A coworker who works remotely – Bettywriter – was in town for the week, so several of us decided to go out to happy hour and catch up. We stopped at Medici in Uptown Normal, a place I’ve mentioned before that has some pretty good beers on tap. I arrived before anyone else, I didn’t have to be shy when I announced proudly to the bartender that I’d like a Raging Bitch.
It was a hazy orange-golden color with a little bit of a creamy head, which fell after a couple minutes. It had a strong floral hop aroma with a little bit of pine, spice and peppery notes slightly detectable.
It was medium-full bodied and was almost syrupy smooth. It was hard to tell what the first flavors were as the intense hop aroma made it hard to detect any other flavors. The flavors I noticed first were much like the aroma – mostly floral with a little piney hop bitterness. The hop flavor was very pronounced, with only the slightest bit of peppery spiciness detectable in the finish.
With the big floral and piney hop flavors, and the slight peppery spiciness, I might actually recommend this with a nice grilled chicken salad. The hop flavors would match the flavor for the greens, and the Belgian spiciness would add to the flavors in the chicken.
I was surprised by the amount of hop aroma and flavor coming from this beer. It must have a pretty big dry hop addition. The Belgian flavors were only slightly detectable, making it enjoyable. I’m not sure of the alcohol content, but the combination of hoppiness and full bodied syrupiness made it a bit sipper. Overall, I thought it was a very flavorful IPA with a good Belgian complexity.
My Rating: 
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