Ruckus Brewing, of New York, NY, has hired Mercury Brewing Co., Ipswich, MA., to contract brew their extremely hoppy Hoptimus Prime, a Double IPA. And a DIPA it certainly is, at 9.0% abv. The first whiff of this one offers up a big, classic pine resin smell. The pour revealed a deep golden hue, almost verging on copper. The head wasn’t what I’d expected, being a thick, creamy off-tan color, more reminiscent of a porter or stout, not a pale ale. It held it’s head for quite some time, too. The first sip of this DIPA brought more of that pine resin to the front. The finish reveals a slight hint of tropical fruit – it’s not much, but just enough to let you know the brewmaster was thinking outside the box. The artist hired for the label work was thinking outside the box, too.

There’s an image of a Hoptimus Prime, made up of many hop cones, in his ass-kicking transformed state, instead of his green Peterbilt truck (or whatever he transforms from) “undercover” character. Had the Transformers franchise gone with Hoptimus, as opposed to Optimus, I think the series could have been WAY better…but that’s just me 🙂

So a little insight into who “Beerman” is — my day job is a professional truck driver; and my ultimate goal is to some day build one of those “epic motor home” rigs you see on the Travel Channel from time to time. I may very well end up painting it green and naming my Ultimate Motor Home “Hoptimus Prime” in honor of this awesome brew.

<> Beer Man