Starr Hill Coffee King of Hop Imperial IPA
The last new variant in Starr Hill’s latest King of Hop Imperial IPA variety four pack is an intriguing beer. In fact, I’m not entirely sure that this review will help you in deciding why you should pick up a bottle. It is a bad beer? Hell, no. I liked it a great deal — I just can’t fully describe why I thoroughly enjoyed Coffee King of Hop.
The presence of the coffee beans (through a dry-hopping process) certainly has changed this beer, but not in the manner I was expecting. It’s not overly roasty or even really all that coffee-ish to put it as simply as I can. The whole beans have provided a hint of a roast, but also a decent nuttiness that goes along with the beer’s base flavors of grapefruit and pine. It’s an interesting collaboration of traits that I liked a great deal, but can’t really explain why. The IPA also felt a bit softer on the tongue with a slightly stronger sweetness that lingers nicely in the chest-warming finish.
Coffee King of Hop is a bit of a confounding beer. I enjoyed the beer quite a bit. The coffee influence is a bit different than many other coffee IPAs that I’ve had recently — be they brewed with beans, grounds or even actual cold-brewed coffee. Out of the King of Hop variants, this one would take a close second to that fiery habanero treat of a beer I reviewed previously.
I love when brewery’s do fun variety packs like this. It’s great to see how various ingredients can alter a beer in a side-by-side comparison like this. I can’t wait to see what Starr Hill have in mind of next year’s offering.
This is a review of a promotional sample.