We’re gonna rock around the hop tonight.  Since these were both “sip with us Saturday” beers from the same brewer, I’ve decided to put them together.  They have something in common, can you guess what it is?  Two hoppy beers?  Not normally my thing but I want to give all beers a chance.  Without further ado we’ll see how these beers stacked up.  Hop Rocket will be first and Hopmouth second.

Hop Rocket: Hop Rocket is Arcadia’s 11th Anniversary Ale (An Imperial IPA) that weighs in at 9% ABV and 111 IBUs of hops.  That is a ton of IBUs (International Bittering Units).  I purchased this beer in Springfield, MO at the Brown Derby International store on my way out to California…I’ve waited a while to drink it. Here’s the skinny on this one.

The Pour:  Gold, gold, gold.  Hop Rocket had a very nice golden body and a small amount of head retention due to its slowly active body.

The Nose: The hops on this seemed more like tropical fruit than some others that I’ve had.  Don’t get me wrong, there was still some piney, grapefruity, and lemon citrus from the hops.  But this had a nice tropical tone.  I noted a touch of the grains on this beer but the 111 IPAs were plenty to cover almost anything on the nose.

The Taste: Did the hops come through?  Yes, they did.  Like I said, the tropical tones seemed to be big to me so that came through on the taste.  The piney hops resins still touched my palate.  The lemon citrus was also up front.  I found the beer to be particularly bitter and dry.  To much, if you ask me.  Hints of toffee and a touch of burnt smokiness were also present on the finish.

Overall, I think a better Anniversary gift could have been offered.  I found the beer a little thinner and less malty than I think is appropriate for the amount of hops on this one.  The alcohol was also noticeable.

Mike’s Rating:

Overall Satisfaction:  

Among other Imperial IPAs:  

Hop Mouth: Hopmouth is a Double IPA that is 8.1% ABV and 79 IBUs, which is in the normal American IPA range.  I also purchased this in the Brown Derby International store.  It was far better, in my opinion, than was Hop Rocket.  This offering more balanced and less attenuated (thinned).

The Pour: A maple body sat staring me in the face, even though it had no head.  It’s lightly hazed body created a sense of mystery.  I thought that I ought to look at it a little more.

The Nose: What a relief.  The hops did punch me in the face this time.  In fact, I was like, “This is a DIPA”? Double IPAs are suppose to cause massive seizures and this one didn’t.  Good!  The great thing about not having six billion IBUs of hops was the fact that I could note the caramel tones mixed with sweetness.  Of course, I did note those Cascade hops on the nose.  Plenty of grapefruit.  I wish to say that the vinous (wine-like) tones made it seem more grapy and less grapefruity.

The Taste: The grape tones that I mentioned came through here although the grapefruit and bitterness reminded me that there were acids from the hops.  A very pleasant balance of thick malts stood behind the hoppy and bitter qualities.  Hopmouth faded into a pleasant caramel and grain finish.  The Maris Otter grain that the got from the U.K were really a wonderful choice.  I don’t know if they are responsible but there was a pepper tone to this beer as well.

Overall, I found this to be balanced and put together like they brewers had some sense.  Nothing was absolutely extreme but it was it was unmistakably a Double IPA.

MIke’s Rating:

Overall Satisfaction:  

Among other Double IPAs: