• Philip Joyce
• On September 6, 2013

ABV: 8.00%   IBU: 120

Let me start out by saying that I’m so grateful to have amazing friends across the county. Trying new beers and highly sought after beers from coast-to-coast has become an ease. Not to mention this week, one of my beer ‘pen pals’ sent me the ever glorious Heady Topper.

The beer pours a medium golden color with minimal head. It’s not big and frothy, but remains present over the course of consuming it out of my snifter glass. HUGE grassy, floral, piney aromas erupt from the glass. When I say huge, I mean it. I may as well be diving head first through blossoming wildflowers and rubbing pine sap under my nose. Monstrous floral, herbal and grapefruit flavors invade my palette with force like a marching band performance at half-time. The base drums and tubas creating a seemingly-everlasting sensory experience on my tongue. The beer finishes with less than expected bitterness. One of my favorite characteristics of DIPAs is the ability to showcase hop flavor and aroma without ripping the enamel off my teeth. While I do like DIPAs with out-of-this-world IBU ratings, I prefer being able to taste all the nuances of the beer throughout the entire thing, and drink a second one if I want. Heady Topper does just that. It showcases beautifully balanced hop flavors with a bouquet of aromas that any hop lover will appreciate. I don’t say it often, but this beer is absolutely fantastic. I’ve had it before, but never quite this fresh. My beer pal says it was canned on the 14th, making it exactly 2 weeks old and it makes ALL of the difference. Heady Topper is what dreams are made of. Find it. Consume it. Repeat.