The DIPA Project Awards and Final Rankings (Part 1)

Posted by: Tyler Rippeteau

Aug. 22, 2011

As some of you who follow the blog already know I have just completed Project #1 - The DIPA Project.  The goal of the DIPA Project was to taste and review the Top 20 Most Reviewed American Double/Imperial IPAs on Beer Advocate - in other words, the 20 most popular Double IPAs in the country.

As you might imagine, drinking 20 world-class beers was a lot of fun, but what surprised me most was how much I enjoyed the thrill of the hunt.  It was a blast tracking down some of the harder to find beers and then to finally cross them off the list was very satisfying.  With a sharp focus on a particular style of beer, I also had the opportunity to learn a ton about this popular beer style.  Some of that I'll discuss here in this post, but what I'm sure you'll all find more interesting is how they all stack up.

Let's start with how the list looks on Beer Advocate today.  The rankings here have nothing to do with quality, just quantity - more specifically, the number of times they have been reviewed on Beer Advocate's website.  As you'll notice, Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA holds the top spot with over 3,000 reviews.

Now, if we rank these same beers according to their quality, measured by their BA average review scores (1 is the lowest possible, 5 is the highest possible), here's what we comes up with:

1. Russian River Pliny the Elder - 4.59/A+
2. Bell's Hopslam - 4.43/A
3. Three Floyd's Dreadnaught - 4.39/A
4. Stone Ruination IPA - 4.29/A
5. AleSmith YuleSmith (Summer) - 4.29/A
6. Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA - 4.25/A-
7. Great Divide Hercules Double IPA - 4.2/A-
8. Avery Maharaja - 4.18/A-
9. Lagunitas Hop Stoopid - 4.18/A-
10. Founders Double Trouble - 4.17/A-
11. Dogfish Head Burton Baton - 4.16/A-
12. Moylan's Hopsickle Imperial India Pale Ale - 4.16/A-
13. Weyerbacher's Double Simcoe IPA - 4.13/A-
14. Southern Tier Unearthly (Imperial IPA) - 4.13/A-
15. Oskar Blues G'Knight/Gordon Ale - 4.12/A-
16. Victory Hop Wallop - 4.06/A-
17. Founders Devil Dancer - 4.01/A-
18. Flying Dog Double Dog Double Pale Ale - 4/B+
19. Lagunitas Maximus - 3.91/B+
20. Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA - 3.86/B+

The average Beer Advocate score for these 20 beers is 4.1735, or an A-, which also happens to be the grade most often given by the BA community to beers on this list - 12 times.  Interestingly, the three beers that were highest in Alcohol Content (Alcohol By Volume - ABV) occupied three of the bottom four spots on the list. Dogfish 120 ranked highest in ABV at 18%, but lowest in overall score.  Founders Devil Dancer (12%) and Flying Dog Double Dog Double Pale Ale (11.5%) were the next highest in ABV and ended up at #17 and #18 respectively.  The only beer above 10% to even crack the Top 10 in quality was Avery's Maharaja clocking in a 10.5% ABV and ranked 8th.

Conversely, the three beers with the lowest ABV - Russian River Pliny the Elder (8%), Stone Ruination (7.7%) and Lagunitas Hop Stoopid (8%) ranked #1, #4 and #9 respectively, all in the Top 10.  The outlier in the ABV department was Lagunitas Maximus (8.2%) coming in at #19.

Additionally, the correlation between IBUs (International Bitterness Units) and ranking was interesting.  While it was not as strong as the ABV correlation, it was interesting to note that most of the beers that were over 100 IBUs were in the bottom half of the list.  Those that hovered around 100 or a little lower generally received higher scores.

Interestingly, it seems as though in the Double IPA category, Beer Advocate reviewers prefer a more reasonable alcohol content and a slightly less over-the-top hop profile.

That is not necessarily the case for me, however.  It turns out the ABV did not impact my taste very much, but I love bitter beer and generally speaking the hoppier and more bitter, the better.  Let's take a look at how I ranked these 20 beers:

1. AleSmith YuleSmith (Summer) - 4.85/A+
2. Bell's Hopslam - 4.75/A+
3. Stone Ruination - 4.68/A+
4. Avery Maharaja - 4.68/A+
5. Russian River Pliny the Elder - 4.53/A+
6. Founders Double Trouble - 4.4/A
7. Founders Devil Dancer - 4.33/A
8. Dogfish Head Burton Baton - 4.25/A-
9. Three Floyds Dreadnaught - 4.2/A-
10. Weyerbacher's Double Simcoe IPA - 4.2/A-
11. Oskar Blues Gordon Ale/G'Knight Ale - 3.95/B+
12. Lagunitas Maximus - 3.93/B+
13. Great Divide Hercules Double IPA - 3.9/B+
14. Victory Hop Wallop - 3.68/B
15. Lagunitas Hop Stoopid - 3.65/B
16. Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA - 3.65/B
17. Southern Tier Unearthly (Imperial IPA) - 3.6/B
18. Flying Dog Double Dog Double Pale Ale - 3.55/B
19. Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA - 3.48/B-
20. Moylan's Hopsickle Imperial India Pale Ale - 2.7/C-

My average review score for the group was a little lower than the average score from other BA members - 4.048, that is still an A-, but a lower one and the grades I most often doled out were A+ and B, both being awarded to five beers apiece.  As I mentioned above, ABV did not seem to influence my score at all.  To my surprise, IBUs did seem to impact my scores, but not in the way I expected.  The beers that hovered right around 100 IBUs ended up doing the best with me.  100 IBUs is pretty typical for a DIPA and it was the beers on the edges of the style in terms of IBUs that fared the worst with me.

