Dr. Hoptagon

[Beer-lord]

As great as Sierra Nevada Devestation was last night, Dr. Hoptagon somehow beat it. Now this, to my palate, is the quintessential black IPA.
It poured a deep black and had a thick, heavy beige, meringue head.Right up front I could taste the citrus/pine of the hops.But it was the smoothness that the bitter finish had that really surprised me. It had it's roasty notes as well. Just a perfect balance of hops and malts.
I doubt this is something many other places have as this is a very small brewery in cajun country though they are growing very fast. There is another local brewery that has a beer that supposedly rivals this one that I hope to be able to find soon.
I'm definitely going to see if I can get an email to contact the brewery for the recipe.
This is not my picture but a great representation.

TDC_1327-2.jpg (356.4 KiB) Viewed 426 times

[RedBEERd]

Easily the best Black IPA I've ever had (and the Sierra Nevada Devastation was awesome too).

I've not tried anything else from this brewery but it will make me give their other stuff a shot. The roastyness of this beer surprised me considering the name............I really don't know how they came up with that name anyway because hops were not my first taste, but maybe my taste buds were destroyed by the Green Bullet, Pallette Wrecker and your 2 home brews we had before it last night.

I'm glad I bought one for me earlier as I don't know how long they will be around. I'm assuming both The Devastation and this one are seasonals?

[Inkleg]

Well, as Y'all say down there in your language. "It's good to see homos naked" .....translated from Cajun to English... "It's good to see the local guys make it". Sounds like a good beer, hope they share the recipe.

[Rev_evans]

Wish I could find that here in GA. Looks tasty!

[mashani]

Need to try both. The best dark IPA I have had so far came as 2 bottles of a sixer of the Sam Adams Category 23 homebrew competition a few years back. It might have been a bit too roasty for the official style, but it was totally delicious piney goodness.

[Kealia]

I finally tried this last night - thanks to Paul for sharing one. I will say that it was wasted on me, though. I know this beer wasn't cheap, nor easy to come by and really appreciate the ability to try it and continue to get exposed to the "dark side". However, I think it continues to not be my thing and I will continue my mantra of "stouts are icky".

Ok, I know this isn't a stout but the dark malts are really what turn me off. Just the way that some people have a low threshold for things like diacytel, I believe I am that way with dark malts. This poured black, and I mean black. It almost looked silky smooth. It really is gorgeous to look at - I should have stopped there

Mine poured just the like picture that Paul posted - I even used a similar glass. The aroma was piney, chocolate and toffee to my nose. The taste was silky (just like it looked) with the hop dominating the upfront taste. The finish becomes chocolate, toffee, and then for me more coffee and astringent. I really think that is what gets me because it's not 'bitter' in the way that hops bitter a beer. The lingering taste is somewhat of an alcohol feel, but not quite a burn. It's funny, because I really enjoy Pliny and Enjoy By which are both IIPAs and have somewhat of a hot finish (but very balanced) so I have to believe that what I'm disliking is the astringency from the dark malts.

Oh well, more for you guys!

Thanks Paul.

[Beer-lord]

I was up in the air on whether I should force this on you but I do appreciate your honesty. I saw one yesterday and was going to buy it but I know that it was likely 2 months old so I passed. Actually, I've been craving another one for some time now.

In fact, the last time I had this I was helping a friend paint and we stopped to partake in it's goodness and for the next 15 minutes, each and every time I drank it I made some comment on just how much I like it. But, much like some love sours and I just can't drink them, I totally understand and that's why they make more than one style of beer.

[Kealia]

All you did was send a beer that you liked, nobody forced me to drink it.

When I go to breweries I will still sample everything because I'm sure at some point I will find one that I like.

It's the intent that matters and I appreciate the gift.

[Inkleg]

Uhm, after reading that review, you may want to give a Happy Ending to someone else Ron.

Wait, wait......I mean give the Happy Ending to someone else, phew, that was close.

[Kealia]

Uhm, after reading that review, you may want to give a Happy Ending to someone else Ron.

Wait, wait......I mean give the Happy Ending to someone else, phew, that was close.

...and now I'm wiping beer off my screen from 'snarfing' it when I read that