ABV: 9%
IBU: 83

War Hammer, an Imperial IPA from 4 Hands Brewing, was released during their annual Lupulin Carnival this year. A legitimate carnival replete with ferris wheel and sword swallowers, I very unfortunately could not make it at the last minute. I have however made sure to indulge on this eye-poppingly tasty brew many times since then.

The first thing I noticed upon opening this bomber is the bright, fresh whiff of hops that hit me in the face. But not like a right hook, more like the way the fresh pie would waft into Bugs Bunny’s nose and cause him to float, happily, towards the source of the aroma. Super Fresh would be an apt synonym for this beer.

At 9%, this one packs it in, but it’s easy drinking, maybe too easy. I got all excited when I saw the shelf stocked deep at my local beer purveyor. You know, the kind of getting excited over beer that leaves other patrons looking at you sideways. It pours a deep golden color with nice fruitiness. But if you really want to know what it tastes like, just look at the label artwork. A pile of fresh hops exploding. And they’re of the Tomahawk Zeus variety, which were clearly bred specifically for War Hammer.

I imagine this is an IPA that doesn’t taste as good after aging for a while mainly because the hoppiness is so pronounced. So if you’ve got a buddy sending some your way, request overnight service. I for one cannot keep it in the fridge for more than 1 night.

Some side notes:

• When you use the hashtag War Hammer on Instagram, it draws the attention of the Dungeons and Dragons crowd.
• 4 Hands has a full size version of the War Hammer shown on the label. Bet those Magic the Gathering folk would pledge fealty to get their hands on it.
• The receipt for my purchase denotes Warhammer as “4 Hands Rose Weirdo”. At first I thought I was reading too much Stephen King. But here’s the picture as proof. Love it.

Follow Niel on Twitter @WaveTrainLLC