Brewed By: Boulevard Brewing Company in Kansas City, Missouri
Purchased: Single 12oz bottle from the Boulevard Smokestack sampler from Binny's in Chicago, IL; 2011
Style/ABV: Imperial/Double IPA, 8.5%
Boulevard Brewing Company hails out of Kansas City, Missouri. They have a very nice website that is cleanly formated, informative, and is not loaded with Java and Flash scripts. The company was founded officially in 1989, but began in 1988 when founder John McDonald began construction of the brewery. In 2006 the brewery had a major expansion, which allowed for additional brewing capacity. You can find more info on the brewery's history HERE.
According to Wikipedia, Boulevard is the largest craft brewer in Missouri, and the 10th largest craft brewery in the United States. Today I am drinking a beer from their "Smokestack Series." The Smokestack Series looks to be a series of high-quality, signature beers. Originally these beers came exclusively in 750ml bottles, but the more popular releases are now available in 12oz bottles. I found a "Smokestack sampler," and figured this would be a good introduction to the brewery.
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Some essentials before I pour: Boulevard advertises this as a bitter beer with toffee and caramel notes. They describe the hops as ranging from minty and citrusy, with hints of pine. This clocks in at 71 IBUs, which is fairly contained for an Imperial IPA. This is brewed with amber malt, brown sugar, dextrose, palte malt, and five hops including bravo, cascade, centennial, chinook and CTZ. Just looking at the big malts used and the fairly conservative IBus leads me to believe this is going to be a balanced Imperial IPA. I actually question the categorization just looking at the stats. But let's see how it holds up.
Wow, the appearance is really nice. The body is a dark, dark copper-orange color with hints of brown pouring out from the beer. More dark brown in low light, and dark orange in bright light. There is a massive, thick, bubbly, 4-finger head when you pour the beer. The head is tan-khaki in color in low light, and more orange in bright light. The head is slightly soapy in consistency, but is actually very thick for a soapy head. The head is also sticky, leaving lacing on my glass already. There is moderate carbonation in this slightly hazy beer, but the orange color clarity is absolutely gorgeous when you hold the beer up to light.
I was greeted with aroma during the pour, and this beer smells absolutely potent. I'm picking up a lot of sweet hop aromas, including peaches and grapefruit. I'm also smelling some spicy esters: nutmeg and brown sugar. Along with the spices you do get a minty smell which is really exotic and awesome. Really interesting mint, nutmeg, and brown sugar. I smell grapefruit, tangerine, a little booze, and some hints of toffee and caramel. A superbly fresh and exciting nose, if this tastes half as good as it smells we will be in good shape.
Damn! This is off the hook. This has a huge, complex, multi-dimensional profile. All sorts of interesting components are hitting my palate, including hops, malts, mint, brown sugar, and some nice booze on the back end.
On the front of my palate I'm getting big hop notes and some burgeoning mint and brown sugar. This rolls into some huge mint, brown sugar, caramel and toffee notes in the middle. The back end finishes drying with hints of caramel and even some bready/doughy notes, and slight bitterness. This is a full-bodied beer that is super complex, but it has good carbonation to keep it drinkable. This also is bitter at 71 IBUs, but it isn't blasting my palate like a Stone Brewing beer or some of the more extreme IIPAs.
I'm tasting orange and grapefruit rind; orange and grapefruit; hints of pine but more of the citrus. There's definitely some minty, spiced notes in here, and definite brushes with brown sugar. There is a lot of big caramel, brandy cake, toffee, and some dough. I am really digging the fresh, lively, and floral nature of the hops. This beer is bitter, but it is not extremely bitter. It's actually as well-balanced an IIPA can be. Remember, Imperial IPAs are not supposed to be balanced...they are usually a display of hops. This beer has plenty of hop qualities, but I am really impressed with the malts.
Rating: Above-Average
This one is just a tad too hoppy and bitter to be a true IPA, and so I believe it does fit into the Imperial IPA category. But I'll be damned if this is not one of the more balanced and robust Imperial IPAs I have had. Huge malt flavors including brown sugar, toffee, and caramel balance the big, bright, fresh citrus and mint hops.
* * * * * *
Some essentials before I pour: Boulevard advertises this as a bitter beer with toffee and caramel notes. They describe the hops as ranging from minty and citrusy, with hints of pine. This clocks in at 71 IBUs, which is fairly contained for an Imperial IPA. This is brewed with amber malt, brown sugar, dextrose, palte malt, and five hops including bravo, cascade, centennial, chinook and CTZ. Just looking at the big malts used and the fairly conservative IBus leads me to believe this is going to be a balanced Imperial IPA. I actually question the categorization just looking at the stats. But let's see how it holds up.
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| Boulevard Double Wide IPA |
Wow, the appearance is really nice. The body is a dark, dark copper-orange color with hints of brown pouring out from the beer. More dark brown in low light, and dark orange in bright light. There is a massive, thick, bubbly, 4-finger head when you pour the beer. The head is tan-khaki in color in low light, and more orange in bright light. The head is slightly soapy in consistency, but is actually very thick for a soapy head. The head is also sticky, leaving lacing on my glass already. There is moderate carbonation in this slightly hazy beer, but the orange color clarity is absolutely gorgeous when you hold the beer up to light.
I was greeted with aroma during the pour, and this beer smells absolutely potent. I'm picking up a lot of sweet hop aromas, including peaches and grapefruit. I'm also smelling some spicy esters: nutmeg and brown sugar. Along with the spices you do get a minty smell which is really exotic and awesome. Really interesting mint, nutmeg, and brown sugar. I smell grapefruit, tangerine, a little booze, and some hints of toffee and caramel. A superbly fresh and exciting nose, if this tastes half as good as it smells we will be in good shape.
Damn! This is off the hook. This has a huge, complex, multi-dimensional profile. All sorts of interesting components are hitting my palate, including hops, malts, mint, brown sugar, and some nice booze on the back end.
On the front of my palate I'm getting big hop notes and some burgeoning mint and brown sugar. This rolls into some huge mint, brown sugar, caramel and toffee notes in the middle. The back end finishes drying with hints of caramel and even some bready/doughy notes, and slight bitterness. This is a full-bodied beer that is super complex, but it has good carbonation to keep it drinkable. This also is bitter at 71 IBUs, but it isn't blasting my palate like a Stone Brewing beer or some of the more extreme IIPAs.
I'm tasting orange and grapefruit rind; orange and grapefruit; hints of pine but more of the citrus. There's definitely some minty, spiced notes in here, and definite brushes with brown sugar. There is a lot of big caramel, brandy cake, toffee, and some dough. I am really digging the fresh, lively, and floral nature of the hops. This beer is bitter, but it is not extremely bitter. It's actually as well-balanced an IIPA can be. Remember, Imperial IPAs are not supposed to be balanced...they are usually a display of hops. This beer has plenty of hop qualities, but I am really impressed with the malts.
Rating: Above-Average
Score: 89%
This one is just a tad too hoppy and bitter to be a true IPA, and so I believe it does fit into the Imperial IPA category. But I'll be damned if this is not one of the more balanced and robust Imperial IPAs I have had. Huge malt flavors including brown sugar, toffee, and caramel balance the big, bright, fresh citrus and mint hops.
What impresses me the most is the drinkability. This is drinkable despite having such a complex and full mouthfeel. The ABV is pretty big, but the carbonation and bitterness helps make it work. I will be buying this again, and recommend you do the same.
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