Dark Horse Crooked Tree IPA

Brewed By: Dark Horse Brewing Company in Marshall, Michigan  

Purchased: 12oz bottle bought stolen from a community fridge at a poker game in Urbana, IL; 2013 

Style/ABV: India Pale Ale, 6.5%

Reported IBUs: ?

Yup...two beers, one cup. Actually, two beers, two cups. I believe in sanitation and diversity and shit. About Dark Horse: 

Dark Horse Brewing Company is a brewery based out of Marshall, Michigan. The brewery was founded in 1998 by Aaron Morse, but began as a restaurant owned by Bill Morse. Aaron suggested turning the restaurant into a brewpub, and the rest was history. For more info, check out their website HERE. 

Tonight's beer, the Crooked Tree IPA, is a year-round IPA. The brewery's website claims that this beer was inspired by West Coast IPAs, but brewed "with Michigan style." I'm not sure what that means, but this one punches in at 6.5%. Let's see how she stacks up.

Dark Horse Crooked Tree IPA

This beer wanted to escape the bottle, as opening it up resulted in rising carbonation. Thankfully, I have those mad pour skills. In lower light, the beer has a murky amber body. I kicked up a finger or two of thick, bready, off-white head. In bright light the beer is a hazy orange, and has some moderately busy pepper-sized carbonation bubbles. The head is clearly orange/amber-tinted, and is sustaining nicely and leaving nice lacing. This beer looks like an IPA.

The aroma here is two things: HUUUUUGGGEEE pine, and big Lemon Heads. I don't know if I have ever smelled such a huge, prominent Lemon Head aroma on a beer before. Beneath the huge pine and Lemon Head aroma is some pine sap and caramel sugars. There's some wet leaves, wet forest, and Barleywine-esque stuff.

The taste is much of the same, with lots of pine, pine sap, clean lemon, some bitter soap, and hints of bread/caramel. There's a lot of pine in this. I'm also getting some pretty big mint flavor, along with some wet leaves and wet forest. The minty flavor is a nice twist. Big iced tea in this too. If you like non-sweetened iced tea, this will be right up your alley.

There's all this talk about this being a "West Coast IPA," but I'm only getting some mild hints of resin and dank hops, and just flashes of citrus. It's not a bad beer though. Palate depth is really good, and complexity is okay. This is very drinkable for the quoted 6.5% on the bottle, and there's a refreshing edge to this beer. I would say this is light to medium-light bodied, with good carbonation and an iced tea like quality to the beer. The bitterness is more of a well-placed thought, rather than an assertive presence. You get lots of iced tea, pine, and mild resin up front; that rolls into lemon, mint, wet forest, more tea; the back end features some caramel/bready malts, and hints of resin. There are flashes of citrus, but just flashes.

Rating: Average (3.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Average on this...I'm tossing this a 3.5 because I'm really enjoying this, but I'm wondering about the whole "West Coast IPA with a Michigan twist" thing. This definitely seems more like a Michigan IPA. The big iced tea/pine does have some resinous qualities that remind me of a West Coast IPA, but I was expecting more sweet citrus, and frankly, more citrus in general. I'd pair this beer with a peppery steak, chicken with a side of Brussels sprouts, or a leafy salad with meat. This IPA almost has a rustic edge, and it really reminds me of the Fall/Autumn. Not bad.

Random Thought: Yay for hump day.