Here’s a new one: a hopped boilermaker. Courtesy of Double Mountain Brewery, it consists of a shot of Double Mountain Hopped Whiskey and a pint of Vaporizer Dry-Hopped Pale Ale.

Of course, to properly drink a boilermaker, I believe you’re supposed to do the shot then drink the beer. Or you can drop the shot into the beer and drink it in one slug. Regardless, I didn’t drink it either of those ways, and instead sipped on both, and wrote down my impressions.

If you recall from my post about receiving the whiskey and beer (and brandy), the Hopped Whiskey is produced by Hood River Distillers in collaboration with Double Mountain Brewery, and it’s infused with Cascade and Apollo hops, and finished with Oregon Oak.

I’ve never had a hopped whiskey before, and this one is piney and herbal, and initially I get more pine and pitch than hops. It’s a bit hot—possibly young—and the hops are present more in the flavor than the aroma. That aroma keeps with the pine or even a juniper-like note. One thought that strikes me, is that this could be an interesting start to a hop-based absinthe.

The Vaporizer plays well off the whiskey, drawing out the herbal notes as well as a bit of pithy citrus zest. It’s a bit woody, reinforcing that pine character.

As it opens up, the whiskey reveals aromas that remind me of freshly-picked hops, as when you crush and rub some of the hop flowers in your hands to reveal that green chlorophyll/lupulin character, and that seems to balance the woody notes. I don’t know if the same hops are used as in Vaporizer (a quick peek at the website reveals they are not), but they are similar in taste which is a great complement to each respective drink.

The sweet herbal, woody notes of the whiskey subsequently draw out citrus peel from the beer, and reveals clean malt flavor that’s dry, lightly toasty, and crisp. Overall this is an interesting pairing, with a nice interplay of herbal hop and oak notes bringing out a lovely side of the Vaporizer.