With all of the great breweries producing beer in this state of ours, I’m surprised we haven’t seen more Imperial IPAs. A flagship for many of the great breweries across the country, I’m glad to see one brewed right here in Oklahoma. Make sure to check out our field trip to Iron Monk as well as our review of their Milk Stout.
Company: Iron Monk Brewing Company
Location: Stillwater, OK
ABV: 9.2%
IBUs: 100+
Style/Description: Imperial IPA
Price: $12 (4-pack bottles)
Appearance: Pours a clear ruby copper, with light head and clinging lace, and some rising bubbles.
Nose: Fruity hop aroma, some grassy hay and light resins. Some malty caramel notes.
Taste: Thick and malty, toasted grains and toffee. The hops are fruity, peaches and apples, with some bitter pine and woodiness. Some slightly metallic off flavors. There are some decent flavors going in here, but the malty sweetness overtakes the hops. This leaves the brew unbalanced, and leaves me wishing for more of the sweet citrus and bitter orange peel.
Finish: Sticky finish, bitter resins linger. Some of the metallic flavors persist as well, but fade before the hops dissipate.
Overall: One of my favorite styles, I’m happy to see an Oklahoma brewery taking a stab at a double IPA. A little bit unbalanced on the side of sweet grains rather than hops, but still a nice effort. I enjoy Iron Monk’s Milk Stout quite a bit and really look forward to their future endeavors.
Rating: 3/5
Perhaps their first batch expressed those off “metallic” flavors because of the brand spanking new equipment, tanks, etc. It’s mid January 2016 and I think their Imperial IPA is drinking brilliantly. Must be a new batch, as its currently showcasing in abundance those bright citrusy profiles hop heads crave and adore. Add to that mix plenty of rich roasted, caramelized maltiness and you have a superb sensatory dialogue at play…more akin to a slow, sensual dance on your palate. Captivating!
Thanks for reading, Phillippe! Your point about the new equipment very well may be valid. Although, we visited the brewery a couple of days before this review and tried many other fresh Iron Monk brews, none of which exhibited that specific characteristic. It just happened to be something Justin noted and could be due to a great variety of reasons.
Having said that, we are overdue to circle back around to this beer and take it for another spin as the batch we reviewed was an early one and there may be some notable differences in a more recent batch. Plus, it’s been a while since I’ve had ANY type of dance on my palate, much less a slow, sensual one. Sounds like a perfect thing to experience while my wife is out running errands. I don’t know what a superb sensatory dialogue is, but that sounds nice too.
Jarod and Dave make some great stuff and we can’t wait to see what they do next!
Touché, Kris! Ultimately, for me at least, it was a yin & yang tasting experience…the over the top analogy might be the talk and taut athlete slow dancing with plump and loving grandmother! Memorable and worthy…
I meant tall and not talk!