Sixpoint’s Hi-Res: It’s Bigger, but is it Better?

I have proclaimed my love of Sixpoint’s Resin loud and clear in the past. Well let me introduce you to Resin’s big brother, Hi-Res, and answer the question, Is bigger better?

Hi-Res is a ‘Triple IPA’ or ‘IIIPA’ according to the packaging, but I can’t tell you what the extra I is short for. Honestly, I think Imperial IPA would be a sufficient description for this one, and there is not an official BJCP guideline for triple IPA. However, I will allow artistic freedom and say the brewer is free to call their beer whatever they want. Regardless of its moniker, Hi-Res is a big beer with huge flavor and a surprising balance between a tropical and floral sweetness and the dank hop bitterness.

The beer pours a shimmering golden orange with a slightly off-white head. The beer stays quite active in the glass as the head diminishes with its effervescence sustaining a ¼ to ½ inch layer of froth. The aroma is much like standing in a field of flowers next to a freshly mowed pasture. There are definite pine and grass notes, but there is also an underlying floral scent.

The IBUs go from 103 in Resin to 115 in Hi-Res. Detectable? I can’t say, and some experiments regarding the maximum level of IBUs discernable being around 100 back that up (pass that little bit of knowledge along next time you’re out pissing off Anthony Bourdain). The ABV is turned up from 9.1 to 10.5%. The extra additions to bump up the ABV seem to have upped the sweetness of Hi-Res just a bit compared to Resin.   The hops and malt combine to form a floral character and tropical sweetness that definitely differs from the West Coast hop profile of Resin which stresses the pine characteristics more than floral.

So is bigger better? For me it’s a close call as I love the heavy tropical and floral notes, but the year-round availability of Resin compared to the seasonal release of Hi-Res tips the scales in favor of the former in my opinion. That said, go out and grab some 4 packs of this before they’re gone, and you be the judge.

Cheers,

Alex

Outdoor Friendliness (though a bit thin, these are my favorite little cans for packing)…8/10

Aroma (nice combination of grassy and floral)…9/10

Flavor (massively fruity, sweet, tart, and bitter)…10/10

Style-Appropriateness (what is a triple IPA?)…N/A