Judge’s Review: 97 Rating – pFriem Double IPA by pFriem Family Brewers

Double IPA | Limited Release | USA

By Sal Mortillaro II

Judges Rating: 97
Aroma: 23
Appearance: 5
Flavor: 40
Mouthfeel: 10
Overall Impression: 19

 pFriem Double IPA by pFriem Family Brewers is being judged as a Double IPA (Category 22A) per the 2021 BJCP Guidelines.
This beer pours a beautiful gold with brilliant clarity. A very wispy and fleeting head quickly dissipates, leaving a very thin ring of tiny, off-white bubbles around the rim and a thin, sparse layer on top. It has a high hop aroma consisting of peach, orange skin, low pine and a slight berry-like note. The hop aroma is at the forefront and any malt aroma is hidden behind the hop intensity. This is a very cleanly fermented beer, and the aroma is typical of a West Coast DIPA from the early 2000s.
On the initial sip, a high hop flavor is first noticeable consisting of low peach, medium-low pine and medium orange. The high hop bitterness is noticeable off the bat; however, a clean and neutral malt sweetness of low intensity helps to tame the bitterness. There is a clean alcohol note in the flavor, which adds a nice character to this beer. The aftertaste has a lovely lingering peach and pine resin note with the berries noted in the aroma coming into play several seconds after the swallow.
This beer has a medium body with a medium-low and soft carbonation profile, which is very pleasant. There is no hop-derived astringency, but there is a low alcohol warmth that lingers after the sip – suggesting a higher ABV – that is enjoyable tame and pleasant.
Overall, this beer is a beautiful showcase of hop flavor and hop bitterness that is further enhanced by malt sweetness and alcohol warmth. This is reminiscent of traditional West Coast-style DIPAs that I thoroughly enjoyed in the early 2000s, making it a nostalgic beverage for me. This is a World Class beer executed flawlessly and without gimmicks, using only ingredients and technique.