I am a sucker for labels and I thought this one was pretty cool. Did it live up to what I was expecting? No. I do not believe it lived up to its name either. But when I grabbed this I wanted something with a lot of bite and I was rewarded with that at least. The bitterness mad me cringe for joy while I was left wanting for the aromatic hops to delight my nose and palate. This poured a clear light copper with a rich creamy white head. The aroma was light on hops. From the name I was expecting a burst of piney-floral-fruitiness on the nose. That was not the case. However as the beer warmed, the nose of the beer developed a little, emitting some grapefruit citrus notes. As for the flavor, my first thoughts were no doubt this IPA has an edge. It took me a little while to get used to the bitterness but in my mind I have always thought IPA should be a little harsher to drink. The caramel malt flavors of the base beer were nice and were brightened up with some citrus. However, the brighter hops flavors were pushed far in the background and the bitterness brought up front. I found the flavors of the beer to lack balance and that was fine with me. I was just left wanting that burst of hops flavors I expected from the bottle and name. This was a bitter ale without the associated IPA notes. The body was light with a nice amount of carbonation that wakes up the bitterness further. Overall, good marketing suckered me in. Mendocino White Hawk IPA, will continue to be my IPA of choice when I am looking for a bitter - floral IPA. Mendocino has a nice bite, does not forget to deliver the hop flavors I enjoy and offers better balance. Hop-Ocalypse had a harsher bitterness which was not a problem for me but I missed the hops flavors. It just seemed a little too lopsided for me. Hop-Ocalypse is a nice beer just not one of the better IPAs out there.
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