The beer pours a dark amber with a slightly reddish hue. It has a well-formed light tan head with tight, compact bubbles. The head disappears within a minute, leaving a thin film on the beer's surface. The malt aroma is heavy with toasty malt and caramel, and the hop aroma is solid, reflecting mostly grapefruity citrus. There are some secondary aromas of resinous pine, and the lightest hint of fruity esters that emerge as the beer warms up.
The flavor is big, with lots of caramel malts and heavy toastiness, though both are a bit rich for the standard American IPA category. For the hop flavor, up front is bitter grapefruit, which I enjoy, and lots of sticky resinous pine-like flavor and bitterness in the finish. Any esters that may be in the flavor are washed out between the malt and hops, even as the beer warms.
The carbonation is medium-high and does a good job of washing away the slightly sweeter malt. The body is in the medium range, and as it warms, it gets a bit sticky in the mouth. The beer is very creamy and has a pleasant texture when it’s cool. There is a slight hint of alcohol warmth in the end.
This is an excellent beer in regards to overall flavor and aroma. It’s very rich and very complex, to say the least. It holds your interest quite well as you try to pick out the nuances of intermingling aromas and flavors from the heavy malt presence and the heavy hop presence. The issue for me is the balance. For an American IPA, it’s a bit heavy on the malt richness, and while the malt should be present, it should be content to be a complementary player -- not the main attraction. In this beer it feels like a toe-to-toe slugfest between the malt and hops, and they are both fighting hard for your attention.