“Deep amber hue with a generous white head, Hopmouth showcases a rich, toasty flavor and a sweet caramel notes as a result of the high-quality Maris Otter Malt, imported from the UK. The hops are right up front in the aroma, reminiscent of citrus and pine, while the resin-like flavors linger well after the last sip.”
Arcadia HopMouth Double IPA
Double IPA, 8.1% ABV
Sayeth the Guys:
Ryan: Have you ever poured a beer and thought, “huh, I didn’t think it would look like that?” Or took a sip and wondered aloud, “Is this what it’s supposed to taste like?” That was kind of my thought process as I sat down to review this offering from Arcadia in Battle Creek, Michigan. This beer was different. It was good – but it was still different. But not exactly in a bad way. Let me try to explain.
This beer poured a rather dark, rich copper in color with a big ‘ol pillowy tan head that left all sorts of sticky goodness along the side of the glass. This beer poured much darker than I expected it to. But, you can’t judge a beer on looks alone – so I took a little whiff. Ah, now we’re talking. A big nose of pine and evergreen hits you right away. So this beer doesn’t look like I expected, but it smells spot on. How does it taste?
Back to not like I expected it to. First and foremost you get a massive wave of caramel and toffee. The malts are a punch in the face after the nose had me expecting a a hop bomb. The hops are there, making an appearance in the back end with a nice balance of citrus and pine. It takes a few sips to get used to it the malt forward attitude of this beer, but once you do its a good drinker.
At first I thought this beer had faded some and the malts had taken over. But I think this is what Arcadia intended. Like I said, this is a good beer, but I typically like the hop flavors to overshadow the malts in a double IPA – not the other way around.