Dark Horse Double Crooked Tree IPA

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

Thanks to Brewblackhole for this one! Pours a cloudy dark amber color with little floaty, and a tiny white head that didnt last long Wonderful piney/citrus hop aroma followed by a nice caramel malt aroma. Nice Hop bang right in the begining,but the nice caramel malt soon cathes up to dominate the flavor. Big alcohol presence that seems to last for awhile. Leaves a nice warm feeling in your throat like you just did a shot!

Pours a murky unfiltered orange caramel color with a thick beige head. Aroma of pine needles, citrusy hops, caramel and slight butterscotch. Taste is a complex combination of sweet caramel, piney hops, citrus and warming alcohol. Alcohol is very well hidden and boy, after a few sips does it knock you down. Excellent !!

20070605 12oz bottle thanks to Schroppfy. Deep cherry amber color is lightly clouded and with a small off-white head that isn’t as sticky as expected. Aromas both wonderful and perplexing. From a slight distance, this beer has a lovely pine resin and grapefruit aroma with some fresh berry notes (blueberry) and some wet forest (ferns, wet leaves, etc). But there’s something else happening here with the aromas, some kind of medicinal, citronella, and like alcohol soaked rubber bands. Nevertheless, I find it oddly appealing. The body is huge, viscous, only slightly pithy and astringent. Nice lingering bitterness really hits the spot and was just what I was craving after a tough day at work. Flavors carry some of the off aromas along, but mostly that’s tucked away under a heavy dose of sweet caramel and biscuity malts plus a good kick of caramelized citrus and a kick of warming alcohol. Unlike others have noted, I can’t imagine this getting a whole lot better. In fact, I like it just fine all big and brash as it is right now. I think I have another rating of this somewhere.

These guys are freakin’ nuts.... and, thank you, Dark Horse Brewing Company! This is the first real (and "new") hop bomb that I’ve had in weeks. From the 12-ounce bottle it pours a thick, hazy amber body with a good-lacing off-white head. The base aroma is caramel, quite sweet malts, and it’s buried by strong hop scents of pine, earth, grapefruit, pepper, and bitter grasses. This is a thick and chewable drink, reminding me somewhat of DFH’s 120-Minute IIPA. There’s a lot of malty sweetness in the flavor, but an intensely serious hoppy bitterness wins out in the end. I feel like I’ve been chewing on fresh hop cones. The strong alcohol content is well hidden in this battle between malt and hop... at least until it enters the bloodstream. Nice Nice Nice.

Why the Hell did I only buy one bottle????? I will remedy this soon!

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Dark Horse Double Crooked Tree IPA 12 oz bottle Moderate pour in a small tulip glass. Unknown brewing, chopped down 05/07. Poured a murky bright amber brown with a small somewhat lasting yellowish light brown head. Lots of active carbonation. Smelt of harsh pine resin, skunk and moderate pepper, caramel and toasted bread. Taste was upfront strong pine resin and moderate sweet caramel followed by a harsh pine resin and skunk and light sweet caramel on an eternal finish that reminds me of eating green tree leaves as a kid. Palate was medium to full bodied, creamy, lively and slightly stinging carbonation, moderately alcoholic and harshly astringent. Overall, wow, what a beast of a beer! Nothing but great conifer like flavors, the whole frickin family. A bit harsh and definitely a palate puncher. My mouff ith gnow gnummmb.

Bottle: Pours a hazy, almost murky orange with a smaller off-white head. Nose is citrus and malt, kind of a sugary sweetness. The taste is more malty than hoppy, light citrus and a taste of the extremely high ABV. Lingering dry bitters and a nice warming effect. An interesting take on the style. Thanks to Eithcubes for sending this one.

Bottle from Steve. Thanks. This was a unique beer experience for me, as I really had no idea what to expect from this beer. It pours out a dark brown color without much of a head at all. The smell is heavy with alcohol, and some fresh pungent hop aromas. Taste is sweet and bitter, pretty much full of alcohol as well. This tastes like a homebrew I made that wasnt very good. It was interesting, and worth trying, but I dont think I want any more of this beer. Ill drink the regular crooked tree any day.

Pours a deep, hazed reddish brown garnet? with a reasonable white head, fading to a thin ring around the glass in a bit. The nose is big and sweet with nice round malt. Obvious hop presence Big nasty resinous hops. Unripe mango piney sort of hops, a bit soapy, with some herbal elements. Just big and thick and juicy with the malt. The mouthfeel is soft and velvety. Low carbonation yet creamy and viscous. The flavors are hop. Big malty juicy round backbone with some really big fresh hops. Rich caramels and big as sweetness stands right with the hops. Tropical fruit and pine meld with alcohol in a lovely way. The flavors are balanced well, with a touch of diacetyl hidden in there. A clean bitting hoppy lingering aftertaste with a bit of alcohol burn. A big fruity and slightly buttery bitter finish. For less, I’d buy a good deal of this stuff.