Ottos Double D IPA

Brewed by Ottos Pub & Brewery
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
State College, Pennsylvania USA

Murky orange color out of the bomber with a big sticky off white head. Sweet citrus nose like candied orange peel. This is a pretty standard IIPA with strong orange zest and grapefruit rind hops, melted caramel sweetness and some apricot jam thrown in for flavor.

bottle from mystery swap 3.0: pours a good orange hue with a mice white head. aroma is very good citrus hops ans very floral, good caramel malt. flavour is a good hop bitter upfront some caramel malt finishes again with some hop bitterness that is earthy and citrus.

Amber of color with a nice longlasting beige head. An aroma of hops, grapefruits, malty bisquit notes and caramel. A flavor of malt, hops, grapefruits, caramel and malty.

big thanks to kramer17801 for the bottle!
Pours a rich caramel color and nicely thick and hazed looking with a light short lived offwhite head. Taste is very smooth and fruity with a nice hop presence. Hints of tea with moderate bitterness. Slightly thin for the style perhaps, but it aides in drinkability. Tastes stronger than it smells leading me to believe that it is perhaps aged a bit. A great double IPA.

22oz bottle from kramer17801 yesterday, March 25th, 2008. With a strong pour a small white microbubble head forms, but quickly fades. Nice mild hoppy aroma and a bit of melanoidin malt aroma. Very nice, I can’t wait to drink it. Sweet, mild bitterness. Crazy easy to drink. Like a toned down very of other great IIPAs. Yum. Could drink regularly.

Bottle from DocLock -- thank you!!!

These days it takes an awful lot to produce a standout American IPA or IIPA. Just about every craft brewery in the country has been trying their hand at this game for the last few years, and the good news is that all this activity has brought the baseline way up. The number of 3.4 -- 3.6 IPAs and IIPAs in the country is just amazing. Everyone one of them is worth drinking and I’m sure I’ve only had only a very tiny fraction of them. The bad news is that given this glut of extremely drinkable IPAs in every corner of the country, it takes something really exceptional to make a standout IPA or IIPA, a beer that leap out from this enormous crowd the way that Two Hearted ale and Diamond Knot PA and Green Flash IPA have. It takes something really special to actually impress me with an (I)IPA.

With their Double D IPA, I think that Ottos have hit this tiny target right on the bullseye. Deep amber pour, lovely brown tones running through the botlte. Grapefruit nose, laced with honey and peaches, flavors balanced with perfection on the knife-edge between citrus hops and caramel richness, avoiding all the while the traps of thick and cloying sticking IIPA sweetness and ruinition-style oily tastebud destruction. Ah, those peaches come through the flavor, lovely, plenty of citrus too, cantelope, light caramels, sweet but never Sweet. The hop oils leave delightful memories - not scars - behind on the tongue. The mouthfeel is refreshing, almost light, despite the big ABV, no heat, no stickiness. I’d have believed 6.0% with ease.

Wow. I’m super-impressed by this beer, and I can’t think of a style where impressing me would be harder. Superb!

Bottle from Capones(got tired waiting for steg to sample this with me) Hazy orange pour with generous head. Hoppy pine aroma. Citrusy pine taste taste with a really nice blend. Sweet hoppy finish. I liked it.

22oz bottle from trade with kramer17801. Very deep golden and orange color. Slightly hazy. Sweet aroma with citrus notes in the hops. When tasted, the hops and sweetness match up well. Alcohol is there but not overwhelming. For a DIPA, it was nicely balanced. Very similar to DFH 90. Would like to try it on tap.