Rush River Double Bubble Imperial India Pale Ale

Rush River Double Bubble Imperial IPA. 9% ABV, 100 IBU. Rush River Brewing, River Falls, Wisconsin.

So, I'm at the store, looking for some drinking beers. All I have at home are reviewing beers, about 26 of them, in crowler, growler, can and bottle. I need something just to drink while I read or watch TV or movies. And I see this old favorite, only $10.50 a 6-pack.

And then something occurs to me. Wait, has this beer appeared in the Nib before? It has to have, right? So, I look and I look, and, no. Is it possible that I haven't had it in the last 7 1/2 years since I started this blog? I went to Untappd to see if there are in clues in my check-ins. I've checked in to Double Bubble four times since 2011, two bottles from spring of that year, possibly from a 6-pack, definitely enjoyed at home, and then August of '15, most assuredly from a sample dropped off for me at Acadia, consumed at home, and finally from a special cask poured at New Year's Eve of that year, at Acadia. Each of those times I neglected to use the opportunity to create a new post for the Nib. Asleep on the job, once more.




So, okay. I'm drinking some Double Bubble. And when did I first review it? Almost nine years ago, June 18, 2009, on BeerAdvocate. Here are those notes:

Mostly transparent, golden hue, big bone-white head.

Sweet meets bitter, in the nose...apricot, tangerine, pineapple, prickly pine.

On the tongue and in the mouth, it's a spank of hops, sliver of malt, and then the sweet honey trickles down and cuts the bitterness. Justa bit of linger bittersweet hops and honey riding the tongue, coating the throat, spreading tastiness.

Medium bodied, longish finish, not too daunting, no bruiser or tongue-ripper, definitely drinkable, but at 8.5%, not what you'd want for a few in a row.

Nicely done, guys.

And all those years later, have my thoughts changed much? Nope. Except...well, I'm on my third of the evening, so forget that noise.

(I also realized that I haven't done a post about Bubble Jack IPA, either. Slacker, slacker, slacker.)

P.S.  A little closer inspection shows that I did do a post here about Double Bubble in April of 2011. How'd I miss it? Anyway, I'll delete it and keep this one. The pic is better, anyway.

Originally our summer seasonal, demand has forced us to offer the Double Bubble all year long, and we don’t mind one bit. This hop-whopper is the bigger brother to our very popular Bubblejack India Pale Ale. Light in color, the hops do the talking in this full-bodied ale. For this version, we’ve doubled the hops, and added three pounds of local honey per keg. Extremely smooth and slightly sweeter than the original, a little bit goes a long way.