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DIPA Battle: Fat Head’s Hop Juju versus Dark Horse Double Crooked Tree

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Fat Head’s Hop Juju versus Dark Horse Double Crooked Tree

For this review we take on two double IPAs that are super fresh, released to markets the same week. With similar IBUs, we were inspired to compare the two Midwestern breweries efforts in this category. And so, we bring you our DIPA Batttle: Fat Head’s Hop Juju versus Dark Horse Double Crooked Tree. Double IPAs are a hugely hopped-up style, with an alcohol content often approaching a barley wine. From the Oxford Companion to Beer:

Based on the original India pale ale (IPA) style that was revived by the American craft brewing movement in the 1980’s, the newly minted ‘double IPA” (also known as “imperial IPA”) seeks to take both alcoholic strength and hop intensity to new levels.
 

In late February two double IPAs appeared in our local beer stores simultaneously. One is a newcomer to stores, the first bottling of Fat Head’s Hop Juju. Regarded by locals as a world-class DIPA, as exceptional a double as Headhunter is a traditional IPA. Hype was palpable. The second beer is old-school as far as the imperial IPA scene goes. Having been released in 2005 as a hop bomb with 98 IBUs and a massive ABV of 12%, it represents all the brashness and swagger of the team at Dark Horse.

So how did the two hoppy beers compare, and which one won the battle?

TASTING NOTES

Fat Head’s Hop Juju.

First up was the paler of the two,  a semi-translucent— wouldn’t call it cloudy— copper pour with thick white head. As the original Batman show would say: BAM! KAPOW! BOINK! This beer has a massive piney hop nose with undercurrents of citrus, plants and a hint of malt. The taste is even bigger, with a huge grapefruit/citrus element, balanced somewhat by a cracker malt flavor. The body is medium with solid carbonation. Finish comes in with big bitterness, even more hops, and a dryness. 

What a beer! Hop lovers are always told that every double IPA with  major bitterness is right up their alley. In this case, Fat Heads delivers the goods with an amazing beer from hop crazy nose to thirst inspiring dry finish.  A 2013 Great American Beer Festival gold medal winner, Hop Juju shows what a world class double IPA can be.

 

Hop Juju vs Double Crooked Tree

Dark Horse Double Crooked Tree

The team up at Dark Horse are known for taking chances on beer. For their imperial IPA, they went literal in this persuit, doubling the malt bill and hops, while keeping the water at the same level. From this description we might expect a near barley wine level of malts. With 98 IBUs and an ABV of 12% this thug is bringing all his swag to the party.

Pour is ruddy orange/copper with some haze. The head is thin, khaki-orange, and dissipates quickly. The nose is caramel malt with medicinal phenols and a distinct scent of booze. The body is medium, feeling heavier due to the weak carbonation. Tasting this thing is much like the smell: caramel malts, a plant-like note, bitterness from the hops, and alcohol. Double Crooked Tree is very sweet, reminding one more of an American barley wine than an IPA. Finish is bitter and booze-forward.

CONCLUSION

In this battle, I expected to huge delicious imperial IPAs. The results proved us half right. Dark Horse brought a malt loaded booze bomb, that seemed designed to cover up the hoppy high IBUs. The new Fat Head’s beer was closer to what was hoped for, a beer striving for the superlative heights of double IPAs. Superbly flavorful, but actually achieving a good balance between the juicy citrus hops and malts.

The winner then, is Fat Head’s Hop Juju by knockout in the first round. Even if older double IPAs left too bitter or malty a taste in your mouth, this one will not disappoint.

 Fat Heads Hop Juju

Dark Horse Double Crooked Tree

4.5/10

Fat Head’s Hop Juju

9.0/10

Oskar Blues Ten Fidy

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Oskar Blues Ten Fidy

Writing this on one of the coldest night this city has recorded in meteorological recorded history, the soul craves certain things. Soup, tonight provided by Souper Market, specifically the new Kamm’s Corner location which, despite being furthest from the cellar was more importantly, the only one brave enough to stay open amid sub-zero temperatures. After jambalaya, stout is the next craving. Big, thick, full bodied and satisfying beer, one that warms as well as spicy Cajun stew.

