Marin Eldridge Grade White Knuckle Double IPA

Brewed by Marin Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Larkspur, California USA

Bomber. Strong! hop aroma. Piney, resiny. Smells just like the hops I smelled during a recent tour of the Anchor Brewery: Northern Brewer? Beautiful, reddish, orange amber. Excellent lace and off-white, almost yellow head. Whoa! Really hoppy. More hoppy than the Moylan’s Double IPA and better overall. Really well balanced. Malt sweetness and hops are off the charts. This is almost a barley wine. Very peppery and excellent balance.

Bottle: Coppery orange, deep haze, large off-white pillowy head, good retention, very nice lacing.   Fresh hop nose, tea leaves, tobacco leaves, slightly piney, a touch of granola.   Smooth hop tea flavor, sweet, light bitterness, decent malt base.   I wouldn’t call this "pungent" at all, and in fact I would say its very well balanced.   Good malt backing to a nice hop profile, not overly bitter, somewhat sweet, and quite smooth.   Body is nice, mouthfeel could be a bit fuller (I prefer thick IIPAs), but still quite enjoyable.   Picking up some soft apple/pear skin on the finish.   Lingering tea and tobacco leaf.   This one certainly isn’t brash, but instead a well balanced hop meal.   Becomes a bit citrusy at the end.   Only wished for it to be a bit more viscous, but otherwise its damn fine.   Thanks Stephen for the bottle!

Tap. Tasted piney, full bodied, bitter, floral, citrusy, and balanced enough to provide a rounded beer tasting experience. Delicious, poured a darm amber color with a thin white head. Plenty of cascade hops...excellent stuff!

Tasted on tap at pizza port’s strong ale fest. Very hoppy monster with the full hop flavor profile. Enough malt to cut the pine somewhat, so I call it balanced ;-) Would like to try on bottle.

Kindly provided by BA RedwoodGeorge in a trade, this Double IPA from California came in a 22 oz. bomber, and poured out hazy orange amber in color with a one finger thick head. Aroma was very typical of the style with a strong juicy citric hop presence mixed with a pine resin backdrop, or in other words most excellent. The taste was powered by the west coast hops and caramel malts. The bitter oily intensity was nicely cranked up, so that no one would doubt this one for an ordinary IPA. There was enough sweet malt sticking around as a reminder that I was partaking in something akin to hop candy. And I like hop candy a lot. Mouthfeel was sticky, which helped the spicy aftertaste linger around on my teeth. At the end of the session, I felt as if my enamel was being bonded with hops, and I loved it. A well done Double IPA, that does not try to take it too easy on you.

Burnt orange in color with big off-brown head. Big big nose of citruis. Had a little bite to it, almost spicey. Big hops as expected that finish strong.

22oz bottle via trade with DarkElf - Thanks Stephen! - Pours cloudy amber with a resiny tan head that stays well and laces in layers down the tulip. Aroma is grapefruit, tangerine, and some floral hops. Flavor is a nicely balanced blend of caramel malts and orange/grapefruit and floral hops. Palate is resinous and chewy. Almost feels like you are drinking the hop leaves. A nice brew..

Sweet, yeasty, fruity aroma offers suggestions of oranges and pineapple with herbal, grassy, lightly resinous hop notes. Opaque, cloudy, burnished copper coloured body is topped by a generous, cream coloured head that recedes slowly to lasting cover with plenty of lace. Fresh, leafy, herbal, orange hop flavours over sweet caramel and toasted malts. Medium body with lively carbonation that engages the tongue. Bottle (trade, May-05) enjoyed with MartinT, Olivier_MTL and Rastacouere. Thanks, DarkElf!