Terrapin Beer Co. || Hopzilla '12

Hopzilla | Bottle | A+ | TRADE - THANK YOU, TED! | 20MAR12

Smells of orange peel , hops, toffee, some caramel, and slight...flowers? Candy sugar coats the mouth, hop bitterness; a bit of orange peel. Now here's the deal: some beers I've said had orange peel and then I think, "well, what about lemon peel?", being undecided. This however is definitely ORANGE peel; I'm sure of it. For an imperial IPA, this is what I believe to be the sweetest I've had yet it is nowhere near too sweet. It's a strange thing that just works. Carbonation is perfectly balanced with the beer. Everything that is active, alive, and cutting the rug sits at the back of the tongue while the sweetness coats, or primes, your entire mouth for the hop invasion. It's like calming a riot every time you sip this beer. There's almost a ginger-like feeling akin-to Thai spices or something Lao/Thailand-ingredient related. I know I've eaten something with this "property" before, I just can't put my finger on it. This is one of those mysterious qualities and a strange one at that being in a beer.