Lighthouse Brewing – Numbskull Double IPA: Tasman Edition

Lighthouse Brewing – Numbskull Double IPA: Tasman Edition Review

From Victoria, Lighthouse Brewing quietly produces some brews that deserve the nod of approval from beer geeks. Case in point: Numbskull, their Double IPA. The fierce label’s implied skull-crushingness is not false advertising.

The Numbskull series explores a different primary hop with each batch. This lends a new wrinkle to what is a longstanding beer brand (check out Beer Me BC founder Dustan Sept’s review of a 2013 version of Numbskull Imperial IPA, here).

Numbskull pours a clear, dark gold that retains its head a bit longer than average, and throws a decent lace down a pint glass.

There’s a super strong, punchy aroma before you get to the juicy and biscuity malt flavours.

The sharp, piney hop bitterness is accented by tiny, fruity notes of orange and lime, as well as a woody, vanilla note. At 9.1% ABV, there’s a noticeable alcoholic warmth.

Hop oils come through on the palate, leaving a resiny smack in the finish with a lime-like bite.

Seemingly with a bigger-than-average malt bill alongside its significant hop profile, Numbskull comes across as an Imperial IPA. Turns out, that’s what it was formerly labelled. However, in the era of Hazy IPAs, DIPA is probably a more well-known, marketable term.

For the BeerSeekers, one of us was enthused by the “big flavour” of this Imperial IPA. For the other, its alcoholic flavour dominance actually reduced the enjoyment…but that’s an inherent stylistic reality. Like Dustan said in 2013, “Drink with caution, but nonetheless be sure to drink!”

Lighthouse Brewing Co. – Numbskull Imperial IPA