Beer Review – Epic Armageddon I.P.A.
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!
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