Once again, LOVE the name of this beer...just hilarious. This has me thinking there will be some extreme dank hops in this beer, which should provide a very new and interesting experience. I am stoked to try this out and this would represent the sixth and final beer in my BYO 6-pack from the Old Fashioned Craft Beer Week event.
Vitals:
Name: Dankenstein IPA
Style: American Double / Imperial IPA
IBU: ??
ABV: 9.5%
Gravity: ??
Purchased at: The Old Fashioned (BYO 6-Pack)
Descriptions:
Appearance: Ummmm...WTF Mate? This beer is, as you can see in the picture, DARK DARK brown to the point where I'd probably mistake it for a chocolate stout if it had any head on it. The look of it seems to fit the name Dankenstein, but not the style (IIPA) as much. Very hazy with nearly zero head on the beer and minimal, if any, carbonation. I can, without a doubt, say that this is the most surprising I have been when I have poured a beer out and been utterly shocked at how it looked based on my prior expectations.
Smell: MALTS ABOUND! I have never smelled a maltier IIPA in my somewhat limited experience of drinking this type of beer. A little piney hop smell sticks its head in there, but caramelized malts and burnt sugars far outweigh any floral, piney, or other hop smells. There may be a slightly grassy hop smell, but again...this is not what I expected PRIOR to the pour. After I poured it and saw that it seemed to basically be a brown ale I am not surprised at the results from the sniff test.
Taste: So we all know smell is connected to taste. Very evident here. Caramel malts hit your tongue early and often here. The beer tastes (I would say surprising here, but the 9.5% ABV should clue you in) unsurprisingly boozy (i.e. it does nearly nothing to hide its alcohol content). Almost no hop flavor comes through for me, which is still surprising, despite the malty smells. The beer also seems a bit bready and somewhat nutty. NO HOP FLAVOR...UGH!
Mouthfeel: This beer is very thick and creamy. Pearl Street Brewery doesn't release any gravity figures on this beer, but I don't doubt it could be north of 20 deg. Plato. This is a VERY heavy beer, well suited for a brown ale or stout/porter lover. Not for me, but the mouthfeel completely matches the appearance.
Overall Grade: B
Comments: I would've graded this sucker lower based on expectations but I'm trying to be objective here. If you are expecting a big hoppy IIPA (a la Double Dog from Flying Dog Brewery) you will sorely disappointed and I would grade this a D- in that case. However, if you like nutty brown ales, porters, stouts, etc. then you wouldn't be disappointed with this beer. Don't go near it if you're expecting to be wow'd by hops, but if you like the types of beer listed above, give it a shot and I don't think you'll regret it.
Cheers,
Hurls
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