And the Valley Drinks: NOLA's MECHAhopzilla

In a lot of ways, this beers series has led to some palate growth for me. I've never been a huge pale ale/IPA fan, but in the last year due in some part to some friends' recommendations, to my own curiosity and also out of a desire to give y'all some variety in these reviews, I've slowly worked a few IPAs into my beer diet.

I gave NOLA's traditional Hopitoulas IPA a whirl last summer and actually came to like it a bit -- it's a good light meat/seafood pairing, especially in warm weather. Their imperial/double IPA, MECHAhopzilla, has always been a little intimidating to me. But on my brother's suggestion, I gave it a whirl a few weeks back.

An American Imperial IPA boasting Bravo, Columbus, Centennial and Citra hops. Breware of MECHA's powerful flavor and its attack of half pound per barrel dry-hop aroma. Formally called Mechahopzilla after our Brewmaster, now named MECHA for the lawyers.

It's available in pint can four-packs, with a pretty cool look to boot.

Review

The bouquet just smacks you hard with a hoppy smell, buttressed just enough with a bit of malts to keep it from being too foreboding if you're not a big hop head. It starts more with the maltiness of a blonde ale. Kind of sweet a little, but then the rollercoaster dives straight into all those hops. Amazingly, it's not that bitter. It's almost more the taste of the smell of fresh cut grass. There is a bitter, but not resounding. More lemon peel than lemon juice. It's too heavy to session, plus a strong 8.8 ABV, but it's a complex beer that's surprisingly tasty. Not at all what I expected and something I'd definitely have again. 3.5 out of five stars.