El Toro Deuce

Brewed by El Toro Brewing Co.
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Morgan Hill, California USA

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

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Bottle. Very dark cloudy amber looks like a windstorm on Dune with all the particulate (hops?) spinning around. Yes, there is a cloudy sky over the planet. Smells like we are having hops for breakfast; hops and oats. Hops, hops and hops keep building from tip of the tongue to the end. Eye closing finish. Alcohol aftertaste. Rough. Too much alcohol and not a smooth beer. Disjointed with hops here, alcohol there and uneven.

Deep orange good head, strong malty nose with plenty of toasty aromas and a hint of dry, almost fuggly straw aroma. Spiky carb, a tangy orangey oil rips through the malty smoothness. And really dries the crap out of the tongue finishing with some herby notes. It’s a little stiff.

GABF 2006. The beer pours to a golden body with a white head. The aroma is bitter leafy hops. The flavor is bitter hop oil, caramel malt, leafy hops. Overly raw bitter oiliness everywhere!

Bottle - batch 1487, 7.73% ABV. Pours cloudy amber with tons of carbonation and a massive foamy head. Aroma is sweet with pronounced caramel malt. The flavor follows suit: excessively malty and very sweet. Somewhere beneath all the sweetness some piney hop flavor is detectable. I wish the bottle were dated, because this could very well be an old bottle.

Tap. I’ll start by saying that I think this beer was a little off. Aroma had roasted for the malt, herbs for the hops, and cheese for the yeast (probably from being a little old in the keg) and followed by stale and skunk. Head is creamy white with excellent lacing and is mostly lasting. Color is clear red brown. Flavor starts Moderately acidic and finishes moderately bitter. Palate is medium, creamy and has a lively carbonation. I’m sorry I didn’t get to try this fresher than I did, and unfortunately I’ll probably won’t get another shot at it for a long time.

UPDATED: SEP 26, 2003 A double IPA from El Toro, this ale commits the sin of letting alcohol be it's main flavor. The hops are there more for bitterness than for flavor, it seems. Very heavy, barly-wineish body and mouthfeel. I don't know how this won best of show at the California brewer's festival over Stone IPA. Just okay.

Extreme bitter, as big a hop beer as it comes. Even Jazz88, who is all about hops, said he wouldn’t want two of these. Hops in the aroma, the flavor, hoppy finish, hops on the palate...basically hops. (on tap at the Toronado)

Had this right after old pligny at toronados: Pours a deep amber with a mild aroma of hops. Small head and little lacing. Very boring for this or any style. Medium bodied. The malts actually outweight the hops. Not bitter enough at all. Very boring.

Draught at the Toronado. Beer is hazy, light caramel with a small, beige, frothy/creamy, mostly lasting head. Clingy lace.<P>Light malty notes of toasted grain, caramel, biscuit; Hoppy with moderate/heavy notes of resin/pine, grapefruit oil, light note of apricot; Light miscellaneous note of vanilla.<P>Moderately sweet, lightly bitter, lightly acidic with a long, moderately/heavily bitter/grippy, lightly sweet, trace acidic finish.<P>The body is medium, the texture is watery/velvety and the carbonation is lively.<P>Sharp, unpleasant.

Draught at Toronado. Head is mostly diminishing. Body is dark yellow. Aroma is trace malt (toasted grain), moderately hoppy (grapefruit, resin), lightly to moderately yeasty (dough), with a note of butter/diacetyl. Flavor is moderately to heavily sweet, lightly to moderately acidic, lightly to moderately bitter. Finish is lightly to moderately sweet, lightly to moderately acidic, moderately to heavily bitter. Medium body, watery/syrupy texture, lively carbonation, lightly to moderately alcoholic. A very rough-edged, dull-yeasty, and aggressive example. Not pleasant at all for me, but hopheads may appreciate the abrasive qualities.