Double Crooked Tree

Brewery: Dark Horse

Type: Imperial/Double IPA

Alcohol: 12%

Country: USA

So I was able to have normal crooked tree on tap last week. It was a great IPA. So I was happy to see the double version on the shelf at the beer store. I always try to support Michigan beers whenever I see them show up here in Denmark (it helps that they almost always taste great). Looking forward to this one.

Pours a dark orange light amber color, totally opaque. Very small head that disappears almost immediately and leaves a small amount of lacing. The nose is quite sweet and boozy. Slight hint of solvent (alcohol) and toffee mixes with a bit of piney hops. Not nearly as nice a hop aroma as it's lower alcohol namesake. I didn't expect much from the hops in this beer, based on the aroma, but I was pleasantly surprised. Orange peel and lemon citrus are detectable as well as a nice earthiness. I can taste the regular crooked tree in there, just imperialized! Of course there is a massive amount of malt character. Huge caramel taste mixed with a little bit of sweet alcohol. The alcohol taste is not nearly as pronounced as I though it would be from the nose, you certainly can't taste 12%. The mouth feel is dry, especially for an imperial, but it does stick in the mouth like a sweet syrup. The bitterness is pretty pronounced, not a total hop bomb but still nice and bitter. I like the regular crooked tree IPA much more then the imperial version. That being said this is a really good Double IPA, that strikes a really good balance between sweet and bitter.