HOPIQ FACEOFF
Vietnam · American Pale Ale · 4.7% ABV
90%
Overall similarity
hopIQ take
Heart of Darkness Impermanence if you want to ease into your session,
Sneakbox if you want a little more grip.
Both sit in that smart middle ground where pale ales stop being precious and start being *drinks*—same bitterness, but Sneakbox carries an extra half-percent of alcohol that you'll feel as warmth rather than heat. Neither one's trying to show off.
At a glance
Generated from the four anchored axes — never hand-written.
Beer DNA
Body
Δ 5
Sweetness
Δ 2
Situations
In words
Heart of Darkness Impermanence Pale Ale
Impermanence drinks lighter than its name suggests. There's a clean, almost mineral-forward hop character that doesn't linger aggressively—it lands and moves on, which is exactly what a 4.7% pale ale should do at a bar. The malt backbone is barely there, which means you taste the hops without any syrupy interference. It's the kind of beer that disappears.
Sneakbox
Sneakbox feels rounder, fuller in the mouth without being heavy. That extra half-percent of ABV and the way Kane handles their malt bill gives it a slightly toasted, almost biscuity undertone that Impermanence skips entirely. The hop bitterness is the same 38 IBU, but it sits on top of more body, so it reads as smoother rather than sharper.
See what fits your taste
hopIQ scores every beer against your palate, not the average drinker's.
Build your Beer DNAKeep exploring
Beers like Heart of Darkness Impermanence Pale Ale
View alternatives →Beers like Sneakbox
View alternatives →Both are
Similarly hopped
Within Δ 0. Neither reads as noticeably more bitter on this axis.
Bitterness 48 vs 48 · Δ 0
Bitterness
Δ 0
Texture
Δ 1
Only Heart of Darkness Impermanence Pale Ale
Shared character
Only Sneakbox
No unique character notes