Oskar Blues Ten Fidy
Oskar Blues Ten Fidy

 

THE BEER

If you want beer designed by those that know icy winters, you can’t go wrong with Oskar Blues out of Colorado. Winning a bronze medal at GABF for a low ABV stout, Oskar Blues back in 2002 and long before The Alchemist’s Heady Topper of our last review, took the innovative step to start canning. Protecting beer from light and all the bans on glass, the move seen by some as déclassé, proved that even good beer could come from a can.

Oskar Blues Ten Fidy, a nicely hopped beer at 98 IBUs, brings it with even more force in the malts and alcohol content: The ABV is 10.5%, get it?

TASTING NOTES

Out of the can Ten Fidy is a passive pour, with a short, dark brown head, shrinking immediately to a beer crew cut, topping a void black brew. The nose is all mats, mostly caramel over a hint of chocolate and floral hops. Tasting Ten Fidy is an experience in roasted malts and sweet grains. Chocolate, caramel candies, burnt sugar, roasted grains. The body, lifted only by a  low carbonation presence due to the the high alcohol content, is at once thick and yet smooth, much like a milk stout might be. The finish is dark chocolate followed by hoppy bitterness, and slight alcohol burn and a dryness that beckons for another taste, and another.

CONCLUSION

This is a massive beer hiding in a diminutive can. The malts and sweetness pair wonderfully with the roasted elements and hops. The booze is balanced by the sugary taste. Finishing dry, with a nice hops presence keeps you wanting more of this highly drinkable high ABV Russian imperial stout. Astringency is minimal and the ‘soy sauce’ presence that so often ruins these big stouts is no where to be found.

Oskar Blues Ten Fidy is a triumph of a stout, one worth seeking out anywhere you can find it, especially when the weather turns so cold you’ll drive across town to satisfy soup cravings, and friends can’t stop posting pictures of car thermostats on social media.

9.0/10

Best Double IPAs in Winter

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Cold weather months are the time of stouts, porters, and winter warmers. But a few brewers are magnanimous enough to grant a hop fan respite. Here we look at three of the best double IPAs in winter.
 

Through winter-time we call on spring

Layered up for Dark Horse BA Plead the Fifth
Layered up for Dark Horse BA Plead the Fifth

So who the hell decided that winter-time has to be all dark beers and the like? Did the people that green lighted another season of ‘Two Broke Girls‘ posit that, come late summer, Octoberfest marzens and beers brewed with canned pumpkin should start arriving on the shelves? That by Halloween, ‘Christmas’ ales must be filling shelves, long before astronomical winter has begun? Did some neo-hippie beard-O from the west coast brewmaster declare that the current trend in seasonal cuisine should be mimicked in brewing, despite the fact that hops are primarily delivered as dried pellets? Must we rage, rage against the dying of the hops? Ain’t nobody got time for that.

Dogfish Head 90 Minute is brewed all year long, so keep your man hammock on. In fact, there are scores of hugely hopped beers that can be had fresh throughout the morose months in which we ponder the cruel sky god that abandoned us to the dark chill.

Other Imperial IPAs available year-round include notables such as:

Southern Tier Unearthly
Harpoon’s Leviathan Imperial IPA
Lagunitas Hop Stoopid
Three Floyds Drednaught and Arctic Panzer Wolf
Avery Majaraja
Stone Ruination
The Alchemist Heady Topper

The Hypeslam Challenge

The Best Winter Double India Pale Ale
With all these options, why does it seem like frost alerts signal stout season? First of all, stouts and porters are delicious, full bodied brews that really do fit with cold days and dark nights. Knowing this, brewers release their seasonal dark beers during this time, to match craft beer drinker’s tastes. So Barrel Aged Blackout Stout or BA Plead the the Fifth just make more sense in winter. But that doesn’t mean craft beer fans have nothing hoppy to look forward to after National S’mores Day. For this review we will sample three limited release double IPAs that come out between December-January.

