Moylan's Moylander Double IPA.

The bottle reads, from top to bottom, "Moylan's | Moylander | Double | IPA | Ale". Is it a double IPA ale? Or Moylander Ale: Double IPA? Double India Pale Ale Ale? In any case, I was excited to see what Moylan's could do in the double/imperial IPA range. Their Nor Cal was a great IPA, so when I saw that they had a double and even a triple, I grabbed one of each. A big whiff is rewarded with a strong, grassy hop aroma with lots of fruit and citrus. Taste is strongly malty actually with an undercurrent of resin-y, bitter hops. There's not as much complexity there as I would have thought. The flat hop character doesn't go well with the long finish as it ends up being a little stale and musty.

I have somewhat mixed feelings about this one. I really wanted to like it, but it's just a little flat, little unbalanced. For all its accolades, I'm afraid that I've had much better. It's not a necessarily bad, but I'd take a Southern Tier Unearthly over this one. For 8.5%ABV, it's not a bad buy, but I'm not sure what I'd put with this. For some reason, fried chicken sounds really good. Or some jambalaya, something Creole and spicy.

• Appearance: Clear, dark gold. Fluffy head with plenty of curtains.
• Smell: Grassy, fruity, a little hot.
• Taste: Fairly malty, strong hop intensity but fairly flat. Ends up coming off as a bit stale and musty.
• Mouthfeel: Resin-y but the carb and weight are all typical.
• Drinkability and Overall: 8.5%ABV so no session but the lack of balance in the finish makes it an odd sipper. Maybe an appetizer beer, whatever that means.