Judge’s Review: 92 Rating – Damn! That’s Good by The Explorium Brewpub

Mixed-Style Beer | Year-Round | USA

By Sean Coughlin

Judges Rating: 92.00
Aroma: 21.00
Appearance: 6.00
Flavor: 37.00
Mouthfeel: 10.00
Overall Impression: 18.00

Damn! That’s Good by The Explorium Brewpub is being evaluated as a Mixed-Style Beer under the 2021 BJCP Guidelines, Category 34B, with consideration given to its identity as a Double IPA brewed with honey and grapefruit peel.

The aroma is somewhat muted overall, but what is present is inviting, with notes of freshly squeezed grapefruit juice along with a floral character reminiscent of honeysuckle. The special ingredients may be contributing here, but the profile is complex enough that the aroma could also be coming strictly from the hops. The beer pours an attractive deep gold with excellent clarity and a moderately sized off-white head that falls a bit faster than it should.

The flavor delivers a nice punch of grapefruit from both the hops and the zest. The honey does not add much in the way of flavor, but it may have helped increase fermentability, as this beer has the appropriate dryness for a Double IPA. Syrupy sweetness and bitterness are not a good combination, yet they are found in many lesser examples of the style. Here, the hop bitterness comes across as slightly too restrained, and more bitterness would be welcome. The first few sips are good, but the grapefruit lingers on the palate a bit too long. Higher bitterness would help cut through that flavor and reset the palate for each following sip.

Overall, this is a strong beer with impressive drinkability. There is no solvent-like or warming alcohol presence, and no hop- or grapefruit zest-derived astringency. Damn! That’s good, indeed.