On tap Friday May 27th 2011 at 5:00 p.m. we have the final release in the I.S. Series:
Hop Mess Monster v2.0' - Imperial Pale Ale.
Doubling the meager yet mighty 533 theoretical IBUs of the original Monster, v.2.0 clocks in at 1066 theoretical IBUs with a lighter but equally satisfying 9.2% ABV. The beer has been marred with pure hopdonkulous deliciousness and insanity, just because we can. Messie reigns as Canada's most aggressively hopped beer, possibly the hoppiest beer the world has seen but honestly who cares. The beer wasn't designed to win any contests, rather for the full-on unforgettable experience of palate-numbing, artery dilating quantities of iso-alpha-acids and hop oils in your glass that you won't soon forget. This is insanity sauce.
Brewing the Monster was a challenging process with tremendous wort loss, there were no extracts used. It's been infused with hop pellets as well as whole hops throughout each stage of the brewing process totaling just over 18.5 pounds per barrel. The beer is a testament to just how wonderful these glorious flowers can be when properly utilized - it's been mash-hopped, first-wort-hopped, bitter-hopped, flavour-hopped, aroma-hopped, hop-bursted and dry-hopped again and again, no matter what you call it, there's a ton of hops in there. And in case you're wondering why I've downgraded the ABV to 9.2% from the 11% ABV of the original last year it's because I couldn't fit any more malt in the mash-tun, it was literally full to the top with the massive quantities of hops added.
For the nay-sayers out there:
If you don't like hops I honestly don't care, in fact, nobody does. You don't see me commenting on your blogs asking why the hell you've used so much dairy product in your chowder, why so many peppers in your Szechuan dishes or what the hell you think you're doing deconstructing and bastardizing classic French cuisine. Nor will you find me shitting on your parade for infusing a ton of anchovies into some insane creation because I dislike them. Food has no boundaries once you break away from traditional classics, beer is food. Think about it.
Messie v.2.0 is a liquid hop delivery vehicle exactly as it was intended to be. Yes, I like my food with flavour.
Enjoy.
Vital Stats:
Gravity - 19.8 P/1.082
IBU's - 100+ (1066 theoretical)
Hop Rate - 18.5 lbs/bbl
ABV - 9.2 %
Colour ~ 7 SRM
Malts - Pale Ale, Crystal 15, Munich
Hops - Chinook, Citra, Columbus, Nugget, Summit, Amarillo
In your glass, again!
