4 Mile Brewing Co. Thunder Bomber India Pale Ale American Double / Imperial IPA at 9.0% ABV | 90 IBU (C$8.49 at Quarry Park Calgary Co-Op, 650 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 2-Aug-2017, reviewed 2-Aug-2017)
Appearance: pale amber with two fingers of fine ivory head, excellent retention and chunky lacing. (5/5) Aroma: doughy caramel, pine, citrus, weedy and floral. (7/10) Taste: moderate-high sweet, moderate tart. (7/10) Palate: medium-full slightly oily body, moderate carbonation, lingering bitter mildly warming slightly spicy finish. (4/5)
My immediate response at the first sniff was “Oh – it’s one of those.” But after a little bit, the caramel dominance relaxed a little, and some pine and citrus made themselves known. I can see why the label recommends drinking this at 13ºC (55ºF) – this needs warming to open up. It’s still a fairly “old skool” malt-heavy DIPA at that point, mind you, but it’s not quite as malt-dominant as I first feared. The fairly heavy ABV remains pretty quiet throughout, too, manifesting only as a mild warming in the finish. Solid enough, if slightly less than impressive. (15/20)
7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
