Destihl Hoperation Overload Double IPA

Brewed By: Destihl Restaurant and Brew Works in Normal/Bloomington, Illinois   

Purchased: 12oz CAN from a 4-pack bought at Schnucks in Urbana, IL; 2014

Style/ABV: Imperial IPA, 9.6%
Reported IBUs: 85

I'm happy that Destihl is canning their beer, but I'm not completely sold on this one. About Destihl: 

Destihl is a brewery (Bloomington) and brewpub (Normal, IL & Champaign, IL) based out of the Midwest. Specifically, the middle of Illinois in the middle of the United States. Daaaa midwest. The brewery was founded by CEO & Brewmaster, Matt Potts, in 2007. Like many brewery founders, Potts started out as a homebrewer, and would eventually trade his law school education and law practice for those sweet barley suds. Destihl currently brews a myriad of regular and barrel-aged beers, including an increasing portfolio of tasty sour brews. For more info, check out their website. 

The Hoperation Overload is an Imperial IPA that is overloaded with hops and malts. This won a bronze medal in the World Beer Championships Award 2011, and was first brewed on 06-19-2009.

Destihl Hoperation Overload Double IPA

This pours into a dark orange body, kicking up three fingers of caramel/orange-tinted head. As the head drops off, the beer deposits massive webs of lacing. The body itself is hazy, and this looks the part of a hop-fueled, American beer.

I'm really not sure when this was canned...but this still has a pungent, if not slightly fading, hop aroma. This leans towards those big pine and iced tea notes, with some citrus and marmalade thrown in. I'm getting pine, pine sap, wet leaves, a little maple syrup and pine nuts, iced tea, pithy lemon, and some orange and tangerine marmalade. Caramel malts also emerge on the aroma, and this has hints of boozy on the nose.

This is a beer where you the aroma pretty much matches the taste to a tee...I'm not gonna lie, this beer doesn't do much for me. The hops veer into the land of honey, thick pine sap, resin, orange, astringent/pithy lemon, guava, agave, and dank sap. The malts are huge and sweet, with caramel, brown sugar, and marmalade sweetness. It's a huge beer too, and you pick up some of that boozy 9.6%. 

This is full-bodied and boozy. Imperial IPAs can push that 9+ ABV, but I prefer when they go the sugary-sweet route like Lagunitas. Or...go super hoppy and dry like Palate Wrecker or Mikkeller's 1000 IBUs. That's okay though, that's just my opinion. This is full-bodied, has good palate depth, and has average complexity. At 9.6%, this is truly a sipper. Up front: pine, orange, pine sap, resinous hops, hints of tangerine and faint pineapple/tropical fruit, resin, iced tea; the mids roll into honey, thick caramel malts hinting at brown sugar, marmalade, lemon, guava, agave; the back end trails off with lingering hop sugars and malt sweetness. This eventually dries out on the finish.

Rating: Average (3.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Average on this beer. This isn't bad, but it's not really my cup of tea. It's not my bag, baby. I doubt I'd pick this up again in the can format! But having said that, this is a nice beer to sip on, and would pair well with strong spices...throw some wings at this, the spicier the better. 

Random Thought: This beer should not be in cans. Or maybe it should...but I grabbed this beer for mobility, and drank it on the go. And while I was fully aware of what I was getting myself into (the whole 9.6% thing), I still question the whole can thing! With these strong beers, throw them in bottles...it makes a statement about the intention of the beer. Cans = portability, drinkability, etc. Then again, maybe I'm just being an old curmudgeon. After all, this is a hoppy beer so the can should theoretically preserve the hops better. I dunno.