Dunedin Brewmasters Reserve "THE ROCK" Double IPA

Brewed by Dunedin Brewery
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Dunedin, Florida USA

Draft at Dunedin. Poured a clear copper color with an average frothy white head that mostly lasted with good lacing. Moderate sour citrus and earthy aroma. Medium body with a slick texture and soft carbonation. Medium to heavy bittersweet flavor with a medium bittersweet finish of moderate duration. My expectations where met and good surprise from this house.

Draft… Clear, dark golden ale with a small, fizzy, white head. The aroma is resiny and earthy – mainly pine. Full-bodied and almost chewy with moderate carbonation. Even at 78 degrees (sunny day; sat outside), the hop bitterness wrestles the pale and caramel malts to the ground and neutralizes them with a full nelson. In other words, the lupulin is the star of this show. The finish is lengthy and bittersweet, but the bitterness lingers on the back of my palate long after the sweetness has faded.

Growler. The body is mostly clear and golden- orange in color. A small, foamy, off-white head settles in quickly to a thin film, leaving random, jagged splotches of lacing on the glass. Aromas are quite sweet up front, with notes of toffee, orange blossom honey, and sugared sweet bread all showing in the malt base. Dank, grassy hop notes lend bitter aromatics, but fail to counter the sweet malt. There’s a hint of corniness in there as well. Flavors seem a little more balanced, with peppery, grassy, citrus oil hops fighting their way through the massive toffee sweetness. The body is thick and sugary, with a substantial amount of alcoholic heat. This is a huge beer, drinking even heavier than its 8% ABV indicates. It seems more like a hoppy barleywine to me. Decent.

thanks to travis for bringing a growler over! piney hops sweet malts on the nose. Pours a pale golden color with a thin white head. Resiny piney hops, very sticky feeling, with a solid malt backbone. Very nice double ipa!

on tap-pours an off white head and amber color. Aroma is pine hops, some medium malt. Taste is raw pine/resin hops with bite, secondary medium malt, some alcohol. Somewhat slick mouth feel. Good carbonation.

Tap @ brewery. Pours copper with thin white head. Aroma of floral hops, some caramel notes, malts and syrup like sugar. Taste, had just plenty of hops - floral notes, with some light grapefruit presence and some spices. Balanced with malts and caramel giving the beer a syrupy / sugar mouthfeel.

On tap at the brewery. It poured hazy orange-ish copper with gold edges and nearly a bright white head. Served up a bit warmer than the usual frigid pours. Still comes across too cold for the style. The aroma has sweet malts, a touch of caramel and modest citrus. The taste begins with a mix of sweet malts, crystal malts, grapefruit and tangelo bitter citrus hoppiness. As midway is being considered the various malts fall back to reveal an increasing level of citrus hop bitterness. Caramel sweetness and a modest amount of roasted malts hang on into the finish. It ends pretty neutral with lingering citrus hops and mild dry roasted malt astringency creating a pleasing balance to a beer style defined by its lack of balance. It comes up well short of pushing the limits of the style but its malt chewiness and hop presence puts it into the IIPA category. Fully sessionable and very satisfying brew.