn't overly bitter. Well done!
No matter which side of the IBU fence you fall on, you owe it to yourself to get acquainted with (or re-acquainted) with these hop-opposite IPAs ... because, well science is fun! As always, cheers!