New Belgium Rampant Imperial IPA

This Imperial India Pale Ale is from the New Belgium Brewing Company of Fort Collins, Colorado. It has 85 IBU's and uses Mosaic, Centennial and Calpyso hops.

The beer pours honey golden with an orange tint. There is a tall head of thick off-white foam that leaves layers of lacing down the glass. The aroma is fruity, peaches and citrus, with some caramel malt in the background. Wow, compared to the aroma, which is somewhat subdued, the taste is an amazing burst of fruit flavor, peaches and passionfruit, citrus and grass. It is a fruit firework exploding on the tongue. There is enough malt to hold up all that fruit, but the hops are the focus. It is medium bodied, with a fairly bitter finish. The alcohol is apparent, and adds a nice warming effect. Oddly, the aroma was a bit shoulder shrugging, "meh," but the flavor is an exciting "ka-pow!"

Tried it again on March 15, 2014: New label, looks nice. Only $3.99 at Cyclone Liquors in Ames, Iowa. What a steal, and not in the bargain expired bin either, enjoy by 14 May 14. The beer pours a deep copper, like an old penny. There is a tall, thick, head of ragged foam, off-white in color. It again leaves layers of sticky lacing down the glass. The aroma is citrus, passion fruit, bit of pine, light earthy, musky note, and a whiff of mango. The taste follows the aromas, and all the hop notes sit on a solid bed of toasted, caramel malt. This drinks smooth and round and easy, with a medium body and moderate carbonation. The finish is bitter, but not overly so. An all around nice drinker, and a steal at $3.99 for a bomber. So, not as fruit forward in the flavor as last time, but still very enjoyable. The bottle talks about "heavy peach tones" which I did not get at all at first. But, as the beer warms, there are definite peach and nectarine notes. In fact, it switches, as it warms, from lots of passion fruit and citrus, to the peach/nectarine and earthy notes. This is definitely worth getting.