If you’ve been charting Lost Rhino Brewing Company’s progress, you know that Matt Hagerman and Favio Garcia have been cranking out their flagship beers with great quality standards.

They’ve been keeping busy, which you’d know if you’ve been lucky enough to try any of their seasonals or one-offs. Already they’ve brewed a session lager, a Pilsner, a dunkel, a marzen/Oktoberfest, American pale, IPA, a bourbon barrel aged stout, Belgian-style dubbel, Belgian-style blonde and a Belgian-style golden strong.

While I’ve only been able to try 8 of 10, they’ve all been solid products and reasonably priced, typically the best decision for their respective price points in most tap line-ups.

Their next release is an imperial IPA called “Icebreaker.” This is a mighty beer at 22 degrees Plato, 93 IBUs and 9.2% alcohol by volume. The malt bill is comprised of pale and crystal malts, but the crown jewel, of course, are the American hop varieties: Columbus and Amarillo. The first batch, on draft, should arrive at your local this week and then bottles (22 oz. bombers) should ship to better beer stores next week.

With 93 International Bitterness Units of Pacific Northwest hops and a ton of whole leaf cones packed to the brim in the hopback, this is surely going to be one for the hopheads. While Garcia and Hagerman have designed and brewed great beers showing restraint, categorically correct for each specific style, this one is sure to be an over the top hop bomb in the best way possible. The deep-gold/pale-amber ale will have an aggressively bitter taste anchored by a beautiful mélange of citrusy aromatics.

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From the info sheet: “The biggest whitewater of the season is featured in Early Spring, making the opening whitewater weekend a thrilling ride to all who seek adventure.” Keeping within those lines, Icebreaker is the biggest beer yet to come from the Rhino brewhouse. While their Apocalyptic Ale (Belgian-style golden strong) was a respectable 9% alcohol by volume and 40 IBUs, it was a tad under the forthcoming imperial IPA. Have you tried Icebreaker yet? If so, let us know in the comments.