Dark Horse Double Crooked Tree IPA

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

From a 12 oz. green wax dipped cap, long neck brown bottle with a good and creepy label, sampled at a cooler cellar temperature in a snifter. An American barley wine-type aroma, pine resiny, grapefruit and apricots, caramel malty and whiffs of sweet alcohol. Moderate carbonation and a light hop texture, velvety smooth medium-full bodied mouthfeel. Syrupy sipping drinkability, tasty with the alcohol kept in the background, piney, resiny with hints of cedar, citrus squeezed over apricots, a sweet caramel malty, spicy alcohol that is noticeable towards the end, but it’s tamed and warming in the palate, a subtle plum flavor also emerges at the end and a hop resiny and malty finish. A well made DIPA from Dark Horse, I wish this was available in Illinois. Acquired in a trade with fellow RB Sammy, many thanks!!

Bottle. Ivory small head that mostly diminished, poor lacing, no visible carbonation, and a light brown hue. Sweet caramel, lightly hoppy, grapefruit and alcohol notes for the aroma. Ditto for the flavor and the ABV was surprisingly not over the top. Mildly tingly mouthfeel. Medium body.

Pours a hazy deep orange-amber, with a thin qhite head. Very pungent aroma of citrus, mulling spices, malt (almost like a barley wine). In the mouth it’s very thick and not very carbonated. It’s by turns malty sweet and hoppy bitter with caramel and various dried fruits.

Poured a dark, opaque amber color. Piney, hoppy aroma as well as strong malt/booze aroma. This was a bit overdone for me. Woody, peat-like flavors along with the obvious grapefruit and piney hoppy flavors. Interesting IIPA, but I’ll stick with Crooked Tree if I want an IPA from Dark Horse.

A hearty thanks to Beerdrenched for pickin this jewel up for me. Poured dark bronze with a small tan head. Aroma is very thick piney / woody hops along with a boatload of musty caramel malt - huge aroma. Medium / full bodied that is smooth and oily with a good amount of carbonation. Starts off with thick rich malt alsong with a floral woody presence. The finish is a hop blast. Lots of forceful piney / woody / spicy hops - very resiny. The alcohol is definitely felt and tasted, but this goes down far too easy for the strength it has - this one could get scary quick. Excellent IIPA.... or should it be IIIPA?

12oz bottle via trade with Hopdog! Thanks Steve! - Pours cloudy dark amber with a short offwhite head that fades quick. Aroma is good grapefruit, apricot, and caramel. Very hoppy in the aroma though and something that you want to hold up to your nose for a while.. Flavor is starts out with peach and apricot and then gives way to warm caramel malts, and the finish is actually slight bitter with pine and grapefruit. Big and sweet in the mouth almost syrupy.. Good solid malt background and plenty of hops.. This is a good IIPA

(12oz bottle) Small off-white head that doesn’t linger, atop a yeasty filled opaque nut brown body. Aroma is moderately sweet, caramel, grapefruit, peach/apricot, light alcohol. Taste is moderately sweet, caramel, grapefruit, light apricot, some alcohol warming and light burn. Full, resiny body, some stickiness. Given the ABV, the alcohol characteristics are held reasonbly in check. Has some barleywine characteristics.

This bottled brew from a bottle shop poured a small sized head of finely sized off-white colored bubbles that was long lasting and left behind a typically carbonated brown colored body and a good lacing. The mild aroma was hoppy and brown malt. The mouth feel was strongly tingly from start to finish with a lingering caramel hop aftertaste. The mild flavor contained notes of hops and caramel. Delicious and one I would certainly buy again.