The Oracle
by Paul Arthur on Nov.21, 2009, under ale, american india pale ale, beer, double india pale ale, india pale ale
Background: Limited availability, brewed in a small batch, and according to the internet evidently very hard to find. None of which I knew when I bought a couple of bottles, since I rarely go out shopping for specific beers. Fortune favours the me. Anyway, it’s a Double IPA and I can’t currently convince Bell’s website to cough up information instead of PHP errors.
Nose: Candied orange peel. Other than lots of hops, the alcohol is very evident.
Taste: Piny resinous hop flavour, pithy grapefruit hop flavour, herbal leafy hop flavour, high hop bitterness, dry hoppy finish. Oh, and there’s probably some malt in there somewhere. The hoppiness does a great job masking the alcohol, as I can’t taste any of the 10+% ABV that was so evident on the nose.
Overall: This beer has never heard of the concept of ‘balance’. It’s interesting to drink in despite of that, but not something that I personally would class as great. If you love hops and don’t mind a beer that’s just hops, you should definitely grab this one if you run across it.
Hops.
