Moylan’s Hopsickle Imperial India Pale Ale
I don’t typically go for hop bombs when it comes to my beer selection, but given the current situation with the looming hop shortage and the great price on this bottle, I just had to pick it up. Who’s knows how expensive Imperial IPAs, let alone IPAs in general, are going to get over the next year or so as brewer’s attempt to make up for the price of their ingredients. I wasn’t about to wait around to find out when it came to this one.
Moylan’s website describes this one as a “…tribute, worthy of a King’s Imperial Court! Enjoy the blast of fresh Tomahawk, Cascade and Centennial Hops as they stimulate the taste buds in a truly imperial fashion.” Yet, on my bottles label there was also mention of Chinook and Simcoe hops so I’m not sure if the recipe has changed since my purchase was produced or if the content on the site is out of date. Either way, the combination of 4-5 different makes this thing is a veritable smorgasbord of pucker inducing bitterness that oddly enough left me wanting more.
Appearance
The Hopsickle pours a clean, golden amber with a large, fluffy head that was light tan in color.
Aroma
You don’t even need to put your nose any where near the rim of your glass as the immediate vicinity filled with the floral aroma of hops almost immediately after popping the cap. The hop aroma is so strong that I wasn’t able to discern much else from the nose — maybe some citrus and pine, but I can’t be sure.
Taste
Man this has a sharp edge to it. The hops are potent from the first sip to the last. Perhaps I was distracted by the immediacy and dominance of the hops, but it was hard for me to pick out much else from the taste. If I concentrated hard enough, maybe I’d taste some pine nuttiness to it with some lemon, but again, the hops kicked my taste buds’ collective asses. I guess my palette just isn’t made for this range of brews (that’s not going to keep me from enjoying them, however). What impressed me the most with this brew was the long, and I do mean long, lasting finish. The hops remained with me for a good thirty minutes after the last sip.
Overall
Quite simply, I’m going to see if I can get some more of this before it runs out. I’d have to be in the right mood for something this strong, but when that mood hits I’d hate to be left wanting. I’d played with the thought of perhaps aging a bottle or two for a bit to see how the hops mellow over time, but some more research needs to be done on my part.
Rating: 4/5