Barrel House Boss Cox Double Dark IPA

Brewed by Barrel House Brewing Company
Style: American Strong Ale
Cincinnati, Ohio USA

Pours a deep purple with a thin head. The aroma does not reach out and grab you like other strong ales but is not unpleasant after I’ve poured it. The flavor is a mix of different hops but just isn’t well balanced and I was left feeling that there should have been a lot more of something there. It is a very strong brew with a good amount of malt and alcohol, and that aspect of its flavor turns up as it warms. I don’t think I agree with their term of Dark IPA as I didn’t get the hoppy bitterness that I associate with that style of brew.

22 oz. bottle: Pours a really murky bronze and brown with a simple head. A wall of hops presents itself on first inspection of the nose - lots of pine, orange and rindy citrus. A closer smell reveals some complex (and confusingly clashing) notes of overripe banana, sugary plums, fresh ground coffee beans and cream. Strange but enticing. The body offers an equally odd combination of flavors. Froms first sip I could swear this uses a wheat yeast as banana, vanilla, clove notes seem to be prominent. The hops reach barleywine levels of intensity and the malt offers a caramelized sweetness. Hmm, I’d like to age this one just to see what would happen. An interesting beer indeed, but the mix of flavors never really come together for me.

On tap at Oktoberfest Zinzinnati ’07. Pours dark reddish amber, with a mostly receding light tan head. Aroma of light grapefruit, Cascade hops, and sweet citrus. Taste is lightly sweet, with caramel, citrus, and more PNW hoppiness. Mouthfeel is full bodied and lightly resinous with light carbonation. An enjoyable beer, but this was an interesting choice for to the festival. Surely there can be no better way to start an Oktoberfest than by drinking a 9% IPA in 90F weather. Refreshing!

22oz bottle - Clear deep amber/ruby red color with smallish tan head. Aroma has lightly toasted caramel, faint raisen and oak notes, along with a subtle blend of woodsy herbal hops and faintly citrusy hops. Flavor is a bit toasty, with chewy malts, fair amount of caramel, bit of cherry and oak, hint of vanilla, intermixed with faint herbal, resiny hops. Finish is fairly bitter, bit catty. The american strong ale classification is obviously much more approiate for this brew; I would not describe it as a "dark IPA." The hops definitely take a back seat to the malt presence on this one, and with the toastness and caramel, the sense that this is an IPA is totally shattered. This could easily blend into the barleywine category, especially if it was a bit stronger. Still a decent brew overall, not stellar, but worth a try.

This is one of the biggest disappointments I’ve had in a while. Pours reddish / bronze with a soapy tan head. The aroma has lots of creamy malt, milk chocolate, caramel and toffee. At this point I’m wondering how the label says IPA. Medium body that’s far to slick and sweet with minor carbonation. The flavor starts with musty caramel malt, murky sweetness, hints of spicy hops and artificial sweetness. The finish is sour and offputting. Maybe this was a bad bottle, old bottle or something. I got this from a reputable bottle shop and they seemed well stocked like this wasn’t just sitting for months. Hopefully I’ll get a good bottle at some point - it so I’ll gladly rerate .<P> Rerate notes: not great, but significantly better. A lot of the mustiness is gone and the sweetness seems more caramel and natural. The finish still doesn’t have a big hop presence, but it is a fairly respectable malt presence with some spicy hops. A decent beer, but nowhere where it should be.

22 oz bottle and served in my NB worthy glass: Mahogany hued with a lasting frothy off-white head and very good lace. The nose is quite fruity with plum, apricot, and candied orange peel. There are vapors of toffee, dark bread, aromatic and herbal hops, and a hint of peat bog. Strange and not what I expected by actually quite nice.

The taste starts with a rush of malt that is unique with it supporting astringent and bitter qualities. The finish is where you pick up some moderate citric, grassy, and resiny hops notes. I detect some chocolate and walnut characteristics in here as well. The mouth feel is lively and medium-bodied with a dry and chalky finish. An interesting beer to say the least and does not fit any know style.

Bottle: Pours a dark copper color with an off white head. Aroma, caramel, nutty, toffee, some earthy notes, toasted malts as well. Flavor, toasty, caramel, rich malty notes, earthy, with some faint citrus hop flavors, nutty, with a decent bitterness on the finish. Drinks more like a hoppy brown ale, solid brew.

Okay. You know this is all getting out of hand when it isn’t just a double IPA. Now it’s a Double DARK ipa. Ahhh. I wonder how much verbage is out there to use. Pours a darker brown. Tan head that falls and leaves a very small layer on the top of the brew. Nose is, well, boring. This is a DIPA. I mean a DDIPA. It should have at least something interesting going on the nose. Bad show, my friend. Bad show. Flavor is going to take some work to nail down. My first impressions were along the lines of: "ack!", "bleh!", and "what the hell?" Bitter is the theme here with mild caramel fighting for some space on the palate. It’s not even worth getting into. Feel has so much carbonation that it very much interferes with the flavor profile. This is not drinkable. And I will not be finishing it. Waste of $.