Hello there, Thursday. Delighted to make your acquaintance this week. Let's hop right to it, shall we? (That was a beer pun, get it?! Cut me some slack, as I may be a little drunk. Also, a tool, but just go with it).Tonight I finally cracked into the McNeill's War Lord Imperial IPA I snagged last night. Based in Brattleboro, VT, it's weird that I've never had a brew by McNeill's before, but I certainly started big. As soon as I cracked open this 22, I could smell the citrus hops. More orange zest-y than Lemon Pine Sol-y, which is a plus when you're evaluating things you will be ingesting.
As an Imperial IPA, War Lord and its brethren are known for huge, tongue-numbing hops - something I used to steer clear of, but now sort of view as a challenge, the way some people look at eating really, really spicy food, which I never understood at all, until I drew this parallel right this minute; beer is awesome in that it helps you see things you never could have wrapped your head around while sober - and this did not disappoint. The first couple of sips, all I could taste was the bitterness. Which is a shame, because I'm simultaneously baking cookies, and would have liked to be able to taste chocolate chips some day... But at 85 IBUs, it's no wonder I couldn't really taste anything else for awhile.
Eventually, though, I was able to get a little more insight into the flavor profile. The citrus smell is pervasive throughout the hops taste as well. Brewmaster McNeill describes this beer as being well-balanced in spite of it's crazy-high rating, but to be honest, I'm not refined enough to taste the caramel malts beyond the hops. Which were good, to be sure, but if you start your night with this beer, you'll a) not be able to drink anything else afterwards and get any flavor, and b) be blacked out by 10pm, on account of the 8.5% ABV.
As for pairings, now that I've had this beer, I've lost all interest in chocolate chip cookies and instead have demanded burgers for dinner. Meaty ones. With juicy flavors. Of animals. Bleeding ones. Jesus Christ, they were serious about this War Lord thing...
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