Insurrection

Insurrection by Fulton is being evaluated as a Double IPA (Category 22A) from the 2015 BJCP guidelines. Having just judged this category in the Chicago region of the 2017 AHA 1^st round Nationals the previous weekend, I felt that my palate would be prepared for the hoppy onslaught of this beer. This one did not disappoint, and truly pushes the envelope in respect to explosive dank hop character!

Upon opening the bottle, an extremely dank hop aroma is immediately evident, with Mosaic and Nelson Sauvin characters being in the forefront. Pineapple, turpentine, pine and earthy dankness dominate the aroma, with little malt noted.  A touch of floral ester is in the background. The beer is a deep golden to amber color with expected levels of clarity and a solid rocky off-white small bubble head with lace that persists throughout the drink. It is quite an attractive product.

The flavor mirrors the aroma quite well, with ultra dank hop flavors dominating over the malt. The base malt backbone is quite light up front, building a bit and complementing the hop character to a certain extent in the middle and finish. The body is a light medium. Hop bitterness is quite high which is appropriate for the style and lingers well into the finish. As the guideline suggests, there is not a lot of malt complexity here, instead being a showcase for hop expression. The finish is quite clean and dry.

Overall, this brew is truly a dank hop-lovers dream, being a relatively straightforward hop dominant offering with not much else present to distract from this goal. Cheers and enjoy!