Looking for a tasty Imperial/Double India Pale Ale? A little short on cash? Well brother, have I got a deal for you. What if I told you that you could get a six-pack of a deliciously hoppy Imperial IPA for a mere $7.69? Mind you, many brewers these days will only give you 22 ounces of the same style for that price these days; a six-pack will often cost you $2-$4 more. If you’re looking for a great beer bargain though, you can find it in Pyramid Outburst Imperial IPA.

Outburst Imperial IPA is a year-round product for Pyramid. Its dry hopped and comes in at 8.5% alcohol by volume and an impressive 80 IBUs. Ingredients from the Pyramid website:

2 Row Pale Barley, Munich, Caramel, CaraRed

Hops:

Chinook

Dry Hopped:

Falconer's Flight, Zythos

Last October I picked up a fresh six-pack of this delicious brew and took the following tasting notes on November 16th:

Pyramid Outburst Imperial IPA pours to a bright orange amber color with a medium sized creamy head formation and a big citrus piney hop nose. Taking a sip the beer has a big chewy caramel malt body up front laced with a strong undertone of citrus. In the finish the beer is packed with citrus and resiny pine aroma and punctuated wonderfully with a long dry bitterness. A perfect Imperial IPA that keeps the India Pale Ale component at a truly bargain price.

Just for fun, I saved a few bottles to see how this one would age out. My bottle has a best by date on it of August of 2013, but of course I think a beer like this will age out much longer if properly stored.

So here it is. I’m popping a year-plus old bottle tonight and I get that same big citrus nose with perhaps a bit more caramel than it had when fresh. There are some peppery hops in the aroma too, and upon sipping I get big chewy caramel malt upfront as some of the hop flavor has subsided. There’s also less of the citrusy character I got in the fresh brew. It’s still there though, more of an orange citrus flavor now, with big peppery hop notes emerging in the finish and a long, dry, lingering beautiful hop finish. I’m really enjoying this beer with a bit of graceful age upon it. And at the price, you can certainly afford to buy some for now, and some for later.

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box .

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled

(D)=Draft