Dark Horse Crooked Tree IPA

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

Very cloudy and dandelion yellow in appearance. Aroma of old orange juice, urinal cakes, and floral suggestions. A late hint of doughy yeast. Mild grapefruit flavor, earthy with a vegetal bitterness. Dead flowers and sour lime zest. A heavy coating of peaty oak swells in the mouth after swallowing. Definitely slightly soapy. Palate reeks a bit with remnants of expired ingredients clinging to the smooth tide. A half-fermented citrus glaze. Undeniably promising - it has the fragrant, subtle sophistication of the finest IPA’s hidden in its entanglements somewhere and even seems to have it at its heart. Like a flower eaten away from the inside out.

Bottle. Dry hops on the nose with some spices (nutmeg). Brown sugar, caramel, sweet sticky malt: fairly aromatic. Pours cloudy dark orange. Thin white head with sticky lacing. Very dry flavor. Dusty almost. Some sweet malt. Fairly bitter. Medium bodied and creamy. Finishes quite dry. Very well put together IPA. Could stand to have a bit more malt in the flavor to balance the almost bracingly dry hops.

Pours a wonderful yellow/orange; it almost looks radioactive. Smells of grassy hops and citrus. It is citrusy and crisp up front and then the bitterness hits you. It’s an medium bitterness so it’s not that much over the top. A decent balance of everything.

Yum. First instinct. Pours a darker yellow/orange with lots of "flavor chunks". Nicely balanced flavor of citrus juices. Not as bitter as i like IPA’s, but good nonetheless. Maybe itll go in the book as an "easier drinking IPA" with many of these being able to be drank in one sitting without overpowering of all the bitterness. I think i could take a 6 pack home and be very happy for a friday night. Or any type of game on the couch with buddies.

Thanks to my Secret Santa for this one. Had it back to back with the Barley Island Barfly IPA and this just didn’t stand up. Aroma was nicer. Grassy hops all the way with just a hint of grapefruit. Pour was a cloudy dark orange with no head. A little too sweet for me. The hops seem to take the back seat. They are there, but not strong enough. Too little carbonation also. Good but not more.

Poured a hazy dark color with a white head that lasted a while. The aroma was citrus, floral and hoppy. The flavor was very hoppy with a dry finish. I suppose it was OK for an IPA, I’m just not a fan of the style.

NorCal tasting July 07 - I’m wondering if this beer is a bit old, because there was some oxidation creeping into it in both aroma and taste. Even with that, this beer still was very tasty. Nose was caramel sweet with a good helping of piney goodness. Appearance was a burnt orange color, nice head (always did appreciate a darker IPA for some reason). Mouthfeel was smooth, yet lively enough to notice. The one-two punch of hops and malts were nice but a bit too much alcohol crept into the taste which was a bit of a downer (esp. for only a 6%’er). Overall I did enjoy this beer and look forward to more Dark Horse beers.

12 oz. bottle. Pours a cloudy honey color with white floaties throughout. The medium off white head was mostly lasting and left a coating on the glass. The aroma was sweet caramel and very citrusy. The flavor has strong bitterness and prevalent caramel maltiness. Medium to medium-full bodied that goes down smoothly. The floaties did not seem to affect the flavor as this is a solid IPA.