Impressions of Hop Junkie at 10 Barrel

So we got the tweet that 10 Barrel was releasing its Hop Junkie Imperial IPA. And with all the changes going on at 10 Barrel, with new brewers coming online, expansion on the horizon, we wanted to head over and try some beer, since we hadn't been there in a while.

So, after a bit of confusion about whether the beer was available (it was on the chalkboard, but crossed out), and whether or not we could buy a pitcher of it (we could), we got to enjoy the beer.

Here's Beau and James unsuccessfully trying to look sophisticated while drinking Hop Junkie.

And we did enjoy it. Evidenced by the fact that Beau, James and I, and a friend of James, polished off the pitcher in about no time. We all agreed that the beer was tremendous. The smell of it alone was great...smelled like a fresh hop beer, really. And despite a high ABV (8.5) and pretty strong IBUs (90) it was surprisingly easy to drink.

We also had the stout later in our session, and we all thought that was really good, as well.

Bottom line? After not always being super excited about 10 Barrel's beer in the past, we're all on board now. And with the new brewers set to really make their mark, 10 Barrel might be poised to explode. As if they weren't doing well already.

Another nice note...Jon from the bar came over and just chatted us up, apparently since I asked about the stats on the Hop Junkie. After hearing from our waitress that we were interested in beer, he came over unprompted and answered questions. Not sure if everything he told me was for mass publicity, so I won't repeat it all here. Suffice it to say even more cool stuff coming down the road for 10 Barrel.