2005 12oz bottle from DarkElf. Consumed on 2/2/06. Clear, sunny-copper body with light hints of ripe tangerines. Webby lacing and an off-white head that is retained at cover. Tiny bottle conditioned bubbles rise methodically. Smells of light pine and heavily drying citrus. Light doughiness with soft honeysuckles is felt in the background, very delicately, but is cleared out quickly by the oily pine resin. Some alcohol is evident on the finish as well. The aroma is moderate to weak. Flavor is orange rinds, heavily leafy floral bitterness up front, very drying with a strong, dulling, pine resin through the middle, dancing atop a light grainy maltiness. Very quick finish with lots of hop bitterness and too much pine sap. Light honey, but lots of wateriness in the flavor and a fair amount of thinning on end. Bottle conditioned, but rather loose in texture none the less. Quite obvious this isn’t a beer to hold on to. Not that I was purposefully keeping it, but I was kind of shocked at how badly this stuff suffers after only 3 months in the fridge. Clearly I will have to try a fresh bottle or a draught sample as soon as I get the opportunity.

Draft - While classified as an IPA here (and it has the hops to justify it), this brew ran into a red ale too. It’s a nice combination, giving the caramel malt flavor of a red combined with the intense hops of an IPA. Goose Island has a strong ale that IMO pulled off the combination a little better, but this is a fine effort. Very drinkable.

Draft. Amber beer with a thin off-white head. Citrus and tropical fruit aroma. Fruity (grapefruit and peach?) flavor with a nice resiny presence. Some sweet caramel malt. Full bodied.

Draft. Amber brown color with a nice light beige head. Plummy aroma with yeast and spice. Malt and plum flavors with spice and yeast. Some lingering sweetness and full malts. A bit easier drinking than many dubbels

Hazy fiery orange body, medium-thick light cream head. Intense resiny, sticky, citrus rindy aroma, with bitter pine and heavy sugars, caramel, and alcohol. Moving into barleywine territory. Intense, in-your-face resiny, citrusy (grapefruit) hops slam the palate on the first sip, and a strong, full malt sweetness attempts to cut the resins but instead only coats their bitter sharpness. I’m drinking this after it rested in the fridge for about 30 minutes and would actually recommend a longer chilling period. Very good in many regards, but not the most drinkable I2PA. Thanks bu11zeye for the bottle!

Draft. Reddish-amber beer with a very thin off-white head. Citrus hop aroma with some caramel malt. Citrus hop flavor with caramel malt and a bit of resin. Hops win out, but there’s some nice balance.

[At GABF 2004] A red-brown beer with a collapsing orange head. The aroma is very sweet roasted with notes of chocolate. The flavor is somewhat sour - is it because of the low alcohol content? but it has a nice roastyness and a dry woody end.

[At GABF 2004] A pitch black beer with a small ligth brown head. The aroma is sweet malty and slightly nutty. The flavor is sweet roasted with notes of chocolate and coffee. Great, but I’d like more complexity in the aroma.

[At GABF 2004] A dark red-brown beer with a fine cream colored head. The aroma is of roasted bread and toffee, while the flavor is sweet roasted with primary notes of caramel. The body is quite powerful. Good without being exceptional.