Brewdog Hardcore IPA

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Aleman

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Well this is my first ever Brewdog beer, inspired by the 4 for 3 in Sainsburys, I went and treated myself to 4 bottles :D

Upon opening there was a good Phut, and the usual smoking gun. . . . you more or less know what you are in for straight away as the aroma coming off the bottle is similar to sticking your head in a freshly opened vac pack and inhaling deeply . . . A Massive resiny nose, loads of citrus notes.

Pouring into the glass generated a good but somewhat coarse head, which faded rapidly . . . . to be expected for a beer of this gravity, the beer was a definite orange in colour which was darker than expected for an all pale malt beer. An initial taste revealed a good body and a malty presence . . . then the hops hit, the bitterness has a good length and a real bitter marmalade taste . . . to be expected given the hops are Simcoe warriorand Chinook . . . The other thing I found was a real peppery spicyness/heat

This is a really thick beer, and there is a distinct warming as it goes down . . . it is 9%, and you can really get the hop aroma with a good belch through the nose.

Hardcore is a good name for this beer, it pulls no punches and cannot be described as subtle in any way certainly an IPA in the American style . . . but no flaws, its big brash and upfront . . . It'll be interesting to see how it ages. . . . . I have three more bottles which overall I am fairly happy about
 
highwayman said:
Do you reckon you could Clone it then ?
Cloning something this extreme and unsubtle is pretty easy TBH . . . . If you give me a bit I'll post a recipe in the recipe database.

Here You Go . . . There are all sorts of variations on hopping that you can do, but the hops used in Hardcore are Simcoe, Chinook, Warrior and Amarillo . . . How you choose to use them is up to you, but consider that your flavour/aroma hops should be of at least equal to the weight of bittering hops . . . . and then you'll need to really hit it with a massive qty of dry hops . . . Id suggest Simcoe and Chinook . . . around 30-50g of each!!
 
Couldn't manage to type a post last night (after trying several Brewdogs). After being coerced I opened the Harcore at the same time as Aleman.
Alemans tasting notes are spot on. :thumb: Massive hop aroma, peppery hints. Not as bitter as I thought it might have been.
Harcore is dangerously nice :drunk:
 
Picked up a bottle of this today a lovely 9.2% litttle number :D

IMGP3684.jpg


A big hiss of hop aroma on opening - poured with a good head which stayed as a lacing in the glass. First taste was really good - loads of hops and a really rich and intense mouthful of malt, hops and alcohol. Even at such a high alcohol content the hop flavour and bitternessdominates (at 150IBU this is not suprising) I could easily drink a couple pints of this - lovely golden colour from the crystal and caramalt. The hop profile is big (and american) centennial, colombus and simcoe - so some would argue that it`s not a true IPA......

I wouldn`t - i`d just open another bottle and wonder how people can drink carling and fosters :whistle:

In summary an excellent beer - perfect balance and huge hop flavour/bitterness, it tastes more like 6% as it goes down so well :thumb:

Will brew something like this in the future :whistle:
 
unclepumble said:
Tescos have this on offer at the mo under the label of tesco finest double american ipa £4 for 3 Bottles.

I tried it at the weekend was a great beer.

UP

You sure its the same stuff?

I've tried both (in fact I sucked back a few bottles of the Tesco stuff just last night :D ) and although its a good while since I tried Hardcore, I'd swear that the tesco version is a fruitier, less bitter and in your face version (although I could be getting confused with the Chaos Theory IPA that I tried at the same time as the Hardcore)

Outstanding beer nonetheless though.
 
Try this brew on draught if you can....delish :thumb:
Brew Dog will tell you if it's likely/will be at local beer festivals, so if you have any coming up, well worth an ask...not to be missed :thumb:
Just make sure you try it after you've tasted 'other' beers, as you won't be able to taste them after having hardcore :lol: :drink:
 
Hey V - you been to tesco in exeter as well? Shelves were empty :( I have one bottle left and i`m very jealous :thumb:
 
Vossy1 said:
Try this brew on draught if you can....delish :thumb:
Brew Dog will tell you if it's likely/will be at local beer festivals, so if you have any coming up, well worth an ask...not to be missed :thumb:
Just make sure you try it after you've tasted 'other' beers, as you won't be able to taste them after having hardcore :lol: :drink:

I had a pint on draught in the Sheffield Tap the other week, it was fantastic.
 
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