Every once in while in craft beer world, you take a sip of a beer and it is so unexpected that you pause before the next sip. And that happened with Decadent from Ska Brewing. It wasn’t due to the creepy Hop Chompin’ skeleton in hipster attire. Or to the wax around the neck and cap. This was a grape bomb while still holding on to the taste profile of an Imperial IPA. There is a lovely viscosity to this beer as well. The website claims citrus notes that I do not get at all but the caramel malt is surely there. It tastes the full 10% of alcohol and it has the bitter punch to it but there is a serious amount of concord grape sweetness here that really adds an unusual layer to a beer style that can sometimes (let’s face it) get a little boring.
Imperial IPA’s are big but they lack the complexity (usually) of a barley wine and they usually don’t have the pop of a regular IPA. But Decadent is totally different. With Session IPA’s hogging the spotlight currently, it is nice to have a grown up big IPA that isn’t afraid to showcase a big fruit taste as well.