Dark Horse Crooked Tree IPA

Brewed by Dark Horse Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Marshall, Michigan USA

Nice crispy hoppage and such. Citrussy goodness. Not the greatest of IPAs but certainly worth checking out.

A lucky find at Wine Sellers in Macomb. Hadn’t heard of it, but I glad I found it. Lots of hops in the aroma, a grassy hop flavor and a nice dry bitter finish. Pretty standard stylewise for a midwest IPA, but it’s done quite well.

The thing that strikes me most about this beer is all the floaties in it. Other than that its a pretty standard IPA. Good but not great.

Pours sweet potato skin orange with 2 finger light tan head that fades to a thin layer that leaves plenty of lacing. Aroma is almost all piney hops with a bit of yeasty funk. Flavor is a little biscuity malt at first, then all citrus and bitter hops. It is definitely more dry than your average IPA, and a little more refreshing but loses some complexity and that satisfying, think mouthfeel.

12oz bottle acquired in trade. Pour is a cloudy melon-orange color with a thin head of lacy white cream. The aroma is resiny hops with some fruitiness to it. Attractive enough. The flavor is quite potent for an IPA. The hop character is really strong like an IIPA but there isn’t the heavy malt to back it up. This is really a showcase of resiny hops. Its sharp and dry, but somehow it manages to find balance in all that hops. Its quite easy to drink. Well done.

Received as an extra twice. Thanks.

Tried First time on 5/5/08. I wish this said that it was bottle conditioned or warned about the amount of sediment because I poured a lot in by accident. It has a nice amber color with a small beige head that fades fast. It first smells a little of citrus hops and then smells mostly of caramel malts. I think the sediment sort of ruined the taste of this or it might be too old. It’s sort of muddy tasting and just doesn’t seem right. The hops don’t really show well for me and are mostly masked by the earthy malt taste that is probably at least partially from too much sediment poured into the glass. I would love to get another bottle to give it another try. 6/4/5/4/12

Retried on 8/14/08. Appearance same. Smell a little more fresh but still not great. Taste is similar, better but not great. 7/4/6/4/13

Bottle 12 fl.oz.
Unclear medium orange color with a small, fizzy, fair lacing, mostly diminishing, off-white to white head. Aroma is light to moderate malty, caramel, moderate to light heavy hoppy, lemon shell. Flavor is moderate sweet and moderate to light heavy bitter with a average to long duration. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft. (130608)

Imperial Pint draft at Charleston’s (New Lenox, IL). Poured a very deep amberish hazy color with a decent white head. A very good looking brew indeed. Aromas are muted, some light hop notes and sweet malt waft around. Taste is dissappointing: Some upfront hops that clearly give way to a far superior caramel malt profile on the backend. Finishes largely malty with little bittering. Not balanced. Would have scored better if it was an APA. Did not enjoy and a poor representative of the style. Would probably not drink again and I don’t give a lot of bad reviews.