King MacAlpin

Dank, dankity, dank — that’s how I would describe this lush Double IPA. Resin, pine and grapefruit rind aromas pour out of the glass with hints of mango and citrus. It seems as if Chinook and Simcoe hops had a love child. Beneath all the hops is a light, grainy, crisp malt with a little more caramel sweetness than I’d care for in an IPA. It has a deep golden color with an orange hue, surprisingly brilliant clarity, and a thin, fading white head. The flavor takes on a lot of the same character as the aroma: pungent resin, grapefruit, pine and citrus, though the resinous character combines with high bitterness levels to overwhelm the other complexities. This leaves the beer a bit one-noted, albeit still a very tasty one note. Despite the high bitterness, it delivers a great hop bite without taking on astringency and unpleasantness. A very nice example of the style that offers a throwback to what Double IPAs used to be like only a few years ago.