“This beer is twister proof”…at least that’s what Boulevard says. Suddenly, it’s clear to what the Double Wide refers. So, if you are drinking this beer in your trailer, then rest assured that if your home is sucked up and obliterated by a tornado, ostensibly, your beer will remain intact. That’s reassuring.
Many of you know my feelings on IPA, especially Double IPAs. I’m not a huge fan of them unless they are balanced in the malt profile. I like a bit of sweetness and fullness in the body to keep the hops in check. I prefer that they work together in their extremes to achieve what I call “extreme balance.” How did this beer stack up?
The Pour: Double Wide had an orange brown body and was fairly opaque. The body was active and retained the head of the beer nicely. So far so good, it looked very nice.
The Nose: The best thing about this brew was that I didn’t have to smell any grapefruit or pines tones. To me, that meant no Cascade hops…a plus in my book (although I don’t mind them sometimes). What I did smell of the hops was certainly more lemony than it was other citrus fruits. It was lemon zesty with some grapish wine qualities. Caramel and nuts also made their way into the aroma as did some sweetness. The yeast breadiness and honey rounded out the already full aroma.
The Taste: The hop citrus and honey tones were at the front and worked wonderfully well together. A nice amount of sweetness certainly filled out the body of the beer. The mouth-feel itself was very nice; the higher carbonation and sweetness made certain of that. The hops present was a perfect balancing act between spice, citrus, and a beautifully insistent bitterness, which lasted for the whole beer. Those higher alcohol wine tones made themselves felt but not too much so as to take over the beer. The caramel and nuts were present but perhaps fairly restrained.
Overall, I love this IPA. I think it’s something I would always drink over Pliny or some of the other more popular double IPAs. To me, it’s almost flawless and the people of Boulevard should pat themselves on the back for this achievement. I would gladly pay $8 or 9 any time for this beer. I figure that 8.5% for a 750 ml bottle of great beer is not much at all.
Mike’s Rating:
Overall Satisfaction: 
Among other Double IPAs:
Why do I suddenly want to watch, “My name is Earl??” (Double wide joke. Do you think they have triple wides in Belgium?)
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Maybe they do have triple wides. Funny you mention that show. I helped Jason Lee with wine like a few months ago.
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I wish I would have picked up a bottle of this in KC. I was told they use “citra” hops.
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I guess that validates my citrus thoughts.
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So, I’m a few months late to this party… but I found this at a local grocer and had to give it a shot based on some other Boulevard stories on this site. I enjoyed it very much. Comparing it to other Double IPA’s I’ve had, I would have preferred it with more citrus and flora in the nose. Additionally, I detected something of a harshness to the flavor, albeit subtle.
Rate Beer has a commercial description up:
Double-Wide I.P.A. uses Columbus and Magnum hops for both bittering and aroma with Chinook hops added in the whirlpool. It is dry hopped with generous amounts of Cascade, Bravo, Centennial, and Chinook hops. The resulting beer has a hop forward aroma, redolent of peach and apricot. The assertive flavor bursts with the citrus qualities of blood orange and lemon with a slight caramel malt backbone to balance the intense hop flavor. There is little restraint in the flavor of this beer; it is certainly not for the pedestrian palate.
Chinooks… maybe that’s where I detected the harshness.
Overall, much better than say, Sculler’s IPA which has a quite a bit of Chinooks, but I still prefer Diamond Knot’s Industrial IPA.
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Thanks for your thoughts on the this brew. LIke I said, I was glad not to have the typical NW hops that I see in so many IPAs. Personally, I think this is in my top 5 IPAs. I’ve got one more bottle that I’m kind of waiting on to see how it ages. Maybe the harsh tones will smooth. I’m really aging it so that I can get those malts to the front of the brew.
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For those not near the Diamond Knot (hard to get their beer outside WA), Stone’s beers on tap often exhibit the flora that I love. I’ve had their IPA and Smoked Porter on tap, and the bouquet is awesome… if you like that sorta thing.
However, that aroma doesn’t transfer to the bottle.
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beer_scientist Reply:
April 6th, 2010 at 1:21 pm
Thanks, Tex. If I get up there, I’ll have to hit some “hot spots” with you.
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I’d be happy to show both you and Nate around.
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