Baird Hop Havoc Imperial Pale Ale is a 6.5% seasonal pale ale from Baird Beer that incorporates five different hops in the making of it: Sorachi Ace, Chinook, Citra, Simcoe, and Centennial that makes it a mash-up of a pale ale and IPA. Like the Baird Suruga Bay, it is double dry hopped, thus increasing the bitterness and also the flavour and aroma of the beer. Baird Hop Havoc Imperial Pale Ale was originally released in 2011 as part of Baird’s 11th Anniversary celebration.
How many hops went into making this?
Baird Hop Havoc Imperial Pale Ale Aroma and Taste
We like us some hops at BeerTengoku Towers and after a short drinking session and chat with the staff at Baird Bashamichi Taproom, I picked up a couple of bottles of this. I stupidly forgot to take a picture of the freshly served pint – guess that means an excuse to back again and try it. It’s a hard life…
Baird Hop Havoc Imperial Pale Ale poured out a hazy deep amber, almost brown colour that displayed its continual bottle-conditioning so the second bottle has been left for aging. The head lasted for a long time as the frothiness took a while to dissipate away, even when being drunk, it seemed to replenish itself. The aroma though was confusing in that it was hard to focus on one or two of the hops for too long; pine mixed in with what seemed to be a tropical blend of pineapples and grapefruits followed by some malt biscuit aromas. A lot going on there..
With all these hops, Baird Hop Havoc Imperial Pale Ale was always going to be bitter though I didn’t truly appreciate how bitter it was until I sucked on a lemon afterwards and released it was pleasant. The bitterness is unforgiving and unabating so if you like those bitter beers, then this is for you. The hops produced a wide-range of flavours with the tropical and pine ones being the strongest alongside creaminess to the body. The bitterness was always present and always waiting to strike though.
Baird Hop Havoc Imperial Pale Ale One Line Review
Baird Hop Havoc Imperial Pale Ale is perhaps one of the strongest bitterest beers from Baird Beer I’ve had – it’s a mixed bag though with so much going on you might just miss all it has to offer.
Where to Buy Baird Hop Havoc Imperial Pale Ale
Baird Hop Havoc Imperial Pale Ale can be drunk at all Baird Taprooms from May 1st and can also be bought in bottled form as well. It can also be bought from the Baird Beer online store here. I got my bottle from the Baird Bashamichi Taproom though I have also seen it at Liquors Hasegawa and have also heard of Yamaoka Saketen stocking it at the time of writing.
