Who knows what inspired the ancients to build Stonehenge--or what inspired up to build Hop Henge in its likeness. But build it we did, out of wrapped bales of whole-flower hops out on the brewery lawn. Like the rest of the Bond Street Series, Hop Henge highlights the creativity and curiosity of our brewers. Bolder than its English ancestor, with huge hops and a bitter finish, this IPA is no wallflower. Hop Henge I.P.A. was first brewed in 2006 as an agressive West Coast style I.P.A. In 2007, Hop Henge is going Imperial! Several pounds of Centennial, Cascade and Northern Brewer hops are in each barrel with a heavy dry-hop presence to top it off. A blend of crystal, pale and caraston malts creates an overall biscuity characteristic that is dense and muscular, building the alcohol base to support the monstrous hop profile. 95 IBU's.
Beer Ratings and Reviews:
[1] Review by Stoutlover72 from Northern, California, USA who has tried this beer once. (12/2/2008 1:10:22 AM)
"Picked up a bottle of this while visiting Reno, NV at the Booze Bros. Cracked it open for my nieces gradutation party. Aroma of citrus, pine and caramel. Strong piney hop character in the flavor which is offset nicely by the sweet malts. Some citrus character, a bit of alcohol..a pretty by-the-numbers DIPA. Nothing spectacular, but serviceable."
Aroma:
7/10
Appearance:
6/10
Mouthfeel:
6/10
Flavor:
7/10
Overall:
7/10
Final Rating, by Style:
(3.3)
Sampled: Bottle Sample Size: 22oz @ $0 Unit Cost: $0 per Pint
[2] Review by slowrunner77 from Reno, NV, USA who has tried this beer a couple times. (11/22/2008 6:17:02 PM)
"huge body and great mouthfeel. i thought this beer was great at first, then it didn't age well, so my memory of it at it's best is fading fast. isn't an ipa (especially a double) supposed to be cellerable?"
Aroma:
8/10
Appearance:
7/10
Mouthfeel:
8/10
Flavor:
8/10
Overall:
8/10
Final Rating, by Style:
(3.9)
Sampled: Bottle Sample Size: 22oz @ $5 Unit Cost: $3.64 per Pint
[3] Review by Vac from San Diego, California, USA who has tried this beer once. (7/16/2008 10:52:33 AM)
"Pours with an amber body topped by a thin to medium thick head with a good amount of lacing. It’s hoppy and bitter with pine notes, sweet, slightly fruity notes and an underlying malt note. Medium to full bodied and warming.
"
Aroma:
7/10
Appearance:
8/10
Mouthfeel:
8/10
Flavor:
8/10
Overall:
8/10
Final Rating, by Style:
(3.9)
Sampled: Bottle
Value of this beer for its style: Not Sure
[4] Review by Sap from Tucson, AZ, USA who has tried this beer once. (6/15/2008 9:40:45 PM)
"A reasonable pour produces a three-finger thick, tan colored head that just rises above the rim of my 25cl tulip glass. Lots of lace is produced by the sticky, hop laden head. The beer is a clear, deep amber color, but shows a brilliantly clear, deeply red tinged, copper color when held up to the light. The aroma is of course quite hoppy, though I wouldn't characterize it as being aggressively so for a Double IPA. Sweet, fruity citrus notes of lychee, apricot, candied grapefruit zest, tangelo and mandarin orange are the most noticeable note, but there is a greener hop note of light herbal notes that are just barely noticed under the surface. Biscuit like grain notes and a touch of toasty malt round out the finish, though this again plays a secondary role to the more fruity hop notes.
Soft feeling and almost creamy feeling up front, but a prickly carbonation quickly provides some texture and bite that evens this out. The beer is fairly bitter, but it takes a few sips before the effect gets magnified throughout the entire flavor profile; originally it was most noticed as a biting, lingering note in the finish. Very hoppy, yet somehow I feel like it is restrained; the fruity hop notes are most noticed, but a substantial herbal hop character plays a much bigger role than it did in the aroma. Flavors of lychee, mandarin orange and tangelo are coupled with a sharply herbal note reminiscent of a mix of hemp oil, menthol and perhaps something a touch harder like chive (this last is very light though). The finish gets a bit astringent with the mix of herbal hop character, hop bitterness and lightly perceptible, hot alcohol.
I like the body on this beer, it is not so heavy as many examples that seem confusingly like a hoppy Barley Wine, instead it just about has that drinkable character that something with IPA in the name needs. It does have a medium heft to it that is lightly viscous, and certainly palate coating; this quality serves to temper the hop character and accentuate the fruit focused notes. Speaking of the body, this is the spot where the malt character is most noticed; an accentuating sweetness that is not distinctly malt flavored helps to accentuate the hop character. There is perhaps a touch of a caramel edge to this beer, but the bitterness and alcohol heat keep this from developing any toasty malt character in the finish.
This is a pretty good Double IPA. It can get a little hot in the finish from the alcohol, especially as it warms up, but it does have a nice mix of hop notes that ultimately are what this style of beer is about. This is not the most scathingly hoppy example of this style and does actually achieve some balance despite the malt character really note playing an overtly noticeable role in the flavor.
Purchased: South Bay Drugs Pharmacy, Imperial Beach CA"
Aroma:
8/10
Appearance:
8/10
Mouthfeel:
8/10
Flavor:
7/10
Overall:
7/10
Final Rating, by Style:
(3.8)
Sampled: Bottle Sample Size: 22oz @ $0 Unit Cost: $0 per Pint
[5] Review by jlozier from Lone Pine, CA, USA who has tried this beer once. (9/26/2007 12:01:40 AM)
"I originally posted this review under the old IPA listing, but have now discovered from the BP gods that the beer has been retired and the IIPA is an entirely new beer. I see on the website that this is true, and I have reposted my review here.
This really isn't so much like drinking a beer as it is like sucking on half a grapefruit. Needless to say, that sour/bitter taste is huge and remains for a long aftertaste. Pours a slightly red amber with a big, soft off-white head. Lots of little glistening bubbles make a sparkling foam on the sides of the glass. Never saw the remains on the side of the glass sparkle like that before. Overall, pretty much everything I expected from the name/brewery. Well Done."
Aroma:
8/10
Appearance:
7/10
Mouthfeel:
7/10
Flavor:
8/10
Overall:
8/10
Final Rating, by Style:
(3.8)
Sampled: Bottle Sample Size: 22oz @ $4.29 Unit Cost: $3.12 per Pint
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(3.3)
