Customer Reviews

Wait it out, gets incredibly better with age Review by Dan

Rating

Brewed this, primary 10 days, secondary 25. Bottled, tried after 2 weeks. Very bitter, strong, overbearing, amateur. Was disappointed as this is an expensive kit. Had all the desirable elements, but tasted poor as none of the elements were blended. It was terribly bitter. Prior to this batch I never truly understood what "melded" meant. Now I do. I tried another bottle 1 week later, much better. Tried one 3 weeks after that and this is amazing. Very cloudy, very hoppy, very high ABV. I bottle everything I make as I like to share with friends. I'm hoarding this one. This is number 1 all time favorite for sure. Cif you like hoppy beers, brew this but wait it out. It keeps getting better with time. (Posted on 5/3/13)

Awesome Review by Erik

Rating

Very tasty beer....I think this stuff will go fast. (Posted on 5/2/13)

Simply The Best IPA I Have Ever Tasted Review by BobFV

Rating

I just tapped a Corny keg prepared from an extract kit and I can say that to my taste, this is the best IPA available! I have been to Stone and Surly and Sierra Nevada and had their beers at the brewery, and I must say that this beer tastes better than all the rest! Your taste may vary, but I love the full body, not too dark amber color, malty tone but big, aromatic hop taste in the front of the mouth.
I prepared the kit using the ingredients as provided. I used the Safale dry yeast with a 2 liter starter for about 4 days, did a full 5-gallon boil, and used an O2 tank and diffusion stone to oxygenate before pitching the yeast. Very lively fermentation at about 68 degrees, with a large amount of blowoff developing within 8 hours. Primary for 2 weeks in a 6.5 gallon glass carboy, then in to secondary for another 3 weeks before the final dry hopping, which I did for another week. Straight to the keg from dry hopping, and carbonated under 30psi forced CO2 for 48 hours, then CO2 backed off to serving pressure (8 psi) - this is an outstanding beer which I can only imagine will get better for as long as this 5 gallon lasts in the Kegerator. I have already ordered another kit and will try the liquid yeast option this time, but it will be hard to improve on perfection. (Posted on 4/27/13)

Dangerous! Review by Brewerbob

Rating

Just tried the first bottle. Will do another batch next week! Dry hopped for 7 days. (Posted on 4/13/13)

Careful with this one! Review by jason

Rating

This is the beer I've been waiting to brew. It's wonderfully balanced so it's easy to forget its 9.5% ABV. I thought it would have a bigger nose considering all the dry hopping but its outstanding. My wife loves hops but usually doesn't like imperials because they can get sweet or have an alcohol burn. Not this one! (Posted on 4/11/13)

Still in Secondary but had major problems with DanStar BRY-97dry yeast Review by Richard

Rating

DO NOT USE THE DRY YEAST. I followed instructions and used a starter. I actually had to add a second Safale US-05 dry yeast to this because it was a high gravity beer. This is my first time using dry yeast and I can't believe it took 36 hours to see any activity. Then there was only about an inch of krausen on top of the beer and Co2 bubbles, but no krausen blowoff or flocculation. This is an imperial IPA with 2lbs of corn sugar added to it! I would have thought that it would have taken off with all that sugar to eat (and i was prepared with a big blowoff tube). It fermented very slowly and I racked to secondary after about 9 days primary. I did a gravity reading and its coming in at around 9.6% abv, so I know the dry yeast finally did its job. Also, a good brewers note is leave head space in secondary to add all those hops! what a mess. I go to bottle next weekend and will update my review after I drink this. In my initial sample when racking to secondary there is no so subtle hint of booze behind all the bitterness. (Posted on 4/8/13)

Lip Smacking Review by Anthony

Rating

This is one delicious beer. I agree that the hop character is a little one note, but I love my cascade hops and that is exactly what I expected from what is essentially a single hop beer. My only advice is to enjoy this great beer fresh, the incredible aroma stuck aroma blew my socks off but only stuck around for about 2 weeks. (Posted on 4/2/13)

Wow! Review by Chris

Rating

So far this has been my best beer. Great flavor and aroma. I followed the recipe , made a yeast starter and used O2 and a diffusion stone. I have a strong fermentation within 4 hours. Placed in fermentation chamber at 60 degrees for 4 days. Increased to 65 after 5 days and then finished out at 68 for 5 days. Racked into secondary for 10 days, dry hopped for 5 days. Racked to tertiary and used Biofine. Kegged and carbed, and it is so F@*$%&g good! I will be making this one again. (Posted on 3/27/13)

good, but a little "one note" in the hops Review by Chuck

Rating

Over all, this is a very serviceable IPA. It's starts with a solid hop aroma, followed by a slight hint of butterscotch on the front end (I assume from the Maris Otter). Mine landed around 9% ABV and has a pleasant level of warm alcohol in the finish. My only criticism is, though there are certainly a lot-o-hops present, and the hops are good, it's missing a bit of the complexity and bite I've found in other IPAs I've brewed. (Posted on 2/7/13)

Amazing Review by Plankowner

Rating

This is the first homebrew I rated 5/5. This kit is definitely worth the extra money. I used a local brewery's house yeast and fermented at 62 degrees for 6 days. Secondary for 2 weeks and 5 dry hop days. Light color. No alcohol warming even at 9.0% abv. It has a pleasant honey-like flavor and mouthfeel with a big cascade aroma that keeps you drinking. Well done, NB! Well done. (Posted on 2/5/13)

Fantastic IPA Review by James

Rating

This IPA is my new favorite. I'll be brewing another batch of this soon. It's absolutely delicious. I reused the yeast from my dead ringer brew for this batch. ABV turned out around 9.6%. The hop profile is great. A friend of mine who is a certified beer judge absolutely loved this brew. (Posted on 1/22/13)