Beer – #285 – Coronado – 17th Anniversary IIPA

Clearly a limited edition beer – the Coronado 17th Anniversary IIPA

Brewed by Coronado Brewing Company in the style of an Imperial/Double IPA and they are of course in Coronado, California USA

This is a 20fl oz, 650ml bottle, 9.5% ABV, and 285 calories a serve. This would be 4.88 standard drink units in NZ.

When we opened our doors 17 years ago, imposing India Pale Ales didn’t even have a style name, but thanks to the bravaddo and ingenuity of American craft brewers, ourselves included, the “Imperial IPA” has grown into one of the most coveted and delicious styles of beer around and one we feel is perfectly suited to serve as this year’s anniversary beer. A quintet of hops–Citra, Green Bullet, Pacific Gem, Pacific Jade, and Wakatu–lend a spicy tropical spike balanced out by clean breadiness on the finish. It makes for the perfect specialty ale to toast to 17 years of brewing immensely flavorful beers. Prost!

I’ve been looking forward to this too. Fantastic hop aroma on opening, sharp but not peppery.

Pours orange – goldfish golden with a small and disappearing head. Great hop aroma that has oranges and other citrus in it.

Oh wow that’s a flavour burst of some good measure. Corker! Decently carbonated you get a real burst of sweet flavours all up front and a really nice long finish to a slight bitterness. I get, or sense, a lot of oranges.

I have to say that I am really pleasantly surprised by this, I was expecting something a little heavier and bitter. But It’s really nice to have something a little sweeter that is quite full in the mouth, and that finishes to a reasonably easy bitterness.

I’m going to argue that this is a 9, making it for am a great beer. I’d easily sit and attempt a session of this. Might get to two, since it’s a bit heavy n the ABV, but what a way to finish.

I never did get that initial rush of flavours again, which is a pity, it really was eye popping, I’d pay for that again. I’ve easily managed to drink the first half in my enthusiasm for this, it’s a bit good.

Given that I have to drink even less in the next few months, this would be a beer that I’d be happy to benchmark that against. One of those occasional beers where I might be tempted to bet you your money back if you didn’t like it, however I think that the bright orange flavours might not be to everyone’s taste. However I could think of so many other beers where you wouldn’t get this much entertainment in a glass.

This is nice with a bit of Bruce Springsteen – High Hopes – on in the background, and a good old fashioned pie cooking in the oven, one of the few days recently where I don’t have to stand outside and cook.

As this warms the stronger hop grassiness begins to nose through in the glass. This is pleasant too. There isn’t too much left to drink though, I have accidentally managed to drink the most of it. On the Bruce Springsteen though, I get the idea that he might be trying to sing a bit tough and story. I may get back to that .