Dark Horse Double Crooked Tree IPA

Brewed by Dark Horse Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Marshall, Michigan USA

On tap at Jerry’s. Cloudy copper-amber with minimal off-white head / Nose of fresh pine, pineapple & caramel / Medium body, with alcohol well balanced by big sharp hops and caramel malts, and good finish / Flavors of fresh pine, pineapple, orange, and caramel / Aside from surprisely lack of head, outstanding.

Bottle pours deep ruby with very little head, but some surface haze and ring. The aroma has freshly sectioned ruby red grapefruit and malty sweetness. The flavor has some sweet maltiness, fruitiness, and very nice and approachable hops. This is very well balanced between the maltiness and hopiness. The alcohol is somehow very restrained. The palate is gentle yet alive. This is an exceptional beer. Out of the IIPAs I’ve had lately, this one seems like one of the more sophisticated.

Bottle pours a reddish color with a white head. Aromas are wonderful and remind me of eating citrus like grapefuit plain and liking it. As big as this beer is I expected it to be harsh. Quite the contrary. It is very smooth and has a nice malt backbone with some hops to finish the taste. Very good IIPA.

Pours mostly clear; deep auburn, with a milky, thin skin. Aroma is a blast of tropical, sunny sweetness, ripe with tangerine, peach, lychee and golden kiwi and simmered in brown sugar water and dulce de leche. Disarmingly fruity, pungent, and almost blindingly bright. Flavor is a mixed sweetness of honey, white tea, caramel, vanilla milk, and more tropical fruit. Resinous bitterness is more of a sweet pine smoke variety than something arresting and abrasive. Well played and very smooth. Perfumey and floral to a gargantuan extremity; like a mutated, frothing at the mouth centennial beast. Never comes off as too much, though, or even as unbalanced. Palate is thick and cool with soft carbonation; sophisticated and managing to convey calmness and restraint throughout. Very wet and bitter in the finish with herbs, white pepper, and grapefruit jucie. Alcohol somehow unnoticeable. Balanced, charming, and quite memorable.

Dark mahogany color with no head. Powerful hop aroma, with mostly citrus and floral hop. Plenty of caramel sweetness as well. Strong bitter taste, but a full, caramel and dry malt backbone. The hops don’t have a lot of flavor, just pure acidic bitterness.

Bouteille 12oz, courtoisie de Hogtownharry. De couleur ambrée-brune et voilée. Nez de houblon résineux, citrique (pamplemousse) et aux notes herbeuses, malté de caramel toffee sucré et légèrement rôti, fruité (abricots, agrumes), léger d’alcool avec des notes boisées et de pain. Moyennement ronde en bouche avec un pétillement moyen ainsi qu’une texture résineuse et moyennement crémeuse. Goût assez amer de houblon résineux et citrique (pamplemousse - une amertume présente toute la gorgée) acccompagné d’un goût fruité (agrumes, moyen d’abricots) lors de l’entrée en bouche auquel se rajoute un goût de malt du genre caramel toffee sucré aux notes rôties et terreuses ainsi qu’un léger goût de pain. Parallèlement, l’on retrouve un moyen goût d’alcool (légèrement réchauffant) qui reste présent jusqu’en finale, où le retrouve un regain d’amertume asséchante de houblon plus citrique et plus herbeux ainsi que des notes boisées (bois humide). Post-goût très long et sec, amer de houblon citrique, résineux et herbeux avec un moyen goût d’alcool, un léger goût fruité (zest d’agrumes) et des notes boisées.

Poured out dark brown with a wonderful smell of hops. Plenty of sediment at the bottom of my glass when finished. Strong beer that you can feel going down.

Bottle purchased at Crown Liquors #15, in Fishers, IN. Pours a dark reddish brown with a frothy ecru head and more large chunky sediment than I think I’ve seen in any beer. I’m not particularly surprised, however, as the bottle of Crooked Tree I sampled had enough floaties in it that it reminded me of marmalade. The nose is big, malty and enticing with notes of dark fruit, apricots and brown sugar backed by citric and evergreen hop notes along with a touch of alcohol. Despite the 98 IBUs, this smells more like an American barley wine than an IIPA. The palate is full-bodied with fine (yet assertive) carbonation and transitions to a lightly resinous, woody, bitter finish, with chest-warming alcohol joining in after the swallow. The flavor rides that fine line between barley wine and IIPA with a solid fruity (apricots again) malt body up-front, giving way to a bitter, citric, woody and lightly resinous finish that lingers on the tongue accompanied by quite a bit of "heat". I don’t know the age of this bottle, but I’d be curious to see what a bit more age might have done for it. It’s a tasty brew, but it’s a bit "hot" for my tastes.