Brewdemption:Hoptologist

Hoptologist is a Double IPA from the Knee Deep Brewing Company of Lincoln, CA.

In a previous post I recommended at "skip it"for Hoptologist. I had it on tap and was not that happy with it. I stayed away from Knee Deep until Beer Week 2012, when I went to Hot City Pizza for their Hop Your Face night. A friend had come across another Knee Deep hop ale - Simtra - and said it was amazing. I found it on tap at Hot City that night and gave it a try.


Simtra was hands down my favorite new beer discovery for beer week. I had also made a trip to Russian River for the Younger release in February. Simtra rivals Younger as a great triple IPA. I even had some questions about whether all triple IPAs would taste great, but that myth was dispelled at another beer week event that had a few other triple IPA attempts.

Long story short I gave Hoptologist another try at Hot City and really liked it.

I bought this at Total Wine and More on Arden in Sacramento. It has an ABV of 9%.

The beer pours a clear, light orange/amber with a thin, white head that leaves light lacings. The aroma has whiffs of sweet caramel malts, fruit hops, and a slight pine bite in the back. From start to finish there's a blend of caramel malts and light fruity hops, with a piney hop bite at the back. There's slight lingering citrus peel taste, but not unpleasant. The mouthfeel is resiny and smooth with an easy finish. It's medium bodied with average carbonation for a DIPA.

Overall, I like this beer. There's a great malt/hop balance with each ingredient playing well off each other. It tones down the malt-forward East Coast DIPAs and the big fruit hop West Coast DIPAs and creates a nice balance. As a local Nor Cal brewer, I highly recommend you Try It.