Beaten Track Brewery "Brewmasters Small Batch Double IPA" - Australia (ABV 9%)

This beer was a nice surprise, I had not previously heard of the Beaten Track Brewery and this double IPA was very tasty. The "Brewmasters" beers are the breweries special one off or seasonal brews so the Double IPA is not in regular production.

You can see the lovely orange amber colour of this beer and the smallish creamy head. It has a fantastic aroma mainly a piney hop but with some underlying caramel maltiness. There was quite a bit of sediment in the bottle, I guess yeast esters from bottle conditioning. This beer feels great in the mouth and has mildly bitter finish, it was very easy to drink.

This beer was good enough for me to seek out more of the Beaten Track Brewery's range.

Epic Hop Zombie Double IPA - New Zealand (ABV 8.5%)

Epic's "Hop Zombie" is a very popular Double IPA and is regarded as an excellent beer.
I tasted this one back to back (on successive evenings)with another NZ classic 8 Wired's "Super Conductor".

The Hop Zombie is a much more refined beer, it is not cloudy like the "Super Conductor" and lacks that beers extreme bitter finish. It is a very hoppy beer, however the aroma is not as intense as that from "Super Conductor".

Epic use 4 different hops to brew this beer (2 from NZ and 2 US varieties), they do not specify which hops they use. They also use 2 different Malts in brewing this beer (Pale Ale & Pilsener).

Hop Zombie is a very hoppy, yet nicely balanced Double IPA that deserves it's excellent reputation. Personally I preferred the less refined raw "Super Conductor".

8 Wired Super Conductor Double IPA - New Zealand (8.8% ABV)

The warning on the label says it all, "if you don't like hops, don't buy this beer". Pouring into the tulip this "Super Conductor" has a fantastic tropical fruit hop aroma.

This Double IPA has loads of pine & tropical fruit flavour but also has an intensely bitter finish. I love this particular style with the initial hint of sweet fruitiness followed by a crisp bitter finish. The malts used (Golden Promise, Pilsner, Caramalt, Pale Crystal) add  body to this beer and I suspect contribute to the initial hint of sweetness. This beer is more about the hops, the brewer promises that this is packed with both US & NZ hops. I suspect it contains both my NZ favorites Motueka & Nelson Sauvin together with other hop varieties.

The warning label is there for a reason, this is a powerful beer, loaded with hops and with a puckeringly bitter finish. Another awesome Kiwi classic craft brew.

Sierra Nevada "Hoptimum" Imperial IPA - USA (ABV 10.4%)

With a name like "Hoptimum" you wouldn't be wrong to expect a super hoppy beer. Sierra Nevada are fans of brewing hoppy beers and this Imperial (or Double) IPA is their idea of pushing the boundaries of Hoppiness. The brewers were aiming for, and achieved, 100 IBU's.

This beer has been dry hopped with Simcoe and a new "Proprietary variety" of hop. It has been further hopped using Sierra Nevada's Torpedo with Citra & Chinook Hops and bittered with German Magnum Hops. They have also used a variety of Malts to further the flavour of this beer, Two Row Pale, Golden Promise, Munich & Wheat Malts.


The result is a delicious fruity hop flavour with a malty complexity and a lip smacking bitter finish. If you are a fan of  American hop laden craft beers you will like this one.

Amager Bryghus "Gluttony" Double IPA - Denmark (9.4% ABV)

Amager have brewed this Double IPA as part of their "Sinner" series of beers, sins to be celebrated (Gluttony & Lust). I love the label with the greedy hop bellied gluttonous character.

Brewed with tons of hop (Hercules, Citra, Simcoe, Centennial, Amarillo and Sorachi-Ace), malted with Pilsener, Pale and Munich Malts and fermented with American ale Yeast, I was expecting a big flavoursome beer.

It pours a dark cloudy amber with only a small head, the Ale continued to lace in the glass. It gives a powerful citrus fruit hop aroma on pouring and from the glass. It has a fruity sweetness in the mouth and a bitter finish (without a dry pucker). A truly hop driven beer with lots of citrus, pine & passionfruit with subtle bittering. A very good double IPA packed with hop flavour.

Murrays Icon 2IPA - Australia (7.5%ABV)

My Australia Day beer for 2012.

Murrays have become one of my favourite brewers, producing a wide range of craft beers and I have yet to taste a bad one.

