• Brewery: De Molen
• Country: Netherlands
• Style: Imperial IPA
• ABV: 9.2 %
• Size: 330 ml
• Bought from: Bierzwerg, ~3 euro
• Beer Advocate
• RateBeer

After a hard week of exams, I finally have some (well deserved?) winter holidays. To celebrate I decided to try De Molen’s Imperial IPA: Amarillo. The beer has been brewed with Pale and Crystal malts, and hopped with Sladek (bittering), Saaz (flavor) and Amarillo (dryhopping) to a bitterness of 60 IBU and a color of 31 EBC. I have never tasted any beer (at least that I know of) brewed with Sladek hops, so this should be interesting. They are apparently a hybrid of Saaz hops, and should be similar in taste. I like De Molen’s plain, but informative, labels, listing the ingredients used, bitterness, color, bottling date, etc. My bottle was bottled on 05.09.2011, so it should be quite fresh. Let’s see how it tastes!

[easyreview title=”De Molen Amarillo” cat1title=”Appearance” cat1detail=”The beer pours with a bright orange color, and the beer is surprisingly crystal-clear. I mention this, since it is evident from the bottom of the bottle that this beer is bottle-conditioned because of the layer of yeast, and I must of managed to get a great pour. An almost non-existing white head is formed during pour, but it collapses as quickly as it is formed. Could have used a better head, but otherwise looks tasty.” cat1rating=”3.5″ cat2title=”Smell” cat2detail=”The aroma is typical of American west-coast hops, and the beer features a resiny and fruity aroma, lending tones of grapefruit, pine and a slight mango. There is a slight carameliness and alcohol note, but these are just barely detectable.” cat2rating=”4″ cat3title=”Taste” cat3detail=”The flavor begins with a caramelly sweetness, almost with tones of brown sugar, that is then joined by a huge hop flavor, featuring tones of mango, orange, grapefruit and resin. The hop tones and the malt backbone combine well together, offering a great flavor combination. The flavor ends with a sweet finish and a slight bitter bite. I really liked the taste of this beer, but I understand that people might find it a bit too sweet and caramelly for an Imperial IPA. The maltiness does well to hide and balance the bitterness.” cat3rating=”4.5″ cat4title=”Mouthfeel” cat4detail=”The beer has a smooth, almost soapy, medium-full body and medium-low carbonation, giving the beer a quite thick and syrupy mouthfeel. The beer is balanced towards the malty side of the spectrum, but there is still a huge presence of hops.” cat4rating=”4″ summary=”A great Imperial IPA, that definitely is sweeter than most other beers in the style. I liked the huge hop flavors of fruit and pine, combined with the caramel from the malt. The bitterness of this beer was also a bit low for the Imperial IPA style, so it could probably be classified as an IPA or American Strong Ale instead. I will be heading to Amsterdam with my girlfriend in the middle of January, and am really looking forward to trying out some more De Molens.”]