This hazy Double IPA leads with ethanol and hop bitterness, followed by unusual, but interesting, aromas of white milk chocolate and aggressive resin flavors.
It starts with a moderate aroma of lemon peel, well-blended pine resin, candied vanilla caramel wafers, and white milk chocolate. Pine resin and white chocolate-dipped buttery graham biscuit notes come forward after a few minutes.
The Double IPA is a hazy ruddy amber color with a creamy unbleached lace-colored head that creates a patchy film on the top of the beer.
The first sip is pine resin forward, followed quickly by graham crackers coated in aggressive hop bitterness with a lingering pithy aftertaste. Overtime, heat coats my mouth and warms my lips, tongue, and throat. The medium body combined with medium plus carbonation causes a biting prickling sensation exacerbated by alcoholic heat.
Drinkability is a hallmark of the Double IPA style (2015 Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) Category 22A). However, here the diacetyl as well as intense ethanol and resin bitterness character, creates an off-balanced beer. I was able to tame some, but not all, of the aggressive hop bitterness with four-year old Pacific Northwest cheddar. Overall, the whole is greater than its parts.