Cervejaria Colorado Vixnu American Double / Imperial IPA at 9.5% ABV (2014 Advent Calendar #20, 310ml, no bottle date or best before)
Pours hazy pale amber with some particulate, three fingers of foamy medium beige head, good retention, moderate lacing. (3/5) Nose is caramel malt, grassy hops with some very distant citrus and pine. (6/10) Taste is moderately strong sweet, moderate bitter. (5/10) Medium to full body, moderate to low carbonation, slightly sticky finish. (3/5)
Malt forward, with grassy hops somewhat to the background, so it’s already not my favourite type of DIPA. Add to that a somewhat off-putting aftertaste that I can’t identify, and it’s less than a winner in my book. Credit where credit is due, though: the ABV is pretty well-behaved. I’m guessing this is somewhat past its best before and would have been better had it been fresher. (That head is a little exaggerated, but the way – at first it was looking like no head would develop, so I got a bit overaggressive in the pour. Could have been poured with a decent fat finger of head, had I known what to expect.) Not bad, and probably worth a try, but not worth trying again. (12/20)
6/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
