Double Dead Guy Ale
I brought a bottle of beer to Connoisseur Tom’s house at a recent gathering. I had stopped by Downtown Wine and Spirits in
The pour revealed slightly cloudy amber ale with a big sticky head. The citrus notes were immediately apparent, and Connoisseur Tom aptly described it as smelling like grapefruit preserves on whole wheat toast. The head created a thick lacing on the glass as we drank our first taste. The immediate bitter attack let us know that we had an extreme beer in our hands, and it screamed IPA. This ale had a medium body, not heavy or malty, and it starts and finishes with big and lasting bitter overtones. The area of taste between the initial approach and the finish were quite subdued, perhaps from the vicious hop assault, but subdued flavors of butter and wheat were present.
This beer exemplified the Double IPA style. Overly-hopped ale creates a big, bitter start and finish, but you lose the drinkability factor and overall flavor that you get from a better balanced beer. The Connoisseurs enjoyed this ale for what it was, but I would recommend sticking with the standard Dead Guy Ale from Rogue. It is a better balanced beer and holds a lot of unique characteristics. These extreme beers fill a niche, generally look pretty cool, and boast extreme ABVs, IBUs, and other acronyms, but this ale is a perfect example of the general end result: an overpriced novelty that is difficult to enjoy.