Judge's Review: 88 Rating - Litigator Imperial IPA by Worthy Brewing Co.

Litigator Imperial IPA by Worthy Brewing Co. was judged as a Double IPA (India Pale Ale) under the category of (#22A). Upon pouring this beer it had a light golden hue that was very cloudy ( chill haze ).  However, I would not call this a " hazy " or " New England Style. ", because it has been filtered. Small tiny bubbles lined the glass and their was significant head retention as well.  The aroma was to be expected. I had an explosion of pure hops and tons of it.  It had essences of pine needles and I can safely say that it is Cascade hops in the finish. The flavor(s) revealed something entirely different, however.  Being a Double IPA and with the first reaction of the aroma of hops, hops and hops, the hop bitterness was somewhat subdued and restrained.  I, mean it still had a nice hop bitterness, but not as " big " as I had expected of a Double IPA.  Again, it does meet the lower guidelines in terms of IBU's ( International Bittering Units ) for a Double IPA, but on the low end of the scale.  It had the prerequisite big malt flavor and this beer clocks in at a hefty 8.1% abv, however, the big hoppiness that I was looking for was not there.  And because of the low hop bittering, it almost tastes like an IPA instead of a Double IPA, but the alcohol is definately there - quite perplexing to say the least.  The body and mouthfeel of this beer was medium.  As well, the carbonation was very nice and bubbly. The finish was very nice.  Tasted very smooth and crisp with slight hops in the finish along with a noticeable alcohol burn in the finish due to alcoholic strength. This is a very nicely made beer, but a little more hops would have made it stand out more as a "Double IPA."