Ballistic IPA

Thanks to Eric Mathis for giving me a bottle of this during our weekly tasting event at the house. He got this from the brewery while helping his sister move. I reviewed this while making an organic based deer stroganoff which I can in ball jars and hope will sustain me as a lunch for the rest of the week. I find the label very interesting as it's oddly reminiscent of Green Lanter, and if it were, his wife, Poison Ivy from Batman...

Served in a snifter.

7.5 % ABV

Sound: Not much of a spritzy when opened.

Appearance: The pour seemed thick and lacking in caronation, only to give rise to a thin bubbled foam when all the beer was in the glass. A Rich mahogany amber with a bright orange hue. Evenly glowing, but hazed to say the least. There isn't much activity seen within the glass.

Aroma: Huge grapefruit and earthy tropical scent erupts from the glass. I could have told you amarillo before even reading the bottle. Other noteable sensations revolve around a rich dark fruit and raisin scent along with plums and figs, even passion fruit. No tartness, but just a mellow yet fruitful nose that consistently blossoms from the glass.

Taste: The front is faintly biscuity, but overall dominated by a forebearing hop juice. I get sweet orange peel bouquet up front with notes of mango and a touch of flowers. Very citrusy. The second half is characterized by a very unique, but all too familiar hop fruit juice flavor. This consists of dark roasted fruits as noted above like raisnins and plums, but also with a sweet grape undertone. The very finish rounds out with a minute leafiness to finish and balance out the sweetness with a few extra bittering units. The aftertaste emits a slight tannic flavor, but still the memory of all the full deliscious fruit flavors acknowledged throughhout. Here also one could draw honey and biscuit malt from the backbone of the beer.

Mouthfeel: Thick and again, juicy. Carbonation is on the extremely low end, but not enough to draw away from the beers experience, though enough to bring fourth more hop flavor. Finish is dry, but there is a big globular cloying texture at the roof of the mouth. Still, a soft mouthfeel about it.

Overall Impression: This is a big fruitful IPA that is relatively reminiscent of Hop Juice by Two Brothers. I found that the amarillo added a generous fruit forward complexity while not becoming off-balanced, eve though the malt was hardly present. Ale Asylum yet again knows how to use their hops!