Brewed By: Pipeworks Brewing in Chicago, IL
Purchased: 22oz bottle (Batch #67) bought at West Lakeview Liquors in Chicago, IL; 2012
Style/ABV: Imperial IPA, 9.5%
Reported IBUs: ?
Galaxy hops are an Australian hop that feature big citrus and passionfruit flavors. I'm excited to glass this up, so let's see what Pipeworks has going on here.
The pour yields a super cloudy, murky, juicy, yellow/orange beer. The beer pours with 3-fingers worth of white/off-white head. The head is fulffy and dense. In bright light, this beer is juicy orange, with a gold-tinted head that is pretty clingy. There's visible carbonation in the form of tiny bubbles, and this beer has that mad haze.
I've been hitting the winter beers pretty hard, so it's been a while since I've had a fresh hop bomb. But DAMN. I'm getting huge citrus on this, with bright orange, pineapple, mango, passionfruit, and other tropical-citrus-West Coast hop aromas. You get some wheat as well, with a strong grass/lemongrass thing. Maybe a touch of pine or onion...but mostly strong, tropical, West Coast-style goodness.
Mmm...this is yummy. Chicago folk, grab a bottle of this if you can. Up front is pungent, thick, hemp-like/resinous citrus: big oranges, mango, tropical fruit, pineapple. The beer takes a turn towards the astringent side, and you get bitterness, bitter onions, pine, hints of bitter greens...but there is a pleasant, sweet, citrus backdrop. There's some nice bready malt in the background as a supporting attribute, but this is largely a hop bomb. I'm really digging the bitterness on this...it's quite nice, with wood, soapy, onions, bitter greens.
This is fresh, bright, and vibrant...and so tasty. This has a nice balance of malt sweetness, bright citrus hops, and nice biting, astringent bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium-full to full, with good palate depth and good complexity. This is sticky and sweet (as per the style, duh)...but for 9.5%, this is pretty damn smooth, and has a creamy mouthfeel and light carbonation. It's drinkable. Up front is smooth, pungent citrus; this rolls into really nice bitterness (woody, onion, soap, astringent, pine, etc.); the back end is lingering citrus and astringency. The whole thing is rounded out with malt sweetness and a slightly bready malt backbone.
Rating: Above-Average
I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average on this. This is just a phenomenal release from Pipeworks, and a really good Imperial IPA. If I can get an IIPA in Chicago from Pipeworks like this all year round...I could leave the West Coast behind. Food pairings here...you have a pretty big range with these hoppy beers. This could stand up to something with some hefty spice, and this could stand up to some big meats and big cheeses. I would pair this with a big burger, steak, pork sandwich, BBQ, or even something with a spicy leaning. I think a bomber of this was around 10 bucks, which is a good deal for this type of beer. As I said already, if you can find Pipeworks, check them out.
Random Thought: I've been punishing my liver pretty hard since Christmas, and I'm currently camping on a nice pile of beer. It's truly some /r/firstworldproblems. On a tangent...I'm sad to see that this weekend of wild card football was largely as expected. I was rooting for the underdogs, but they all lost. For next week...I think the Broncos win, the Pats win, the 49ers win, and...I really want Seattle to win. So I'm picking Seattle. Should be good.
Reported IBUs: ?
I love Imperial IPAs and I love unicorns. So tonight's beer was an obvious choice. About Pipeworks:
"When it comes to gravitationally bound systems of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar mediums and dark matter, the Unicorn is a bit of an expert. This wheat Double IPA brewed with 20 percent wheat and loads of Galaxy hops, will tear through your face time continuum in less than 12 parsecs and leave you well versed in a brief history of awesome."
Pipeworks has humble roots. The brewery was founded in Chicago in 2011 by Beejay Oslon and Gerrit Lewis. The duo were both homebrewers that met while while working at West Lakeview Liquors. In 2011, they began to raise money for their brewery using the online Internet site, Kickstarter. Olson and Lewis were both educated at De Struise Brewery in Oostvleteren, Belgium. With that knowledge, and the money from their kickstarter, Olson and Lewis created a unique brewery that is smaller in size, and intended to brew smaller batches of beer. The company's motto is "small batches, big beers." And indeed, since the brewery has been around, they've been releasing a lot of one-offs and small batch releases. At one point - and maybe still - the goal was the release a new beer every week. You can read more about the brewery at their website HERE.
Tonight's beer is a big, bottle conditioned Imperial IPA. The bottle states:
"When it comes to gravitationally bound systems of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar mediums and dark matter, the Unicorn is a bit of an expert. This wheat Double IPA brewed with 20 percent wheat and loads of Galaxy hops, will tear through your face time continuum in less than 12 parsecs and leave you well versed in a brief history of awesome."
Galaxy hops are an Australian hop that feature big citrus and passionfruit flavors. I'm excited to glass this up, so let's see what Pipeworks has going on here.
 |
| Pipeworks Galaxy Unicorn |
The pour yields a super cloudy, murky, juicy, yellow/orange beer. The beer pours with 3-fingers worth of white/off-white head. The head is fulffy and dense. In bright light, this beer is juicy orange, with a gold-tinted head that is pretty clingy. There's visible carbonation in the form of tiny bubbles, and this beer has that mad haze.
I've been hitting the winter beers pretty hard, so it's been a while since I've had a fresh hop bomb. But DAMN. I'm getting huge citrus on this, with bright orange, pineapple, mango, passionfruit, and other tropical-citrus-West Coast hop aromas. You get some wheat as well, with a strong grass/lemongrass thing. Maybe a touch of pine or onion...but mostly strong, tropical, West Coast-style goodness.
Mmm...this is yummy. Chicago folk, grab a bottle of this if you can. Up front is pungent, thick, hemp-like/resinous citrus: big oranges, mango, tropical fruit, pineapple. The beer takes a turn towards the astringent side, and you get bitterness, bitter onions, pine, hints of bitter greens...but there is a pleasant, sweet, citrus backdrop. There's some nice bready malt in the background as a supporting attribute, but this is largely a hop bomb. I'm really digging the bitterness on this...it's quite nice, with wood, soapy, onions, bitter greens.
Rating: Above-Average
I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average on this. This is just a phenomenal release from Pipeworks, and a really good Imperial IPA. If I can get an IIPA in Chicago from Pipeworks like this all year round...I could leave the West Coast behind. Food pairings here...you have a pretty big range with these hoppy beers. This could stand up to something with some hefty spice, and this could stand up to some big meats and big cheeses. I would pair this with a big burger, steak, pork sandwich, BBQ, or even something with a spicy leaning. I think a bomber of this was around 10 bucks, which is a good deal for this type of beer. As I said already, if you can find Pipeworks, check them out.
Random Thought: I've been punishing my liver pretty hard since Christmas, and I'm currently camping on a nice pile of beer. It's truly some /r/firstworldproblems. On a tangent...I'm sad to see that this weekend of wild card football was largely as expected. I was rooting for the underdogs, but they all lost. For next week...I think the Broncos win, the Pats win, the 49ers win, and...I really want Seattle to win. So I'm picking Seattle. Should be good.
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