Steel Toe Size 11 Review

Name: Steel Toe Size 11
Style: Imperial IPA
ABV: 11%
IBUs: 111 (supposedly)

It's been a while since I reviewed anything from Steel Toe Brewing, but the other day I was at the store and saw that Size 11 was now available. A few of the stores I patronize have this bottle on display and I've thought to myself "Man, I'd like to try that one day."

Well today is that day, for Size 11 is an Imperial IPA. I've already reviewed their Size 7 IPA and they also have a Size 4 IPA, which is their session IPA. The last one, however, is currently not available at the time of writing this but I'll settle for what is in front of me.

Appearance - Very hazy bright orange color with a mild amount of visible carbonation. The head doesn't have too much volume to it, but what's there is foamy and the lacing is also pretty good.

Aroma - Strong citrus hops and grapefruit notes with just a hint of bitterness. Also getting some caramel maltiness in here too, primarily towards the back.

Taste - Strong citrus hops with some equally strong candied caramelized malts upfront. Towards the middle it becomes more focused on the malts with a slight hint of bitterness, while the back end of the flavor opens up to some light grapefruit notes while retaining that candied caramelized maltiness. Aftertaste is a mix of caramelized malts, orange peel and light hop bitterness.

I was expecting this beer to have a heavier body like many Imperial IPAs, but I was pleasantly surprised by how light bodied this was. There is a lot going on in the flavor, all of which makes it a very robust and vibrant IPA. On top of that, the asking price for a bomber of this is very reasonable, which makes this very easy to recommend. If you see this, it's most certainly worth picking up.

Steel Toe Size 11 - 9.5/10