Heady Topper. Enough Said

Let's face it folks, we live in an awesome time for beer. There are so many amazing beers out there, it is mind blowing that people still settle for carbonated yellow malt water. That being said, there are a few beers out there that are on every beer lover's bucket list. One of those brews is Heady Topper, a double IPA from the Alchemist. The Alchemist is a brewery in Vermont that have dedicated themselves to brewing one beer and brewing it exceptionally well. This dedication puts this brew as the highest rated beer by BeerAdvocate users, and in the top 25 for RateBeer. And that's a beer that they only distribute locally in Vermont. That's Impressive So when a gentleman who followed me on Instagram and who I  met briefly once before in the Navy Exchange contacted me to meet and handed me one of these gems, I was beyond stoked. That's craft beer generosity at its finest, and I owe him big time. Not wanting to be greedy after receiving such generosity, I contacted my buddy TJ and we split it that night.

This beer comes with explicit directions to drink it from the can. Note that I poured half into a glass in order to share it, but I drank my portion from the can. Therefore your experience may be different if you decide to be a rebel and pour it anyways. When you do pour it you will find it to be a semi hazy light gold with a nice white head. As soon as you crack this can you are overcome with an incredible aroma of citrus hops. Seriously one of the best smelling beers ever. Those tasty citrus hops are at the forefront when it comes to flavor. Delicious grapefruit and tangerine notes are followed by a hint of sweet malts. Heady Topper finishes smooth but bitter. I've said it hundreds of times and I don't see any harm in driving it home: Balance is the key to great beer. This isn't a big hop bomb. It isn't some gimmicky beer that offers some strange ingredient to make it different. In fact ever flavor in this beer can be found in countless other IPAs. The key is how they balanced those flavors out to near perfection. Is it the best beer in the world? I don't know, I have other IPAs that rival it, but this beer deserves every bit of praise it gets.