007. Decadent Imperial IPA

Decadent Imperial IPA is one of the worst beers I've ever tasted, which is really too bad because it has one of the coolest bottles I've ever seen. At least for a beer/ale. It's got a bitchin' skeleton dude on the label and a really cool red "candle wax" dripping over the top. I had high hopes for this one.

And then I tasted it. OMG.

The first thing that I noticed was how sweet it was. It has a nice sweet bite to it, along with a super strong "pucker factor." Very sour-ball, if you get my meaning. But then it was followed by a severe YUCK. Man, I haven't tasted anything this bad since Gubna (You remember that one, eh? It was my Beer Zero).

I'm beginning to wonder if high alcohol content and bad taste just go together. This one has a 10% ABV (that's Alcohol By Volume, for those of you keeping score).

In the "If you can't say something nice..." department, I will say that it has a spectacular color (this photo does not do justice to the glowing amber color) and a wonderful head (with accompanying lace). Visually, it's one of the most sexy brews I've had the pleasure to put to my lips. Alas, that's where it failed to deliver.

Decadent Imperial IPA I've no idea why they call it "Imperial" IPA. That's like calling it Imperial Imperial Pale Ale. What? It was so Imperial that they had to say it twice? It's made by Ska Brewing Co. (which, of course, makes me think of the song "Jamaca Ska" from the Back to the Beach movie (thanks for YouTube for making everying available: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK2--2TrJRg).

I suspect some people might like this beer, but I hope for all our sake that they're not allowed out in public without supervision.

My rating for flavor: -1 out of 10
My rating for appearance of the bottle: 8 out of 10

PS: The whole Annette Funicello vibe got me wanting to have a pajama party where we played Beach Blanket Bingo.