Dark Horse Crooked Tree IPA

Brewed by Dark Horse Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Marshall, Michigan USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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Murky mega cloud of caramel orange, yellowy peach skin glows around the edges and a tornado of chunks whirling about which finally collects at the bottom with fish food sized chunks. The head is just as impressive, perfectly foamed, firm, steady, evenly bubbled, large and in charge with the hue of vanilla ice cream. Lacing sits around in thick rings and gluey globs. I almost didn’t want to drink it, it looked so perfect. But skip that - sniff and wiff, sip and ahhhh, wow, what a nice IPA this is. Great hop nose to begin things off, super fine pine wood delicately lays atop freshly green but dried leafy hops, which has a good touch of floral aspects to it which add a layer of floral hop resin. Seemingly overall - pine wood and floral resins, but yet there’s a bit more to it with some squeezed in citrus acidicness lightly coalescing. Very aromatic in its strength as well. Flavors don’t disappoint, nice hop character throughout, toasty malt front mixing with light burnt citrus. It keeps a drying effect right from the get go. Solid resin coating with dotted alpha acids, pine wood, cedar bark, slight citrus and a very nice bittering action from front to back. Not overly complex so much in the flavors, but solidly built with a hoppy foundation. The malts play very secondary with some toasty grains which help add some nice balance and play to the biterness. Good hop action kept it going. Feel is quick and smooth in the front, close to medium bodied, fluffy texture midway into the end where it finishes with dry and steady hop-action bittering. This did seem to change some as it went along, starting strong but leveling off and weakening, more or less, as ya get closer to the bottom in both feel and flavor. Still one very well done IPA, a bit one dimensional overall, but for me the overall core and soundness of hops engaged me to like it more so then most. Yum!

12oz bottle in a shaker. Pours copper with a thick, lacy, cream-colored head. Aroma of citrusy and slightly piney hops with a lot of grapefruit, plus enough malts to balance it out. Flavor about the same, but could use more caramel and such from the malts. Average texture. A pretty good IPA.

Poured from 12oz bottle. Pours golden color with lots of creamy white head. Aroma is citrus and just a bit of pine. There is a slight bitterness in the finish but not too much. A decent IPA.

Pours an amber color with a good size off white head. The head is dense and leaves some spotty lacing about the glass. Carbonation was light. Aroma has some hops and some cararmel malts and some low levels of diacetyl. Taste is similar to the nose lightly hopped and with a bigger caramel malt backbone and low levels of diacetyl. Drinks with a medium weight on the palette smooth with a soft finish. Clean and no aftertaste. Something is going on here because according to the website and the reviews here, this is a west coast style IPA. But to me this is more of an English IPA. Lightly hopped sweet caramel malts and diacetyl contributing a butterscotch taste all scream English. In any event it’s good no matter what.

Extra from polomagnifico. Thanks! Big nose of honey and molasses with earthy qualities. Pours a cloudy dark amber with fading head and no lacing. Mine had chunks that settled out fine in the glass. Nose just gives and gives. Big malt core and nice resiny sweet finish. Medium heavy body. Delish, especially at this ABV. Could full me if you told me it was a double IPA.

Tap at Grünerløkka Brygghus. Dark, slightly hazy orange with a creamy white head, decent lacing. A solid citric and pineneedle aroma, some mild caramel and brown sugar, along with peach and other tropical fruits. Predominantly fruity, quite sweet smelling. Starts off with a solid bitterness, but the midsection is suprisingly sweet. The bitterness comes back in the finish, along with a fruity, resiny and slightly burnt note. Lively carbonated and medium bodied. This is a good IPA, but it doesn’t really stand out to me.

On tap at Csak A Jó Sör, Budapest. Light amber,minimal white head, a bit hazy. Aroma of flowers, herbs, hops and a bit of pine. Taste is bitter, a bit yeasty, tingles on tounge. :)

A woody crisp nose. A nice effervescent palate. Somehow easy drinking, It is noticeably thick, a bit of citrus. Very hoppy and dry to balance out the very sticky maltiness. Would drink again.

On draft at csak a Jo. Sir, Budapest. Decent white head. Hazy golden blond pour. Lovely grapefruit bitterness. Yummy

Draft. Golden pour with little foam. Hoppy and citrus taste. Super easy drinking. Love it. Grassy and floral ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Draught. Cloudy bright orange with little head. aroma of oranges, grapefruit, and tropical fruits. Flavor similarly citrus heavy, juicy with a little pithy bitterness. Medium bodied and firmly bitter. Very tasty.