Hop Abomination

Dry Dock Brewery

ABV: 6.5%

IBU: 70

Typically, when it comes to drinking beer, my rule is the more IBU’s the better. IBUs represent bitterness. Bitterness represents hops. Hops are delicious. Very delicious. IBUs can be as low as zero and as high as 1,000. (I don’t think this is actually true, but, damn, that would be really awesome.

Dry Dock Brewery is an awesome little place off of Hampden and Quincy in Aurora, CO: my old stomping grounds. In fact, this place is less than a mile away from my old elementary school. Hell, I used to frequent the Skate City right across the street! (Who’s up for a beer and skate date? Cause that’s sounds amazing.) Anyway, following a night of (coaching and watching) awesome high school improv, my friends and I ended up at Dry Dock for some drinks and FREE POPCORN. My wife went for the sour beer. I went for the beer with the most IBUs. And this night, it was Hop Abomination.

Now, I should probably preface this review with the fact that I was incredibly thirsty. In fact, some might say I was parched. Take this information with what you will.

For a beer listed as a “Hop Abomination”, I was expecting a bit less… water. Perhaps the name threw me off a bit. I wanted this beer to look and feel hazier. At 70 IBUs, it didn’t look like 70 IBUs. But, alas, I pushed forth! When lifted to the lips, the scent of the hops was apparent. It might not have looked like an abomination, but those hops were certainly there. Now, we’re not talking about Dale’s level of smell, but it was worthy of the hop title. Unfortunately, the taste was not.

Overall, the beer was a bit citrusy and the taste was rarely complete. I was expecting more hops, more bitterness, but it lacked in both categories. Now, just because I like my hops bitterer, doesn’t mean that this isn’t the beer for you. In fact, if you are like my wife and you hate overly hoppy and bitter beers, this might be the hop for you: light, citrusy, and refreshing.

That name though is a bit of a tease… It might be an abomination to the hop lovers of the world.