Big Boss Brewing Company Blood Orange High Roller IPA
What the brewers say
“Brewed with whole Northwest hops and balanced with pale and caramel malts. We add hops to this beer three times to build a deep, complex hop profile. This is our example of a unique American twist on a British classic.”
What our panel thought
Aroma: “The first impression is the malt sweetness: caramel verging on butter, graham cracker, and toast. Then comes a bit of orange marmalade, fresh citrus, with honey sweetness, spicy phenols, and yeasty esters of pear and apple. Not much hops, aside from a bit of dankness.”
Flavor: “Malt-forward, with sweet caramel and graham cracker, and mixed with the orange, makes it taste like orange cream candy in a box of mixed chocolates. The hops bitterness, with a touch of floral and earth, is just strong enough to keep this beer from being sticky. A hint of yeast esters and spice, and light carbonation.”
Overall: “This is like a dessert beer, as if someone poured a Grand Marnier into an IPA. A unique take on a fruited IPA, leaning more toward a classic English or East Coast IPA with a healthy amount of citrus to add sweetness and brightness. That said, it’s not much of an IPA with the downplayed hops and too much caramel sweeetness.”