This is brewed as an American style double IPA. Lovely dark amber colour and chunky off white head promises plenty of flavour. It has a citrus and fruity flavour with some hop spiciness and malty sweetness, I even get a hint of honey. It is a surprisingly sweet beer, still full flavoured and with a dry rather than bitter hop finish.

It is difficult to get hold of in Perth but can be purchased online directly from Murrays

This gets my vote as possible Australia's best IPA.

Little Creatures "Big Dipper" - Australia (ABV 7.8%)

This is a single batch effort from the brewers at Little Creatures with a limited release in the beautifully proportioned "Pint Size" bottles. I also tasted a single barrel version of this beer on tap at the Western Australian Craft Beer Show.

A fine Double IPA brewed with 7 different hops (Columbus, Cascade, Chinook, Stella, Centennial, Citra and Simcoe). Pours a nice dark amber with only a small quickly dissipating head. Overwhelmingly fruit hop aroma and flavour, not a super bitter or challenging double IPA.

A very good IPA and for me a highlight for 2011. The craft beer show single barrell of a single batch tasted better  than  the bottle version. Its a shame this beer is a "once off", I would buy it again!

Visit Little Creatures HERE

Houblon Chouffe Dobbelen IPA Tripel - Belgium

I really don't know a lot about this beer, I bought it on impulse on a visit to the beer shop.

This beer doesn't really look, taste or smell like a double IPA. It also isn't exactly a Belgian Triple.

The taste is most definitely Belgian with that almost unique Belgian yeast and malt aroma & taste. It is a very light amber colour with a terrific chunky head and most impressive lacing. There are obviously a lot of Hops in this beer but unlike most IPA's they do not dominate. It is a quite dry beer with a slightly bitter finish. I did notice the 9% ABV but only after finishing the whole 750ml bottle as a refreshing Friday afternoon week ending aperitif.

A very good beer!

SCORE 4.6

Mikkeller 1000IBU - Denmark

1000IBU, surely this will turn my face inside out, that is super bitter!

This double IPA pours a lovely caramel copper amber colour with a big tightly beaded creamy head. It has a lot of sediment that doesn't really look like the usual yeast esters, apparently it is hop sediment. Nicely balanced beer with a fruity caramel mid palate finishing with a dry hop bitterness. A big 9.6% ABV.

It didn't turn my face inside out, the bitterness and flavour are very much in line with Stone's "Double Bastard Ale". If you are fond of big Imperial or Double IPA's then I thoroughly recommend this one!

SCORE 4.4

Viven Imperial IPA - Belgium

This is an American inspired Imperial IPA brewed by Brouwerij Van Viven in Belgium.


It is a super tasty beer brewed with Tomahawk & Simcoe hops giving it a deliciously floral/citrus hop aroma and flavour. Lovely dark copper amber colour with a thick almost beige head. 

This beer had a lot of flavour and a healthy 8% ABV. A very well made Imperial, I really enjoyed this one!


SCORE 4.6

Eskilstuna Anders Dubbel IPA - Sweden

A copper amber coloured beer with a medium head.

A very good double IPA full of hops (Pacific Gem, Columbus, Citra and Chinook), also full of flavour.

The beer is brewed with pilsener & wheat malt and is unpasteurized and unfiltered , thus the hazy appearance.

Lovely hop driven flavours and the bitter finish I love from an IPA.

This is close to the best beer I tasted in Sweden.

SCORE 4.5

Sierra Nevada "Torpedo" - USA

I really liked this beer, an American Pale Ale it pours a copper/tan with a tightly beaded head.

Brewed with "whole-cone" Magnum,,Crystal and Citra Hops this beer has an enticing citrus passion fruit hop aroma. It is not a super bitter Pale Ale, it has a distinct maltiness.

A complex and flavoursome American Pale Ale with 7.2% ABV.

SCORE 4.1

Haand Bryggeriet Dobbel dose IPA - Norway

Who likes head? Well I do, it is satisfying to pour a beer that has an obvious yeasty sediment (esters) in the bottle that give this reaction. This beer just kept on giving more head continuing to bead in the glass, check out the bottle in the photo!

Pours a cloudy orange amber with a pronounced citrus hop nose. The brewer has used a variety of hops to give both bitterness and aroma. Apparently it is overloaded with dry hops in the aging tank to add flavour and aroma. There is also a noticeable maltiness in the mid palate.

It is hardly surprising that this IPA would travel so well from Norway to Australia, that is what IPA's are supposed to do.

This is my first Norwegian beer and I am impressed.

SCORE 4.3