Marin Eldridge Grade White Knuckle Double IPA

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

A wonderful brew that isn't overly hopped, and hides the alc. content well. POurs a light amber with minimal head. Just as ClarkVV noted, it's similar to the dogfishhead 90 min. but a lot smoother.

22 oz. Bottle. WOW! What a great beer! The nose was malty, the taste was a perfect marriage of malt and hops and the aftertaste was loaded with hops. This beer hid the alcohol very well. I only wish they sold this beer in my area and I didn't have to pay to ship it across the USA. I can't wait until this beer hits my local store!

For this review, I will do a comparison. Very full aroma of deep resiny hops, much stickier and sweeter than the sharper pine of DFH 90 minute (my comparator to this beer). Not as in your face and sniffable but still up there. Pours a clear red-orange peachy color, where is the haziness???. Good amount of yellow-orange head that disappears moderately quickly. Lots of lacing. Seemingly similar to DFH 90 minute at first, to my palate which has limited Double IPA experience. Very hoppy, lots of sweet grapefruit, with an equally substantial caramel malt which balances it well. Pros: gone is the piney acidic flavor on the finish that detracts from DFH 90 minute. Cons: Not as complex. Malt flavor is quite one-sided, though tasty. Hops flavor is. . .well. . .hoppy. Not as much pine/citrus/herbal floral variation as DFH. It does have a nice earthy/dirty flavor in there, finish dries out and is slightly butter toffeeish due to the hops/malt interchange. Different but solid.

Very resiny, slightly pine aroma. vigorous pour yielded a nice fluffy head and plenty of lacing throughout. Strong grapefruity flavor with a tinge of alcohol near the finish. Lingering sour bitterness. Drinkable and decent, though not my favorite.

Hazy orange in color. Very hoppy and floral in the nose, flavor followed suit with lots of citrus and a dominant spicy hoppiness, but I like that they let some pleasant maltiness come through with a subtle sweetness in the crisp finish. This beer had to fight through a very used and beaten palate which I developed from tasting numerous beers with fly, joet, and ace.....it came through. Excellent.

Affable apples growing in lush hop resin...Bitter honey in a promising love affair with a plump grapefruit cake...All retreat to a quiet doughy yeast homestead, quite surprising for the style...

Appearance is a deep cloudy amber with a sticky white head. Sediments are floating all around (bottle-conditionned?). Obviously, a very hoppy nose, those hops wear a considerable apple character over the traditional grapefruits. As it enters the mouth, we notice a silky mouthfeel, almost hmm..grainy, medium to full body from which emanes a definite resinous hops character as well as warming grapefruit. The malt aspect could definitely be more pronounced to my liking, but I gotta recognize balance where the bitterness is not too agressive.

Poured out of 22 oz. bottle, bought at Liquorama in Upland, CA 10/14/03. Bright copper/amber color, almost red, with nice frothy cream-colored head that lingers. Nose is flowery nectar, hops and honey. Very smooth, creamy body with heavy malt taste and nice, fresh hop edge. A little bit reminiscent of, yeah, the Dreadnaught, but also the Three Floyds Gumballhead in its sweetness around the hops. But this one has much more bitterness. Still, very smooth and nicely balanced for an IIPA. Finishes long, mellow, and, again, smooth with hop spice lingering in the back of the mouth for quite awhile. Lacking a little mid-range action (between the initial taste and the finish) to bring the flavor and complexity truly over the top-- this is more drinkable than most other IIPAs, but somehow not quite as exciting. Still, quite a good one.