Dark Horse Double Crooked Tree IPA

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 9

12 oz, 355 ml capped bottle, as a 12.0 % ABV. Poured in a snifter an unfiltered, cloudy-opaque, mahogany-amber coloured DIPA with a one finger beige foamy head that had a mid-sized retention and tons of micro bubbles. Soft carbonation. Massive floating small and greater one sediments. Some lacing. The aroma is heavy light toasted and caramel malts, faint smoked tones, bitter chocolate, dark fruits, plums and apples, floral and resinous hops. The flavour is light toasted malts, caramel,biscuits, riped fruits, plums, oranges, bitter chocolate, brown sugar, earthy and resinous hops. The mouthfeel is prickly, fulled,bitter and quite smooth. The texture is watery. The alcool is not well hidden but noticeable and never overwhelming. This full bodied DIPA has a lingering hoppy bitter and fruity finish and a pleasant warming aftertaste. For short, a nice and appropriate companion for an evening at the fireplace.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

Copper pour with an off white head. Aroma is bursting with pine, grapefruit and floral hops. Thick, chewy mouthfeel coats the palate long after the beer is gone. Huge hop bitterness is evident in the taste but matched with a strong caramel and malt presence. Maybe a touch sweeter than I would have liked and a little hot due to the high ABV.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

Rusty amber copper pour, tight white head, nice lacing. Huge hops presence: grapefruit, pine, resiny, both in the nose and early domination of palate, then more than ample malts, almost like an Imperial English Pale Ale but hugely hopped. Fantastic bitter linger and mouthfeel.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

I walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table. I looked with a grimace at the questionable meal Lois had placed in front of me. Of course I'd never tell her how disgusted I was with her cooking, but somehow I think she knew. Lois had always been full of energy and life, but lately I had begun to grow more aware of her aging. The bright, exuberant eyes that I had fallen in love with were now beginning to grow dull and listless with the long fatigue of a weary life.... I woke several hours later in a daze.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 7

Thick malty hop monster. Not a traditional IIPA as the caramel and bread malt flavors are very rich. The hops are sticky and floral and help keep the balance. Truly a bridge between Barleywine & IIPA.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 9

Pours a very cloudy apple cider-like color with a smallish white head which dissaptes quickly into a coating. Ample lacing is an interesting white thin film. Nose warns that this is not a typical DIPA - yes it has a fooral and citrusy element but there is also a strong malt presence - brown sugar, dark fruit and some apple. Taste is a wonderful and complex set in which malts seem to dominate- rum, dark fruits, caramel, brown sugar but there is some citrus, especially orange. Mouthfeel is medium to heavy and creamy. There is a nice sweet finish with pleasant boozy warming courtesy of the whopping 13.6 ABV. That number makes this is a sipper as more than one would be a bit too much for me. It’s a shame becuse this is a very different, great tasting beer.

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 10 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

The ultimate DIPA! Huge ABV and sweet, malty body. Pine and citrus hop flavor, and lingering bitterness. A touch sweeter than I like in a DIPA. Totally unfiltered, cloudy dark amber color is beautiful.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

Pours a copper color with a small, tan head. Sweet on the nose with tangerine, piney hops with some strong alcohol notes leading the way. Tangerine, lychee, pine with hints of roasted nuts. Sweet start with a malty, dry finish. Despite it's presence on the nose, the alcohol is well hidden beneath the hops and malt. Resiny with a full mouthfeel. To my palette, this is somewhat reminiscent of The Mahajara, which is one of my favorite DIPA's. Another monster brew by Dark Horse, who isn't going to be a Dark Horse if they continue to brew beers like this one. A bit pricey, but recommended.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

A very vigorous pour is only able to produce a two-finger thick, tan colored head in my 25cl tulip glass. It is fairly large bubbled, but doesn't melt instantly. The beer is an unnatural, completely clear, deep cherry red color that shows a rich, cranberry stained amber color when held up to the light. The aroma smells of sticky, candied hops and hot alcohol; candied orange zest, ruby-red grapefruit, lychee, concentrated tangelo and candied pine tips are accentuated by a thick, caramelized malt note. The finish has strong notes of pine sap and hemp oil to it. Somehow this smells very clean, almost lacking in complexity some how; there is a fair amount of malt noticeable in the nose, but it seems stripped of its character.

Quite sweet tasting, but it is not as sweet tasting as I was expecting this 13% beast to be. It is still fairly viscous and chewy, but it almost comes close to being like a good double IPA. Hop flavors dominate of course with concentrated citrus / fruit notes up front (lychee, bergamot oil, tangelo and apricot), but substantial herbal notes of pine and especially earthy hemp in the middle and finish. Alcohol provides some substantial warming notes to the finish that actually lingers on in the throat for quite some time after each sip. This is bitter, but not nearly as much as one might thing, the hop character really focuses more on the hop flavor notes than the bitter notes. The malt flavors play a removed, secondary role here (as they should), but do contribute ample caramelized malt sugar notes that help support the hop character. A touch of toasty, biscuit-like malt can also be found floating through the flavor profile.

Not bad, but not all that great either. This was certainly worth a try, but it really is too strong in alcohol, for me, to be an IPA. I do like that it is not overly heavy though, but it is still not something I want to drink more than a few ounces of. Still this is not bad in small doses.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

A much better showing with this beer (for me) than their last beer, which was their "regular" crooked tree IPA. This beer comes with a huge aroma and an even bigger taste. A big mix of citrus/grapefruity hops and resinous pine sap. While not nearly as complex as say...Balllast Point Dorado, the nose on this is still tops. Appearance is a copper in color and a smallish sized head. Mouthfeel is both smooth and alive at the same time. A really intensley hopped beer but the sweet malts stay with the hops blow by blow. It's amazing how each sip brings on both a bitter and sweet assault on the tastebuds. Some might think it's overly sweet, and yes I do enjoy sweet beers probably more than most. But I gotta say that these guy do this style up right with this beer. It'd be right at home amongst the hoppy WC beers we have.