Inspired by our friend Bobby‘s tweet:

Take the Hypeslam challenge. Put it side by side w/ any other premier DIPA & realize what an unbalanced boozy mess it is

When I asked for suggested DIPAs that are similarly fresh, he mentioned Abrasive Ale from Surly Brewing. Taking that advice, I paired it with a beer getting a ton of buzz since it came out last winter, Lagunitas Sucks: Brown Shuggah Substitute Ale. The Abrasive is released in December, and the Hopslam and Sucks, in January.

THE BEERS

BELL’S  HOPSLAM ALE

ABV: 10%

IBUs: ??

TASTING NOTES: The smell is subtle, reminding me of Fresca or Squirt (grapefruit soda). Expected a bigger nose from this translucent gold brew. Carbonation is low. Taste starts our hugely sweet keeping with the soda pop nose. Then come the hops. More pine than citrus, but both are present. Finish has a nice hop bite, battling that honey/malt sweetness. Bitterness builds up as you drink hoppy beers. With a ton of sweetness, the bitter bite remains (somewhat) under control, making this imperial IPA quite approachable. But the label is a man being crushed by hops not honey: Give us more hops!

LAGUNITAS SUCKS

ABV: 7.85%

IBUs: 63.21

TASTING NOTES: A darker gold than Hopslam, Sucks has a mouth wateringly bolder nose of massive tropical fruits (mango, pineapple) with citrus and some bread-y malts and some alcohol. Mouthfeel is light, with a bit more carbonation than Hopslam. The flavors from Sucks are a drone strike of hops. This is what a DIPA should be! Resinous, citrus hop filled, with a sweet malt backbone to balance the finish. Hop lovers will be adding a new Lagunitas brew to the stable of wants.

SURLY ABRASIVE:

ABV: 9.0%

IBUs: “120ish” (from their website)

TASTING NOTES: Oh Yeah (Kool-Aid Man voice)!!!! What an explosive wafting of resinous esters, with pine and citrus. Easily the most potent nose of the three, or of almost any beer. Color is darker than the others as well, pouring a cloudy yellow/orange. Grapefruit, tangerine and pine open up the taste, along with some serious bitterness, although the malt backbone keeps it just balanced enough.

Best Imperial IPA in Winter

CONCLUSIONS

Double IPAs can be too bitter, or too sweet. DIPAs are an attempt to crank up the hop-level on a style of beer some already think is too hop dominant. The challenge is to give hop heads a beer that lets the flowery esters shine, while not brewing a bitter or malty mess. As we tasted for the best double IPAs in winter, the three beers each took a different approach to the style.

Bell’s Hopslam Ale was the onus for this tasting, and it does have quite a bit of hype behind it. While not finding it as unbalanced or boozy as Bobby does, this beer is sweet from start to finish. If you are looking for your first double IPA to try, or a dangerously easy way to put down 12 ounces of 10% ABV beer, this is the one for you. Bell’s use of honey is a better cover for booze and bitterness than what other breweries accomplish with malts alone. However, at 18$ a six-pack plus tax, this is an expensive price to pay for your sweet tooth. Finally, I noted, along with a number of others, that the 2013 batch has much more honey and less hop presence than in previous years.

Lagunitas Sucks tropical fruit flavors make it one of the best overall DIPAs around. If balance is what you are seeking, this one has an optimal application of bready malts, subtly applied to give the hop flavors minimal interference. While it lacks the clingy, unattenuated honey, Sucks is a delightfully drinkable ale.

Surly Abrasive, as the name would suggest, comes right at you. It makes no apologies about the dominant, dank hop flavors, adding only enough malt to keep the beer from finishing like Aspirin. Of the three, Abrasive is best of the group at making a hop head’s dream beer. Surly crushed this and I can see why a beer geek would prefer it to the sweeter Hopslam.

Double IPA is a style I enjoy, but find them less consistently good than more traditional or American IPAs. DIPAs are a high wire act, and all three of these beers pull off a delicious take on the style. Hop heads, however, will find the most joy in Sucks and Abrasive. These two are world-class, and a few of the best double IPAs released in winter.

AleSmith YuleSmith Winter Holiday Ale

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ALESMITH YULESMITH WINTER HOLIDAY ALE REVIEW

Happy holidays beer fans! For this beer review, we take a look at an unusual take on a winter seasonal, AleSmith YuleSmith Winter Holiday Ale.

WHAT IS A WINTER ALE?

