Dark Horse Double Crooked Tree IPA

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

Bottled. Received in a trade, never heard of it until I opened it up! Wow, this is good. It had alot of residue in the bottle so when I poured it out, it was thick and cloudy. Very nice flavor, not citrus-like other DIPA. A bit more malt forward. I’m surprised the alcohol is so high in this as it’s well hidden. I have had many 9%ers that were more alcohol forward than this.

Pours a cloudy amber with a frothy tan head that doesn’t stick around. The nose is heavy with hop resins, earthy yeast and sugary malts, a prelude of things to come for sure. Syrupy on the tongue, the body is just loaded with underattenuated sugars and undefined hops. Grapefruit rindiness, raisins and sweet caramel. The alcohol warms the finish which is equally sweet. I guess if they are going for a huge monster of a malty, hoppy, syrupy mess than they succeeded. This just isn’t what I look for in a DIPA (or a BW for that matter). This lacks any definition and should be put in the back of the cellar and left for many, many years. I may do just that if I come across another bottle. As is, this just isn’t for me.

Pours a dark golden color with a slight off white frothy head. Plenty of "chunkies" floating in this beer. Smell is mostly bitter hops. Some malt comes through in the finish, but this is dominated by bittering hops and alcohol. Upon my first taste, I am trounced with bittering hops and a huge alcohol burn. This is big and badass. Usually DIPA’s are highly sessionable beers that I’ll have a couple of in a sitting. Not this brute. Mouthfeel is astringent and slightly cloying. I love this brewery. I’ve not had anything remotely resembling a average beer from them.

Was lucky enough to find a 4 pack of this. Very thick, unfiltered dark copper color. The aroma really jumps out at you, and is dominated by a pleasant piney smell, with maybe some grass. Flavor was a bit much at first, but I quickly grew to crave more of the grapefruity, earthy taste. Alcohol is extremely well-hidden. I respect bold beers, and this definitely fits that bill as its the strongest, highest gravity IPA I’ve ever had.

Bottle shared by Odeed; Nose of piney hops and ivy smelling hops; Appearance hazy brown with a small off white head; Flavor of caramel, dark fruit, and light hop bitterness. Was this a double barleywine IPA? Naw on;y 13.6% and not noticeable at all. Well balanced!

Bottle, pours orange/amber with a average size white creamy head that fades away quite quickly leaving just a small white film on the top, there is little to no lacing to be found. Looking through the glass there are big chunks floating around, if you didnt know any better you would think it was apple cider. The aroma is awsome, hops all the way, very citrusy. Takeing the first drink, it was really sweet and really bitter. Big hop flavor, pine, citrus (grapefruit and orange) you can taste the caramel malt behind all the hops. The body is full with a creamy texture and lively carbonation. The alcohol is very well hidden, but it is there. The guy in the beer store said he just got this stuff in and was ranting on how good it was, he also said it is available in very limited quantitys, so I bought 2, one to drink fresh and one to celler for a while. Overall, this is a very good IIPA.

Poured cloudy amber gold from a 12 oz. bottle, nice slightly off-white head, big pine, citrus and floral scents with lots of caramel and sweet malt aromas, big bite of hop bitterness on the tongue, lots of sweet thick malts and grapefruit flavors in the mouth, full mouth feel, finishes dry with a bitterness that stays on your tongue, I found this drink to be more balanced towards the malt, the alcohol aroma and taste is revealed as it warms but stays in the background, lots of sediment on the bottom of the bottle.

Bottle. Thanks to Styles for sending me this. Poured a deep amber body with a nice big head that dwindled down fairly quickly. Nice grapefruit aroma, lost of other citrus, very pleasant. Flavor is a huge mash of hops right up front, bitter but vary sweet. The hops are huge but very bareable with a sweet malt backbone. The grapefruit hop taste leaves a long lasting impression on the tongue. Good beer.