Last evening I found myself presented with a choice. O'Hara's have released a bottled version of their Double IPA. But exactly what does "Double" mean in this context? I took myself off around the internet and found - as always - beer styles are not defined in stone. Ratebeer has this description:
"Imperial IPA, Double IPA or DIPA is a strong, often sweet, intensely hoppy version of the traditional India Pale Ale. Bitterness units range upward of 100 IBUs and alcohol begins at 7.5% but is more commonly in the 8.5-10% range. The flavour profile is intense all-round. Unlike barley wines, the balance is heavily towards the hops, with crystal and other malts providing support."
Well, O'Hara's Double IPA is 7.5%, so we are in the right territory - you can tell that it's up there in the ABV stakes too, which is not a bad thing to my mind, I like to know I'm drinking a big hitter.
Unfortunately, this is where the beer stops resembling any other DIPAs I've come across. It's not "intensely hoppy" - in fact, for someone like myself, who isn't a died in the wool hop-head, it's actually ok. There is nothing too resin-ey, there is nothing extremely bitter, you don't get that huge hop hit when the bottle is opened and poured into the glass.
What you do get are lovely complex malts, some sweetness, caramel even toffee at points. They've done a good job on the malts used to up the ABV. This Double IPA does have a more in-your-face hop profile than the standard O'Hara's Irish Pale Ale. What they've done here is made a perfectly palatable Double Irish Pale Ale. It tastes good, but I think it's mis-labelled.
I don't like drinking beers much stronger than 6% on a regular basis - I prefer to drink 3-5 beers at a time, and I can't do that with this one, however, in saying that, I wouldn't be averse to getting this again, now knowing what to expect. If you're a fan of Irish Pale Ales like O'Hara's, Metalman, Comeragh Challanger then this would be right up your street.
