The aroma is sure to awaken the senses with a punch of ripe mango, tangerine and resiny hops making their presence immediately felt. A light honey-like caramel malt provides a counterpoint along with moderate sweet alcohol. As expected for an unfiltered Double IPA, an average-sized beige head of fine bubbles sits atop a hazy amber beer containing orange highlights all reminiscent of an intensely caramelized weissbier.
Massive is an understatement for the hop flavor in this beer. Grapefruit and orange juices dominate the hop profile with additional help from resin, floral and guava notes. The balance is decidedly bitter due to the high level of bittering hops, but this beer isn’t one-dimensional at all with a significant charge of caramel malt helping to keep it interesting. A semi-sweet finish is quickly followed by a palate-clearing, resiny aftertaste. Nothing seems out of place here, but then again, the hop flavor would bludgeon any wayward note into oblivion.
This full-bodied beer with above average carbonation completely fills the nooks and crannies of one’s palate. The moderately-high alcohol isn’t hot, though a bit of hop-related astringency comes through (which is not unexpected for the style).
If you’re finding that the typical IPA or even Imperial IPA is just too weak for you, this beer may be your cure. It’s larger-than-life hop charge is conceivably what gives the beer such a hazy appearance; it happens when you squeeze the life out of a hop’s lupulin glands. In this case, they were sacrificed to the mighty Puff.