BarrelHouse Brewing BIG SUR Double IPA

Beer Name: BIG SUR Double IPA
Brewery: BarrelHouse Brewing Co. (Paso Robles, CA)
ABV: 9.6%
How sold: 22 oz bottles; on draft
Where bought: Craft Shack (San Diego, CA)  ****bought online
Price: $8.99 for 22 oz. bottle

Date Bottled: February 24, 2017
Date Bought: March 29, 2017
Date Received: April 6, 2017
Date Opened: April 27, 2017
When brewed/released? Year-round beer. Part of the Small Batch Barley and Hop Project.
IBU: 95

What's on the Bottle/Website: "Big Sur, a masterpiece of colossal redwoods, treacherous cliffs, and dangerous surf breaks. With nearly 70 miles of rugged coastline and frigid sharky waters, adventure here isn't for the faint of heart. Introducing BIG SUR Double IPA, brewed big to stand up to life's most rewarding adventures." Read more here!

Where distributed: As of April 2017, BarrelHouse Brewing beers are generally distributed in California. They also distribute through The Beer Connect.

REVIEW:

Appearance (5%): Poured clear golden into a pint glass. Frothy white head, some nice lacing. 4.5/5

Smell (25%): Predominantly tropical citrus, some pine, complementing malt. No indication this is 9.6%, smells like it drinks more like 6.5% to 7%. 4.75/5

Taste (40%): Follows the nose; extremely dangerous tropical citrus experience that pretty much made me down the entire bottle in one sitting. Virtually no octane until I got to the end of the first pint, and then I also remembered this was close to 10% ABV. Yup, that's a good thing here. Citrus experience continues through the aftertaste. Drinking more like 65-70 IBU to me. This is great. 4.5/5

Mouthfeel (10%): Medium-bodied, good carbonation. Slightly dry tongue. Very easy drinking. 4.5/5

Overall (20%): An outstanding IPA. I read a few reviews from RateBeer, Beer Advocate, and Untappd, and I concur that BIG SUR is a big winner. I'm probably enjoying this way more than the average person, but I'm definitely a fan of this one. I now want to try more IPAs from BarrelHouse, and they seem to have a few more available. Good price for the 22 oz bottle. 4.5/5

Final Weighted Rating: 4.563/5