By Manitoba standards, there have been an insane amount of new beer releases lately - THREE Deschutes products, Arrogant Bastard Ale, a few beers from all over Canada and now even a Double IPA from Driftwood Brewery. Driftwood gets a lot of rave reviews for their Fat Tug IPA, which is considered one of the top West Coast IPAs in all of BC.. and all of Canada. So as you can tell, it will be interesting to see how well they pull off a DOUBLE IPA.
Driftwood's Twenty Pounder Double IPA is described as being "an agent of delivery for hops! As always, we believe in balance, so the double-shwack of hops is supported by a dense-but-clean malt base. Huge fruit in the form of mango, passionfruit, guava, citrus and pine makes this a hop head’s delight."
Appearance: This bottle of Twenty Pounder was bottled on April 7, so it's not quite fresh but by Manitoban standards - it's fresh enough. One thing I wish we would see at Liquor Marts in Manitoba is that fresh hopped IPAs like this get the fridge treatment so that the hot store won't screw around with the hops as quickly as if it's being chilled. A moderately orangey/straw yellow with a light-moderate amount of carbonation. It has a beautiful head of creamy beige foam that gently diminishes leaving behind a trail of residue on the side of the glass.
Aroma: The aroma is your typical West Coast Style IPA, it's a full-on-hop IPA with a tropical pineapple and grapefruit juiciness to it. Good amount of pine, a bit of lemongrass and a sweet caramel boozey aroma that's lingering waiting to sneak up on me once I start sipping on it.
Taste: Not quite fresh as it's giving off a bit of that weird slightly paper/nut like taste that non-fresh IPAs tend to get. Thankfully it's still good enough for me to drink - it gives off a powerful pine bitterness, a good deal of metallic aftertaste that's lingering, a good mount of pineapple and grapefruit presence and a hint of boozy burn to show that it's freaking 9% ABV.
Overall Thoughts: Not quite fresh, but still fresh enough to drink - still has a rich pine kick to it alongside tropical fruity notes. Surprised by the lack of the hop burn in my throat but it'll likely kick in when I'm finishing the glass. Not bad but if it was under a month old, it would've likely been better. Only 75 IBU, so no where near as bitter as a Heady Topper!
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