Hales Aftermath Imperial IPA

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 6

A vigorous pour into my 25cl tulip glass produces a three-finger thick, frothy, amber-tinged, tan colored head. The beer is murky amber color that shows a hazy, rosy copper hue when held up to the light. The aroma is nicely hop focused, though it doesn't absolutely assault the senses with hops. Aromas of grapefruit, tangelo and lychee are boosted by grainy crystal malt notes and there is a back-drop of hemp-oil, pine and soft cedar. The sharper, more herbal hop notes seem to come to the fore as my nose gets used to the other aromatic notes.

Soft and creamy up front, it picks up some soft carbonation as t moves across my tongue and finishes with a tongue scraping, astringent hoppiness. Sticky crystal malt flavors of caramelized sugars and toasted malt notes play a very big role here; the crystal malt is a bit heavy handed, despite that this is clearly a hop dominated brew. Fruity hop flavors of candied grapefruit zest, caramelized lychee syrup and tangelo are quite noticeable, but at times made a bit weird by the caramel malt notes. Herbal hop flavors are secondary and produce a mix of menthol, pine tar and hemp-oil notes. The hop character is bound together by a big, astringent, green bitterness that lingers on in the finish for quite some time.

A bit unbalanced for a Double IPA; it has too much crystal malt flavors which seem to accentuate some of the harsher hop notes somehow. I certainly do like some malt in this style of beer, but it needs to be more integrated & supporting of the hop character than this one is. This is a decent Double IPA and certainly worth trying.

Aroma: 4 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 7

Looks great, smells great, tastes pretty good, but the metalic aftertaste really tanked it for me. Hale’s really tries but they continually come up short.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Dark orange body with a slightly off white head. Teh aroma is grapefruit with some light caramel and oak. There is a light fall leaf character. The taste has some sharp grapefruit bite along with a some caramel. The taste also has some metal in the finish. I woudl prefer a little more malt and less of the grapefrui hops. Still, this is a decent IIPA.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Medium slightly hazy orange gold color. Small white foamy head. Aroma is grapefruity and orange. A medium bodied Imperial India Pale Ale. Malts are fruity and sweet. Hops are piney, citrus and fruity. Yet another Imperial IPA that leans toward the malts. Nice full flavor. Very smooth tasting. A nice imperial IPA, this is one of Haleís new ìBrewers Choiceî series beers. It could be very promising is this beer is any indication. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is bitter.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

Gold color with nice big head. Big floral aroma. Sweet and sticky but a little too sweet. Alcohol finish.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

This IIPA pours with an orange-amber body topped by a medium thick head with a good amount of lacing. The aroma is slightly sweet yet slightly bitter with a nice apricot note and a touch of grapefruit. The flavor is very similar with a bit of piney bitterness showing through. Medium bodied, smooth and a touch dry.