Hopful Thinking

Hopful Thinking

I Drink, Therefore I Am.

  • Beer Recipes
  • Beer Reviews
  • Brewery Spotlight
  • Home Brewing
  • Hopful Thoughts
  • Showcase
  • Travels
  • Book Reviews
  • Featured
  • About
  • Featured

Beer Review – Epic Armageddon I.P.A.

Posted in Beer Reviews, Showcase by Dan
May 07 2011

Format: 500ml bottle  Type: American-style IPA  Origin: New Zealand (US Hops)  Strength 6.66% abv (the number of the yeast)  Cost: Only your soul.  Or about $17.  Purchased from: The devil Himself.  Or New World Devonport. (available most supermarkets) Selected by: Dan

In the beginning, there was nothing.
Then an impish brewer piled a ludicrous amount of the finest hops into a bottle.
This zymurgyical big bang is Epic Armageddon, an apocalyptic assault on every beer lover’s pre-conceptions and taste buds.
It may be too huge for this fragile planet so enjoy this beer like it was the last one on Earth.

This is the mythical Epic Armageddon, a beast borne of hops, in fact 4 different varieties: US Cascade, US Centennial, US Columbus, US Simcoe, according to the website.  And boy does it show.  As hoppiness goes, Epic Armageddon would give a tree frog a run for it’s money.

At first pour, huge passionfruit characters on the nose, and on the palate.  But there is also the taste of .. dare I say it .. Hops.  Grapefruit on the finish.  The burned caramel of the malts comes through underneath.  Thick mouthfeel. After the passionfruit has burned off, it smells like, well, a plant familiar to some of us, and closely related to Hops.  Some of us picked up fresh cut grass as well.

You may notice, these are the kind of words usually reserved for a fine wine, but they certainly apply here.  This is no ordinary beer.  This really is something quite, well, Epic.

Mixed Utterings:

Chris: Enough hops in there, guys?
Dan: OOOH HOPS!! Oh, that’s fantastic. It’s very hoppy.
Chris: Can I be as bold to say, it’s quite Epic?
Dan: It is Epic!
Steve: It’s that taste you get after a big … <makes drawing in sound…then a puffing out sound>
Chris: Whatever are you referring to, Steve?
Josh: Cigarette…
Philip: It does taste like, tobacco a little
Josh: Very, very passionfruity, and the hops isn’t “too” bold
Chris: it’s definitely there, but they’ve done it right.
Dan: There’s a lot of hops but it’s not your usual hops.. it’s quite subtle.. I like that.. very tasty
Josh: I get that little burnt caramel but definitely the passionfruit.
Dan: I should have bought more of that…
Chris: for an IPA, I’m getting quite a thick mouthfeel as well
Josh: It’s kind of .. furry
Steve: It’s like you’ve just had a big joint, with all the hop in it.
Dan: What kind? like a Knee? a CV Joint?
Chris: Back to the beer… Bloody excellent.
Chris: You know what I’m getting now? Grapefruit.
Josh: In the smell, I’m smelling fresh cut grass. You know when you mow the lawn and you cut through all the daisies? You know how there’s that kind of mulched flower pulpy smell.. I get that in the nose.
Dan: Descriptive!
Josh: You better be recording that!


Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

  • Tweet

Related Posts:

  • The Hopful Thinkers go on an EPIC Field Trip
  • New Zealand’s Answer to Munich
  • Internet + Beer = AWESOME : Epic Orcon Pale Ale
  • Hot Tips for a great NZ Beer Festival Experience
  • Epic Larger
Tagged as: American-style, Armageddon, Auckland, Epic, Hoppy, IPA, New Zealand, Passionfruit, US Hops

Get updates by Email

RSS Feed RSS - Posts

Twitter

  • Drinking a Stone Free by @8wiredbrewing @ GABS2018 — https://t.co/IiOBlZ3eS7 02:39:54 PM June 30, 2018
  • Drinking an Iron Dragon Waving Cat by @outliercartel @ GABS2018 — https://t.co/TbrsLJysgb 02:39:33 PM June 30, 2018
  • Drinking a Shake Your Mangos by @BrewingBones @ GABS2018 — https://t.co/LIdFaTMwj1 02:38:36 PM June 30, 2018
  • RT @justinbaragona: Rachel Maddow chokes up and cries on air as she struggles to deliver news that migrant babies and toddlers have been se… 07:53:13 PM June 20, 2018
  • RT @tarbard: I made a device that checks the council website and lights up to show you what colour bin to put out. I call it the Bindicator… 06:07:00 PM June 02, 2018
  • Drinking an Electron by @SunshineBrews - https://t.co/T95QYsHlqo #photo 06:16:47 PM February 09, 2018
  • Drinking an Avgas Pilsner by Pilot Brewery @ Giraffe by Simon Gault — https://t.co/Go7ZLtO8pk #photo 05:33:07 PM February 09, 2018
  • Cold beer, cool jazz, warm food. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.... (Hopitoulas) https://t.co/JYlP7jFIpe 05:29:34 AM October 27, 2017
  • Drinking a Ragin' Cajuns by @BayouTecheBiere at @willajeannola — https://t.co/7GXNEWypC0 #photo 06:05:24 AM October 26, 2017
@hopfultweeting

Archives

  • October 2014
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • March 2013
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011

Recent Comments

  • hopfulthinking on New Zealand’s Answer to Munich
  • hopfulthinking on New Zealand’s Answer to Munich
  • Dave on New Zealand’s Answer to Munich
  • Jager Tron on New Zealand’s Answer to Munich
  • Dan Capper on New Zealand’s Answer to Munich

Other Guff