Dark Horse Double Crooked Tree IPA

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

this brew is scary good in numerous ways. the malt flavor in this is divine, and while the hops are almost secondary, they add a soft bitterness to balance out the flavors. however, what makes this truly scary is the fact that it drinks more like a 5% beer...not one thats almost 14%. no one i shared this with could believe it was that strong. i could imagine drinking 3-4 of these easily...based on flavor and palate alone. however, im afraid of what 3-4 of these would do to me. fantastic beer

TRUMP! This double version pours a hazed honey color w/ a medium sized, semi creamy froth and reduces to a decent lace. I think it’s genetic. Looks like liquid caramel. The aroma is balanced w/ goopy malts and strict hopsy citrus rind. Nice! Full nectar w/ ample creamy residual effers. This is a malt bomb for sure but Robo Hop is right round the corner with his street sweeper and cleans the palce up nicely leaving asprin scar tissue to deal with. I am amazed a brew like this can be so well balanced. Fat caramel malts, and fat caramel malts meet up w/ a very strict curfew and like I said, Robo Hop is there to sweep up the mess. Chewy citrus caramel, leather, aged citrus rind, cotton candy essence, and a pinch of sodium. The finish is bittered perfectly and leaves a lingering asprin burn to remind me from whince I came. Drink with caution for the alcohol is hidden like a sniper in the mud. I could drink a few of these. I wouldn’t, but I could =) Highly recommended.

This is pretty decent. I am not sure if I have had this fresh or not, but it tastes more malty than it does overly hoppy. Definitely taste the hops but very caramel with a nice astringency of hop bitterness at the end. Decent, but not great. 7/3/7/3/15 ---re-rate--- 4/8/2008 Veggies, caramel malt, fruit. Some biscuit, banana, butter, tropical fruit, creamy dense hops. Drinks like a malty DIPA with no noticeable Alc and lingers well. 7/3/8/4/15

Bottle thanks to footbalm – Cloudy orange-amber with no head. Aroma is sugary-sweet and malty with a nice floral-citrus essence. Taste is a nice orange-flowery-sugary mix that has lots of sweet malts and an abundance of thick hoppy flavors. Maybe not the freshest, but certainly a very smooth DIPA that hides that 13%+ ABV. This one seems to venture into barleywine territory, much like some of my favorite HOTD beers – It even inspired me to crack open 3 year old Fred. A nice beer that takes this beer style in a slightly different (but tasty) direction)

Bottle. Hazy amber colour with a little white head. Lovely aroma of caramel, hops, and big alpha. Very sweet hoppy and caramel flavour - very nice indeed and with an alcoholic finish.

Hazy beautiful orange golden body, beautiful white head; Big beautiful orange peel pine aroma near perfect mix, great; Actually a little thin body, soft very sweet slightly bitter; Medium long finish sweet bitter balanced, perfumed orange pine aromas.

Bottle via xav33- thanks! Cracked this baby on my birthday. Seemed like a suitable bday beer. Pours out a dark tangerine, cloudy and not much head. Aroma is very nice- a real blast of thick hops and malt. Taste- heavy citrus and syrupy malts. Booze is not all that noticable for a beer of this potency. Very flavourable- not astringent from the hops, nor too cloying from the shit load of malt in ths thing. Drinkability is high which is probably a very dangerous thing. This would be deadly in a bomber! Overall, very enjoyable beer and very happy to get a change to try it.

12oz bottle from EithCubes - thanks, Mike! Deep amber with a pungent nose, as is to be expected from a DIPA. Very powerful grapefruit nose, with a slick malt presence that’s not quite assertive enough to provide the balance I think a beer this potent needs. The result is that this very flavorful and rich beer finishes with an almost astringent quality. It’s still fine, I think, and perhaps I should simply have aged it longer. Reason enough to search for another bottle, and a possible rerate, because I sure like Dark Horse.