Thursday, April 19, 2012

Beer Review: Ghandi Bot

Reviewing the Ghandi Bot from New England Brewing Company out of Massachussets. I have hear really excellent things about this beer and this brewery, and I am extremely excited to try my first beer from them. I have a Wet Willy Scotch Ale and Imperial Stout Trooper (thanks ProperHops!) in the cellar too. This beer used to be in 16 oz cans, but it now comes in 12 oz servings.
Score: 95

Can code is "00818A2BE," whatever that means. I believe this can is from the mid/late February canning. Served in a Stella Artois chalice and enjoyed on 04/13/12.

Appearance: Pours a murky tangerine color that falls between translucent and opaque. This is a really nice color body for an IPA with some flaky sediment floating around the beer. Just over one finger of off-white frothy head that settles into a thin foggy layer atop the beer. Excellent lacing with average retention for an IPA. 4/5

Smell: The nose is loaded with bright and juicy tropical citrus aromas. A strong lemon zest and lemonade aroma hits first, along with peach, mango and pineapple. Candied grapefruit too. The citrus aromas are almost "sweet-and-sour," not unlike Heady Topper. There's some bitter orange rind in the mix too. Behind the citrus is your typical "tree-like" piney hops. Very pleasant. 5/5

Taste: Nice juicy bitter citrus and oily hops flavor here. There's a nice lemon and pine mix upfront, followed by sweet-and-sour candied grapefruit, pineapple juice and tangerine. The hop bitterness really hits on the midpalate and lingers. There's bitter orange rind in the back half too. There's an almost honey-like flavor on the midpalate. Very good bitter and sweet balance; quite refreshing. 4.5/5

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with higher-end carbonation that really perks the candied citrus flavors on the tongue. Very oily and juicy mouthfeel. Finishes bitter with some residual citrus sweetness. 4.5/5

Overall: One of the top double IPAs that I have tried to date. An excellent example of the juicy IPA style.

Recommendation: Fans of Heady Topper, Hopslam and Zombie Dust should absolutely seek this one out. I would absolutely hunt this one down again.

Pairings: Goose Island's "Black Earth Burger" with marmalade onions would be absolutely perfect with this.

Cost: $9.99 for a four pack.

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