One of the “whalez” of Midwestern beers turned up at my local Binny’s. So I snagged a 4-pack for a new “One Take Beer Review.”

Toppling Goliath Brewing Co. is situated in the  town of Decorah, in Eastern Iowa. Since their founding in 2009, they have become famous for sought-after imperial stouts and hoppy pale ales.

Toppling Goliath King Sue

Their best known pale ale would be King Sue, which has been at the top of most beer ranking since its introduction in 2014. It’s classified as a”Northeastern/Hazy Imperial IPA,” hop with all Citra, at 8.5% alcohol by volume.

It was named after “Sue,” the Tyrannosauris Rex fossil on display at the Field Museum. This brought the brewery a visit from museum representatives. But they decided that rather than raise an issue over trademarks, why not offer King Sue at the museum itself. If this seems a little too strong for a visit with the family, they might also have their 5.8% Pseudo Sue as well.

How does it match up to the hype? I find it very good, though I’m not much of a hophead. The beer pours a cloudy gold with a fizzy finger width of foam that fizzes away in a few minutes. The body is a properly hazy golden color. Smell is mainly orange and pineapple citrus, then the “catbox” that I used to figure came from Amarillo, but is definitely a part of Citra.

That nose is there is the taste too, as well as some bitter hop resins. Not a palate burner, but it does kind of scratch the back of my throat. Malts are bright and a bit quiet, belying the strong abv figure. When the hops go south in a few months, there won’t be much else to hold the taste up. Drinks very quickly, which may be my downfall. But for those who love hops, it’s quite drinkable.

There are more of TG’s flagship beers available since they built a 100-barrel brewhouse a few years back. The new capacity brought their operation in-house after a few years of contract brewing at Brewhub in Florida.

If you want to catch the real hard-to-find beers, you’ll want to go to the brewery when they announce releases for Imperial stouts Kentucky Bruch and Mornin’ Delight, currently ranked #1 and #4 on Ratebeer.com’s Top 50 Beer List. Yes, even higher than Dark Lord and its variant. For now.