An IPA called "Larry"

What is it? Wachusett "Publick House" Imperial IPA. 7.5% ABV, 85 IBU.


I saw this in the single bottle rack at Glenville Beverage in Scotia NY, and decided that even with a strange name it was worth trying. So I cooled it to 40F and left it there for a few days, then did this tasting.

The pour - as you can see, nice head and color, the head didn't shrink much in the minute or so it took to get a picture I liked. But the aroma was perfume for sure. Put a dab of this behind your ears ladies, if you want to attract attention. It smelled way too strong to me, but the taste will tell.

Beautiful

 

And the first taste - not much in the way of bittering hops here for taste or balance. It really tastes bad! Not only does it taste like perfume, but the taste lingers, starting on the tip of the tongue and roof of the mouth, then rolling back to the back of the tongue, although much less strongly. Happily, not a lot of taste in the back of the mouth and throat, but to my taste the balance between finishing (taste and aroma) hops and bittering hops was way off. It has enough alcohol to certainly be noticed, and not so much that it dominates the rest of the character of the brew. I'm not sure you could cover the taste of the hops in this one, though.

The goal

The neck label shows what they were trying to do, and if "drinkable" means the bittering hops were subtle, they hit the mark. I do like a good bit of bittering hop character, and I know that even people who know and love beer may not like a very bitter brew, but I think this one falls below moderate all the way to wimpy.
Overall - I finished the bottle, letting it warm slowly to see if the hop balance would change. It did change slightly, not for the better, I can't say it was better or worse, but taste was different at 60F than colder.

Not for me, if you try it you know what to expect.