Arcadia Hopmouth Double IPA

Brewed By: Arcadia Brewing Company in Battle Creek, Michigan

Purchased: Single 12oz bottle purchased by my lovely girlfriend, from Chicago, IL; 2012

Style/ABV: Imperial/Double IPA, 8.1%

It's been about a year since I've last dabbled with Arcadia Brewing. Tonight's beer is courtesy of my lovely girlfriend, who picked me up a 4-pack. And it is a good thing too, because I really enjoy the beer I'm about to review. Let me rewind a bit.

Arcadia is a brewery that hails out of Battle Creek, Michigan. The brewery was founded in 1996 as a microbrewery specializing in British-style ales. The brewery produces beer in small batches using brewing techniques that originated in England. The beer is brewed with authentic British equipment, uses malted barley from England, and uses hops from the Pacific Northwest of the United States.

This is most definitely a British-influenced brewery. When I last had an Arcadia beer, it was their Arcadia India Pale Ale. The beer didn't feature the over-the-top hop notes you get with many American IPAs. And, in fact, BeerAdvocate has wisely put the Arcadia IPA into the "English IPA" category as per the BJCP.

And tonight's beer, the Hopmouth Double IPA, is a very surprising beer for reasons I will touch on in the review. According to the Arcadia website, this is the first beer from their Brew Crew Big Beer Series. They describe the beer as having an amber hue and a huge white head, with rich, toasty flavors, and sweet caramel notes. They also suggest citrus, pine, and resin notes. Most importantly, they describe this beer as balanced and drinkable with traits "rarely found in this style." Clocking in at 8.1% ABV and packing 76 IBUs, let's dive in.

Arcadia Hopmouth Double IPA

The pour reveals a copper-amber beer. In dark light, this beer is dark brown; in bright light this beer is amber-orange with hints of brown. I was able to get two, very nice fingers of egg-shell colored head. The head is pretty thick and bubbly, and it is leaving lacing on my glass as it dissolves. Actually, for an 8.1% ABV beer, this beer pours with a really nice head. I see a decent amount of carbonation in the murky beer. All-in-all, this is a very nice looking beer. 

There's a lot of really big, fresh, and delicious aromas coming off this beer. I'm picking up huge toffee, brandy-cake, caramel, and sweet notes. This is totally surprising compared to say...a West Coast IPA. I'm also pulling out a lot of big, super fresh, earthy and hebral hops. I smell mint, pine, grapefruit, resin, hints of alcohol, hints of tobacco and wood. Just a huge, fresh, and malty aroma.

This is a hugely surprising beer. You get hit with creamy head, and a caramel malt and hop infusion. The hops ride into the middle, and then on the back end you pick up this roasted note. And then a hint of a buttery note, not dissimilar to what you might get in an Irish Red Ale. This is bitter, but I'm not puckering my lips. This is hoppy, but my palate is not being imploded. This is balanced as hell, and yet there are still huge hop flavors. I'm picking up grapefruit, mint, earthy notes, pine, maybe a twang of funky fruit. What I really like is how fresh these hops are! This isn't a West Coast IPA with huge danky, hemp-like hops. This beer reminds me of a forest in Middle Earth.

The mouthfeel on this is medium-full, with a creamy as hell head, and a super smooth and drinkable body supported by good carbonation. This beer is balanced! Especially for a Double IPA. You never feel or get overwhelmed by the hops or bitterness. And this drinks much less than the 8.1% ABV would lead you on. The front palate is hops, toffee, caramel, and smooth carbonation. You also get some good bitterness and some resin; the resin rolls into the middle, and you get really fresh hops supported by big malts; the back palate is where the hops roll off and you get your first hit of roasted malts. The back, back palate is a buttery aftertaste that lingers. Slightly dry, and slightly bitter on the finish.  

Rating: Divine Brew

Score: 94%

 

I am really intrigued by this brew. Let me throw in a funny back story. When I had this beer the other day, I also had a bottle of Sierra Nevada's Ruthless Rye. I let my girlfriend try both beers. I let my girlfriend try the Ruthless Rye first (a Rye Ale...or IPA brewed with Rye Malts if you will). She wasn't a big fan of the Ruthless Rye due to its bitter qualities. I warned her that the Arcadia Hopmouth is a Double IPA, so it likely would be more hoppy and bitter. She described the Hopmouth as "the exact opposite" of the Ruthless Rye. She said it tasted less bitter and less hoppy. And maybe it is.

 

It's refreshing to see such a balanced Double IPA that still maintains all the important flavors you expect with the style. This is still a bitter beer. This beer still has resiny notes. This beer still kind of makes you pucker. But this beer is fresh, refreshing, and has big toffee, caramel, and roasted malt notes. This is like the anti-West Coast Double IPA. I like it a lot.

 

I foresee myself drinking this beer in the future, frequently actually. In order to enjoy this beer...you need to let your guard down. This isn't a West Coast hop bomb. This is a balanced, mature, Double IPA with big fresh flavors. This is good stuff. Maybe this is a sessionable Double IPA? Maybe this is like the middle ground between an IPA and a Double IPA: a "IPA and a half." Fuck, I don't know. I think this beer deserves more props than that. This beer is really an accomplishment in my book: a huge beer with huge flavors that doesn't depend on hop-rape to convey big flavors. That makes this beer beyond worthy. Check it out.