Red Hook Big Ballard Imperial IPA.

Part of the BevMo haul. Red Hook makes a sessionable ESB but I don't see or buy much Red Hook on the East coast. An imperial IPA from Red Hook? Ok, I'll bite. Of the 5 bottles I bought, 4 were imperial IPAs and one was a silly Chinese lager that came in a Buddha bottle. Hilarious.

Pour was looking might viscous into the pint glass. A look under light was surprising dark and reddish for an imperial IPA. Whenever I have an imperial IPA, I always have Southern Tier Unearthly in the back of my mind. Wonderful color, diverse hop profile in both smell and taste with a killer IBU. Big Ballard is not in that tier. The sweet malt up front was nice at first, got some tender apricot tones, but as this glass goes on, the malt starts to overpower the relatively mild hop bitter. I could probably be convinced that this is an imperial red or amber. A bit of a miss but not a bad beer, certainly. At 8.6%ABV, it's surprisingly drinkable despite some of the malt heaviness. I could knock back a few pints in a night but I wouldn't be that interested in what I'm drinking.

• Appearance: Dark golden, almost reddish hue. Small head reduced to a scummy, thick-skinned bubbles.
• Smell: (Forgot to take notes.)
• Taste: Sweet, malty, hops on the back end. Mostly bittering, balanced, not much in the way of grass, greenery, or floral. Some apricot tones.
• Mouthfeel: Smooth and a bit low carbed in the middle, giving it a soft feel. Heavy body in a syrupy way for an imperial IPA.
• Drinkability and Overall: For an imperial IPA, a bit mild. In terms of flavor, about as drinkable as any IPA. Not bad, it falls somewhere in between IPA and imperial IPA in intensity.