22oz bottle, $5.99 from Hop City, Atlanta, GA, USA. Same Dank Tank presentation, this time with a green and white color scheme (DP Red/White, BOBBB Blue/White).
This beer has been described to me in many ways, the most frequent being an “Imperial Wet Hopped Amber/Red”. Whilst the beer does have the hue of an Amber, AND it does have a nice, wet-hopped presence, when it comes down to it there is little malt/amber presence and the beer falls into a freshly hopped mid-range brew.
I say “mid-range”, since that for an American hopped beer this is really restrained. There is a degree of similarity between it and an English IPA (with the exception of the ABV).
Dark orange pour that yields a somewhat disappointing head and lace. The nose yields quite gentle hop nose with the emphasis on organic freshness and an edgy grassy nature.
The tastes are really very good. VERY mild in terms of the combination of hops (gentle but assertive) and plenty of sweetness. The sweetness has a real grassy feel to it rather than an Amber malt presence and it is extremely obvious.
There seems to be a very low level of carbonation but it works very well. Smooth and NON-aggressive, and very drinkable beer. CLEAN and light with a touch of orange.
I was surprised by the gentle touch this beer gave and as such I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. As a result, I’m going to be one of the BA’s that gives this beer one of the higher scores since this beer is subtle and restrained. Not something that is appreciated much around here.
Of course an unnecessarily high ABV. Also, a MORONIC name ultimate reflects the silly, unsophisticated angle that Sweetwater wants to persue, which for me is a great shame.