Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Great Lakes - Lake Erie Monster

Tonights review is of a relatively recent entrant to the Imperial IPA market.  Great Lakes Lake Erie Monster.  I love the label art on this bottle.  It depicts a scaled dragon beast as a red-eyed demon creature waiting to sink the next shipping cartel it sees.  Very intriguing and imaginative.  If you have a boat on lake Erie, make sure you install 5 foot long spikes on the bottom of it.  I wouldnt want this thing swimming around my watercraft.

This IIPA fills my glass with a hazy amber and effervescent brew.  A tight, white foam quickly fills the remaining space within my pint and refuses to recede.  Pungent notes of grapefruit, citrus and pine accentuate its imperial status.  A nice malt backbone brings a welcomed balance to the obvious hop bias.  Sticky hop lupulins quickly overcome the matly sweetness that builds the overall base of the flavor.  Definitely on the hoppy side, but not so much so that its out of balance.  Floral and citrus notes come through as it warms.  And alcohol and bitterness take the main stage to help dry out the finish.

Overall - One of the better Imperial IPAs on the market.  I like the malt backbone and bold hop aromas.  Easily drinkable and well balanced.  It comes in a four pack and is a bit pricy.  But if you are a hop head, this is one that you should go out of your way to try.  Easily in my top five when it comes to IIPAs.

2 comments:

  1. LE Monster vs. Odells Myrcenary, which is better? It's almost too close to call, but I would give the Monster the slight edge right now. What do you think?

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  2. Agreed. I like monster better at this point. More my style of a DIPA with a more robust malt presence and not overly bitter. I thought Myrcenary was a bit too thin and had a stronger alcohol kick as well. Still a good DIPA though, just not my style.

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