Great Lakes Alchemy Hour Double IPA, named for the brave, unconventional surfers of Lake Erie, and something that has to do with surfing called "alchemy hour." It will no longer be named that after this batch, as Widmer Brothers is holding tight to the word "alchemy" and won't let anyone else play with it.
9.4% ABV.
Brilliant, clear, crimson coloring, Large and lasting head, leaving lace, looking good.
Aroma: ah, right on the money. Citrus zest meets pine forest. Wide awake and fully flowering fruit notes matches the bitter hop blast. Particularly pleasant.
Taste: Sweet and smooth, with never ending hoppitude. Malt meets the hops well, stand up and rides it out with it. Keeps perfect time, while never letting the hop character go astray. Fruity, but ending dryly. Plenty of fruit association joust with the mind and memory, ...apricot, mango, pineapple, guava...backed up with a candy sugar sweetness, again, ending on a dry note.
Alcohol presence stays sly at first, but inevitably roars and gains dominance on the palate, among the senses, in the cavern of the brain case.
All in all, it's smooth, hoppy, and drinkable, despite the high ABV. A real hophead's treat, one that doesn't tear anything loose from your critical components, merely releases pleasurable flavors. And isn't that what we're looking for? I could drink one, and drink one, and drink one, and never tire of it, until that decision is made for me. Tonight, though, one is plenty, and off to sleep....
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