The three highest IBU beers, Weyerbacher's Double Simcoe (153), Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA (120) and Southern Tier Unearthly (150+) checked in on my list at #10, #16 and #17 respectively.  Three of the four lowest IBU beers, Oskar Blues Gordon Ale (60), Lagunitas Maximus (72) and Victory Hop Wallop (70) ended up in the #11, #12 and #14 spots respectively.  The only low-IBU beer that cracked my top 10 was the Dogfish Head Burton Baton (70) coming in at #8.

So what does this say about me?  Probably not much except that I prefer a more traditional Double IPA.  One that is about 100 IBUs.

On that note, I'm going to wrap this one up and coming soon I'll have my picks for the best beers in each category - look, smell, taste and feel.  Cheers!

Bell's Brewery Hopslam 2011 Release

Posted by: Stonecipher

Jan. 25, 2011

OK, so with the very first review I'm directly contradicting the name of this blog, oh well.  It's about 3:30 in the afternoon here in Chicago and I have been working on important stuff all day, plus I have this six-pack of fresh Bell's Hopslam in the fridge that is calling my name, so I think it is about that time - time for a Bell's Hopslam from Bell's Brewery.

First, some basic facts:
ABV: 10.0%
IBUs: Somewhere in the range of 69 - 136.  The debate rages on.
Brewery Location: Kalamazoo, MI
Style: Double IPA
Beer Advocate Average Rating: A/4.43 - Outstanding
My Beer Advocate Rating: A+/4.75 - Exceptional
Current Number of Reviews/Rank in the Top 20 on Beer Advocate: 2,034/3rd
Brewer's Description: Click on the Hopslam thumbnail.

Now, before I dive into this review, it is worth noting that I reviewed this beer last year as well on Beer Advocate and if you click here you'll see my BA review.  My palate was just beginning to become sophisticated enough to understand what I was drinking, but I was too stupid to know that the Hopslam was a DIPA and therefore, pretty high in the ABV department.  Anyhow, I wrote the following review before I re-read the old BA one and it is interesting to see compare the similarities and contradictions.  The one thing that stood out from the first review is the quote I used from a fellow bartender of mine "It's like they tried to fit two beers into that one bottle and somehow they fit."  Perfect description, even for the 2011 release.

Alright, without further ado, the review:

APPEARANCE:  Poured this into a snifter fairly aggressively and I was rewarded with a solid, foamy, quarter-inch thick head.  The bubbles are a mix of large and tiny with the bigger bubbles occupying the area towards the center of the glass.  The brilliant and almost completely clear golden color is reminiscent of the honey flavor that I know is waiting in this glass.  Interesting lacing, it appears to remain only on the left and right side of the glass instead of the opposite side I was drinking from and what remains are foamy pillars that stretch from the top to bottom.

SMELL:  The aroma hits the nose immediately with the Hopslam.  As soon as it is poured out of the bottle a sweet, piney, hoppy and honey smell fills the air.  As I move my nose closer to the glass the honey stands out as the dominating aroma.

TASTE:  Upon the first sip, the first thing that stands out is that this beer is more hoppy than it was last year.  True to its name, the hops slap your palate right up front, but as it sits on the tongue a sweet, honey flavor rises and falls before giving way to a bitter, but slightly piney aftertaste.  It is certainly a dryer beer than last year's release, and that, in my opinion is a good thing.  Bell's Brewery has managed to top near-perfection.

MOUTHFEEL:  Hopslam is very clearly a finely tuned, carefully crafted work of art, and while Bell's nailed the look, smell and taste of this beer, they did not forget about the feel.  My guess is that if this beer made any noise it would sound like Marvin Gaye singing "Inner City Blues".  Anyhow, back to the feel, generally, I like to feel a strong sparkle on my tongue, but the lighter sparkle, combined with an little bit of an oily feel make this beer go down extremely smooth.

OVERALL:  What else can I say about this beer?  I chose to review it first because A). it is in season and is fresh and B). it is one of my all-time favorites.  For 10% this is incredibly easy to drink.  The alcohol is certainly easy to detect, but it is so well balanced with the sweetness and hoppiness that it is easy to see how you can get into trouble with the Hopslam.  Maybe it's for the best that we only get to enjoy this delicious brew for a few months of the year.

DRAWBACKS:  There are not many flaws in this beer and you have to get very nitpicky to come up with any.  That said, the head retention and lacing could be a bit better, although that is not an easy proposition for a 10% DIPA, I understand that.  The only other thing I would change about this beer is that it could use a touch more bite on the mouthfeel.  Like I said, nitpicky.  But that's what you have to be when you're looking for drawbacks to an exceptional, near-perfect beer.

SOUND:  OK, I know beer doesn't produce a sound, but to add a little twist, I'm going to try to match up each beer to what I believe it would sound like if it could talk, sing or play some music.  To be fair, I think many of us have tried to talk to our beer at some point in the past, so hey, don't be too tough on me for this.  As I mentioned before, though, this beer is smooth, savory and sweet all at the same time and that is how I view Marvin Gaye's voice.  Given that Hopslam is one of my favorite beers it is only fitting that it would sound like one of my favorite songs "Inner City Blues".  In case you don't already have this gem in your music collection, here's a link to Marvin's "Gold" album on iTunes: 



Thanks for checking out the review.  Hope you enjoyed it and I hope you can get your hands on some Hopslam sometime soon.  It really is an exceptional beer.  Go ahead and leave a comment, tell me what you think of the blog, the beer or the review.  If you're too shy to do that, send me some Beer Mail on Beer Advocate, the user name is StoneTSR.  Cheers!