The Swill: The Big DIPA
The Still: Cica's Blue Frog Grog & Grill
Fairfield, California
http://www.bigbluefrog.com
The Drill: Double India Pale Ale, 25.4oz bottle, 8% ABV
The Spill: This brew pours out of the bottle amber, with a frothy head light cream in color. An immediate citrus/hops aroma hits the nose, and combined with the smell of the alcohol, creates a scent very close to that of a citronella candle. It drinks with a bready mouthfeel and a starchy body that presents a light malty front followed with a fairly strong hoppy finish. It's bottle-conditioned, which means that not all of the yeast is removed from the brewing tanks before bottling. This becomes evident the further into the bottle you get, as subsequent pours become more foamy, and the brew itself becomes murky with sediment, definite signs that you're drinking down some of that yeast with your beer.
Says Bill: "Double" often means, quite literally, double. As in twice the amount of everything thrown into each batch. The result is usually something that's--you guessed it--double the strength of its single counterpart. This one, however, doesn't come off as big as its name would lead you to think. I've had some regular IPAs that blow this one out of the water when it comes to hops and bitterness. While more isn't necessarily better, putting "double" in the name of your beer usually means you're shooting for bragging rights, and you'd better have something gigantic for the people who are looking for just that.
Refill?: Holly's not a DIPA fan. She says it tastes like pinecones: 3 taps out of 5.