981. Hop Valley – Stash Bandicoot Hazy Imperial IPA

Posted By kkozlen on Dec 1, 2023 | 0 comments

Work has been crazy busy the last couple months, and fortunately, we’re headed into the holiday slow time. I took the day off today and helped get the house ready for the holidays. So now it’s time to chill and grab a beer. I also realized that it’s been a while since I’ve posted, and I need to commit to getting finished with 1000 beers in the next few weeks.

We bought a bunch of beer for a Halloween party a few weeks ago, and had a lot left over, including this beer from a Hop Valley mixed hazy IPA 12 pack. The can says, “Stash Bandicoot packs, a punch with our stash of Citra, Ahtanum, and Chinook Cryohops. Discover a juicy jungle with notes of apricots and red berries in this hazy imperial IPA.”

Location: Poured from the can into a Teku style pint glass at my home in Bloomington, IL.

Numbers: 6% ABV, 61 IBUs, ~200 Calories

Appearance & Aroma: It’s orange-copper in color and true to its name, fairly hazy. It has a creamy, white head the left incredible lacing on the glass after each sip. It has a citrusy hop aroma with hints of bright pine.

Taste & Feel: The body is solidly medium and the mouthfeel is smooth with a little bit of creaminess from the head and oiliness from the hops.  The flavor up front is a bit of citrusy bitterness and orange-like sweet flavors. It’s less sweet than eating an orange, but the flavors are almost like it. The bitterness fades a little bit in the middle, giving way to a lemony-orange citrus flavor. The bitterness comes back out in the finish, accompanied by the lemony orange zestyness in the finish. The citrusy flavors last for a few minutes in the aftertaste.

Food Pairing: With the citrusy flavors in this beer, I think it might be a great complement to pair with hotwings that have a sweet and spicy sauce – such as mango habanero or a sweet BBQ.  If it’s the summer, it might also be a good pairing for a fish dish or summer salad, but the flavorful beer will definitely take center stage away from those lighter meals.

Overall Impression: After trying several of their hazy IPAs, Hop Valley seems to do a great job with the style. With this one, I really enjoyed the creamy-oily hop mouthfeel and the citrusy flavors. It wasn’t super orange-juice forward like the OJ Run Imperial IPA from Narrow Gauge, but had a flavor more similar to eating the fruit (but not quite as sweet). While it was orange forward, it had some lemony and other citrus-fruit flavors with it. Overall, I enjoyed this beer (along with the other Hop Valley hazies I’ve had in this mixed 12 pack), and look forward to trying other styles from this brewery.

My Rating: