Dunham Pale Ale Imperiale

Brewed by Brasserie Dunham
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Dunham, Canada

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

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Sedimented yet clearish honey coloured ale with a firm 1-inch head that mostly lasts. Resin-forward nose feels sweaty, woodsy, green. Not all that aromatic, but I bought it a bit too many weeks after its release. In mouth, the relatively thick, borderline chewy honeyed crystal malts take a lot of room, but are quickly torn apart by an unforgiving leafy, resinous bitterness. It lingers on and on, feeling a bit too agressive at times. The alcohol sneaks in, but not exageratedly so, the drinkability being diminished more by the heavy bitterness than by the alcohol content. It never aimed at being balanced, but I don’t dig Chinook leaning hop character enough to appreciate the balance more than in your average double IPA. Glad to have tried it, but the price tag will unfortunately have me turn my back the next time I face it.

Verse une bière orangée presque opaque. Col couleur crème et mousseux. Nez d’aiguilles de pins et de résine. En bouche: sucre, pamplemousse et alcool. Pas une vilaine bière pour l’amateur d’amertume mais un bémol au niveau du sucre et de l’alcool. Manque d’équilibre.

Pours a cloudy deep gold with almost no carbonation whatsoever. Aroma is pine hop bite and sweet caramel malt. Taste has the initial pine hop bitterness and dryness, then it sweetens out with the malt but it’s lacking in the complexity you will find with the top tier DIPA’s. Still one of the better ones coming out of Quebec though.

No foam, hazy, lots of yeast floating in a golden-orange liquid. Not impress with the look of that brew. Little malty nose with slight resin notes. Nice bitterness, but I find the body a bit too light. Small tea after-taste that surprised me in a good way. 1,99$ for a 341ml bottled would be a good deal but at 8,99$ for 500ml, I have absolutly no intention to buy it again.

A lightly hazed dark amber ale with a thin creamy brown head. In aroma, beautiful sweet caramel malt with piney floral hops, wild grass, nice. In mouth, good oily caramel malt with intense piney hops, resinous and floral, grapefruit pulp, oily and smooth.On tap at Vices et Versa, Feb. 10 2012.

Bouteille 500ml. De couleur dorée-orange et voilée, Nez de houblon citrique, herbeux (herbes fraîches) et légèrement résineux, de grains de céréales, moyen de fruits (agrumes) avec des notes de caramel et des traces de biscuits. Moyennement ronde en bouche avec un pétillement moyen ainsi qu’une texture moyennement huileuse, légèrement résineuse et aux petites notes crémeuses. Goût amer de houblon citrique (pamplemousse, une amertume présente toute la gorgée) accompagné d’un moyen goût fruité (agrumes, traces de fruits tropicaux) lors de l’entrée en bouche auquel se rajoute un moyen goût de caramel et de grains de céréales frais, avec des notes de pain et de biscuits puis en finale l’amertume de houblon reprend sa dominance en affichant un caractère plus herbeux (herbes fraîches, notes de thé), asséchant et légèrement résineux en plus d’être accompagné de notes de noix. Post-goût long et sec, assez amer de houblon citrique, herbeux et légèrement résineux avec un goût fruité (zeste d’agrumes).

In short: An intensely bitter and resinous blond IPA.
How: Bottle 500ml. Consumed very fresh, one week after the beer release
The look: Cloudy dirty dark blond body topped by a small bubbly white head
In long: Nose is resinous citrusy hops, not very intense, nothing that suggests the intensity of the taste. The taste is brutally bitter with a lot of resinous citrusy hops and a lot of green leafy hops that totally overwhelm the chewy honeyed cereals. Bitterness level is very high and combined with the alcohol presence it makes for a very intense finish. Carbonation is too soft and there was a bit too much yeast in my second glass, the last 20% of the bottle almost felt like a slice of bread soaked in a concentrated hops juice mixture. I cannot hardly recommend a brutal bitter beer like this one, but for a hophead like me this is still enjoyable. This is an imperial IPA like so many others and I don’t understand why they sell it $10 for a 500ml. I may sound crazy but I believe in crazy crackpot conspiracy theories like breweries purposely making limited release small batches of beer to jack up the price and also that the phone companies control all our phones. I know it sounds crazy.

Bouteille de 500 ml achetée chez La Barik (Trois-Rivières, QC). Arôme: Odeur d’agrumes avec une pointe d’houblons résineux. Apparence: La couleur est orangée voilée avec une très faible densité de bulle. Présence d’un mince col mousseux et d’une large dentelle sur le verre. Saveur: Goût de pamplemousse et d’houblons résineux avec une pointe de caramel. Durée moyenne de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est moyen avec une texture légèrement onctueuse. Moyenne effervescence en bouche. Légère présence d’amertume d’houblons en arrière goût. (Rating #4130)

Drank on cask (12 oz) at Cheval Blanc’s New Years Eve party 2011. Misty blonde, medium head. More hoppiness the the American Pale Ale, some citrus notes, not as dry. Some light hoppy bitterness, not as citrusy, still some good biterness. Good, but needs more hops!

#1025 bottle; Nose is decent bitter red grape, bile, grassy hops, celery, feel is mediumbroad, carb is medium, taste is apricot, alcohol, heavy sweet hops, weak grape, bile