Serria Nevada Hoptimum IIPA

[Kyle]

Tried this bottle at cellar temp, seemed too cool, so let warm to almost room temp before reviewing:

Appearance: (unfortunately, I don't have a glass, so looking through bottle, take with grain of salt) crystal clear, pale gold colour

Smell: hops, booze, caramel

Taste: Imagine a symphony. Each player contributes a vital part to the whole. Same here, the slam of bitterness right and the beginning and lingering on the finish is complemented by a caramelly malt and an immense amount of late addition hops. This beer is definitely in the top 15 IIPA's I've ever had (I've tried almost every one available in New England and New Brunswick, probably 100+ IIPAs).

Mouthfeel: Well done Serria Nevada. The bitterness is at a perfect level (100 IBUs) to balance the caramel and hops explosion in the flavour. Not cloying at all. one of the lighter bodied IIPAs actually. Carbonation is on the lower side, but seems to work beautifully.

Drinkibility: I had this pegged at about 9.5% abv, looked at the label, and its sitting at 10.4%. A very nice example of an obscene IIPA. I think you really have to be a fan of the style to enjoy this one, of course, but if so: its good. Make sure to drink at near room temp, or the drinkability suffers due to a boozy taste / aroma, but at this strength, thats not really surprising.

All in all, this is a very enjoyable beer, I'd highly reccomend it.