Drakes Jolly Rodger (2005)

Formerly brewed at Drakes Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
San Leandro, California USA

(10/29/08) Bottle at Valley Brew brewery in Stockton (thanks a lot Mike!). Aroma of resinous hops and malt. Sweetish flavor with malt, alcohol, fruit notes and a bitter finish with some hops.

Man was this stuff good. Poured dark ruddy brown with a three finger head from the tap. Even 3 years old, the pour was rich with floral, pine and pineapple in the nose. Slightly creamy on the palate with a flavor extremely well balanced with pine and caramel malt. When it was fresh I’m sure the hops overwhelmed. In its old age, the malt shined through a bit balancing it out.

Hand bottled: Deep caramel, slight reddish hue, large frothy sand colored head, fairly decent lacing.   Muted citrusy nose, hops, pale malts.   Does seem to have a hefty malt presense.   Slight alcohol is also noticeable.   Big semi-sweet citrusy start, subtle hop bitterness, moderate malt backing.   I am guessing that is if this is from 2005, it has mellowed out quite a bit.   Not alcoholic, but it is very warming.   Citrusy presense is pretty heavy, malts are hefty.   Body and mouthfeel are moderate to full.   I guess this is a IIIPA, but comes across as a IIPA to me.   I spoze at some point it becomes meaningless as to how many I’s you have.   I treated this as Double IPA, and as an IIPA it is quite tasty.   Certainly smoothed out over the past two years.   You can tell this was quite big when it was first released back then.   Very clean, warming, with a good balance between hop/citrus bitterness and malts.   Not has heavy as say a 90 Minute IPA or a Dicks Bottleworks IPA, but still for a 12% IIIPA I would say this one is quite good.   I am very happy to have tried it, thanks to Jah Noth!

Name: Jolly Rodger
Date: 12/03/2005
Mode: Draft
Source: Tasting, Strong Ale fest, 2005
Vintage: 2005

clear light amber, scant white head, wonderful sweet citrus piney aroma, rich malt flavor, lots of hops to balance, only a hint of sweetness,

Aroma: 10/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 14/20
Rating: 3.8/5.0
Drinkability: 6/10
Score: **4

Pours with a nice head. A great nose of hops and sweet malt. A great tast of fresh hops with a great balance of malt and I love the alcohol.

Tap @ Toronado in Jan 2006. Mahognay brown color with a white head. A hop filled aroma with a nod to a barleywine. Is there a green, fresh cut lawn in here? Wonderful finish.

On tap at Toronado. There were actually two versions of Jolly Rodger brewed in 2005, one of which (the Old Ale version) was also aged in a brandy barrell. The Imperial/Double IPA brew is ruby-colored and is very hoppy (80 IBUs) - too much so for my enjoyment, since I prefer a more balanced IPA. However, the hops did serve to somewhat mask the very high alcohol content (11.5 ABV). The Old Ale brew was much more to my taste, and was made according to the original 1990 Jolly Rodger recipe.

On tap @ the Toronado. One of my favorite beers of all time. Dark golden color. Sweet, somewhat thick body. Very nice balance, with a strong hop end. Good good stuff.