King Sue Double India Pale Ale

Review Date 4/11/2020 Last Updated 1/23/2021  By John Staradumsky

  Style: Double IPA   Brewery: Toppling Goliath   Country: USA   State: Iowa   $ Per OZ: $.28 (B), $.46 (G)   ABV: 7.8%

A few weeks ago, I got my first taste ever of a beer from the highly celebrated Toppling Goliath brewery of Decorah, Iowa. That beer was Pseudo Sue, a hazy, cloudy “New England” style IPA. I got the beer as part of an order from the Craftshack online beer retailer, because I couldn’t get it here in Georgia.

Couldn’t being the key word, of course. At the time, Toppling Goliath beers were not available in Georgia or, if they were, I hadn’t seen them. Then, though, I got an alert on my phone that King Sue Double India Pale Ale had arrived at Stout’s Growlers in Canton. Of course, I was there to get some (I got the last 4-pack).

Toppling Goliath says:

This lusciously hazy double IPA gains its hints of mango, orange, and pineapple from the use of the delicious Citra hop.

As to the beer’s name, it’s hard to miss the image of a Tyrannosaurus Rex on the label, who just happens to be named Sue. Wikipedia says:

Sue is the nickname given to FMNH PR 2081, which is one of the largest,[b] most extensive, and best preserved Tyrannosaurus rex specimens ever found, at over 90% recovered by bulk. It ….. is now a permanent feature at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois.

And indeed, the can does feature the Toppling Goliath logo with the words “Brewing Up History with Field Museum” underneath.

Toppling Goliath King Sue Double India Pale Ale has an alcohol content of 7.8% by volume with 100 IBUs. I paid $19.99 for a 4-pack of pint cans, which is high, higher per can than the $4.49 I paid for my can of Pseudo Sue from Craftshack, although there was another $2.50 shipping. My can is stamped as PKG 03/20/20 and BEST BY 07/28/20.

King Sue Double India Pale Ale pours to a very cloudy yellow orange color with a prodigious fluffy head of foam and a robust nose of grapefruit rind, a hit of resin, and herbal leafy notes. Taking a sip, the beer is medium in malt but explosive in citrus with pulpy orange juice and grapefruit zest, pineapple, and bitter zest and minty herbal leafy bitterness at the last. A long, dry, lingering, bitterness at that.

This is exactly how I like “New England” IPAs to be, incredibly juicy, citrusy, and zesty. I’ll give King Sue a full five stars, and though I’m tempted to take off a star for the crazy high price, I’ll only deduct half a star. I just enjoyed the beer far too much to take off any more.

Update 1/23/2021: How about a crowler of King Sue? And how! In the shadow of my crowler it appears darker in color this time (a trick of the lighting, I should have positioned them the other way around), but just as juicy and delicious as ever. Pricey indeed as $14.75 for a 32-ounce crowler, one of the most expensive fills I have bought at Stout's.

Glad I tried it?  T