1001 Beers

Beer No: 40/1001
Page No: 174
Category: Amber

Ahh, Leafer Madness, how can you go wrong.  So obviously a reference to Reefer Madness, cult film of the 1930's.  Oh wait, it's not??

Yeah, somehow, according to 1001 Beers, owner and brewer at Beer Valley, Pete Ricks says that this beer is not named for Reefer Madness.  For some strange reason, I don't believe him.  He states that back when hop prices skyrocketed in 2007, a local hop farmer offered him free hops that were about to be plowed under because some plants had been damaged in a nearby fire.  So he drove out in the middle of the night during a storm and started shoveling hops into garbage bags with a five gallon bucket.  This "madness" brought about the name of the beer.

Still not convinced?  Neither am I.

However, this double IPA does know how to pack a punch and the amount of hops crammed into the beer is madness. I found that I started to enjoy the beer a lot better after it had warmed up a little.  Coming from a 22 oz. bottle, this beer pours with tons of head, so I got almost three pints out of it and I started enjoying it more as I got further into the bottle.  Maybe it was the 9% ABV that was warming me up, or it was the hops seeming to mellow a bit as the beer warmed, allowing more of the other flavors to shine through.  I was a bit mixed on this beer while tasting it initially, thinking the hops were just too much even for a hop-head like me, but it really grew on me and I enjoyed the finish of this fine DIPA.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Beer Valley Leafer Madness Imperial Pale Ale from Beer Valley Brewing Company

Aroma: 7/10
Appearance: 3/5
Taste: 6/10
Palate: 3/5
Overall: 13/20

Rating: 3.2 / 5.0

22 oz. bottle from Total Wine. Pours orange with excellent lacing and a nice head from start to finish. Very sweet, hoppy aroma. Citrus, grapefruit, pine, and orange. Flavor is heavy on hops - very piney, with undertones of malts and caramel. Mostly hops hops and hops. Beer came together well when it warmed up a bit as the hops seemed to almost mellow a bit and the other flavors were allowed to shine. A very well done DIPA.