AleSmith YuleSmith Winter

[dropcap]A[/dropcap]s the sun takes half days and the wind turns from refreshing to painful, man’s tastes change. Warm, thick, comfort foods like stews and chowders, mulled ciders, and roasts reappear in our kitchens as we gather indoors with friends. Brewers have always followed the seasons, losing access to fresh hops, the cold months are historically celebrated with a malty, higher ABV style known as winter ale or winter warmers. The English brewed these sans hops at times, to be heated and spiced. Later Burton Ales, a stronger dark beer, became a consistent winter tradition from the early 1900’s through the 1950’s (thankfully, they are now making a return).

In the US, Anchor Brewing revived the style in the states with a boldly spiced, dark beer known as Christmas Ale, according to the OCB, “its name predating worries about religious overtones” in 1975. And so today beers like Great Lakes Christmas Ale are a part of many craft beer lover’s highlights of the brewing year. Described by dissenters as potpourri in a bottle, American Christmas ales are generally brown ales with an ABV over 5% and spiced with ingredients like cinnamon and ginger. West coast versions often have a noticeable hop element.

TASTING NOTES

My first taste of this beer came during a blind tasting of Christmas ales with the prestigious Tri-City Beer Club (est. 1996). Despite the inclusion of the hopped up 3 Floyds Alpha Klaus porter and Bell’s well hopped scotch styled Christmas Ale, everyone was struck by the contrast between AleSmith YuleSmith Winter and everything else sampled. Not everyone was pleased by the contrast, but that is another story…

Tasted later on its own, the beer pours a ruddy brown that cannot be seen through. The nose of tropical fruit hop and sweet malts comes wafting up well before any pretentious sniffs are taken. The taste starts with toffee from the malt and grapefruit. YuleSmith Winter is not as hoppy as that big nose hinted at, but the hops are certainly there, with a bit more pine, growing more prevalent as it warms. The finish is a sweet and a bit boozy.

CONCLUSION

AleSmith YuleSmith Winter Holiday Ale

Winter seasonal beers, like autumn’s “pumpkin ales”, can become an excuse to make bland ale covered up with a familiar spice blend. YuleSmith proves that a great beer can be brewed by breaking from the mold, and going boldly hoppy even in chilly months. Great imperial reds like AleSmith YuleSmith Winter Holiday Ale can, with the bold application of sweet malts, bridge the divide between hop lovers and hop haters. The balance is that good. So if you have a hop head on your Christmas list, do them a kindness and slip this one in their stocking. Just don’t pour it for someone expecting a Great Lakes Christmas Ale.

8.5/10

Three Floyds Moloko Milk Stout

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THREE FLOYDS MOLOKO MILK STOUT REVIEW

WHAT IS A MILK STOUT?

Milk stout, or “sweet stout”, is a variant of stout with a sweeter finish and thicker, creamy mouth-feel, generally from unfermentable milk sugar. Left Hand Milk Stout may be the best known American variant. One of the first milk stouts I recall tasting was from Willoughby Brewing Company at a beer tasting held at the Holden Arboretum. Their version of the beer (which I believe is no longer brewed), with the roasted malty complexity of a stout and a pleasant thickness, was clearly the best beer at that event. Milk stout is a style with wide appeal when made well. With its colorful and abstract label staring at me from the beer fridge for over a week, I am really looking forward to trying Three Floyds Moloko Milk Stout!

Three Floyds Moloko Milk Stout
Mokolo Milk Stout

TASTING NOTES

Packaging description: This Milk Stout is brewed with a portion of golden naked oats and lactose milk sugar to give it a rounded and full-bodied mouth feel.

Out of the bottle this gal pours deep space black, forming a strong, foamy tan head with lacing. It takes a deep sniff to get much fragrance. Roasted malts and a hint of sweetness come waft up subtly. The taste takes a big right turn towards huge. Three Floyds Moloko Milk Stout brings major roasted malts, a little kick of hops, and a nice sweet finish. Really loving the addition of oats and lactose as the thick body adds to the pleasantness of the drinking experience.

CONCLUSION

Summer is not typically stout season, but Moloko will make you more than willing to make an exception for this treat.

9.0/10