Bitter Markie
Franklin's Restaurant, Brewery & General Store

A-Pours amber. ACBF sample cup doesn't allow me to truly comment on much else.

S-Aroma is mostly dense pine and grapefruit. Seems like Bitter Markie will be an apt name. Hop forward but the aroma doesn't lend much intricacy.

T-A strong dose of the classic grapefruit/pine duo. Caramel maltiness with some sweet bread. Its tasty but its a dime a dozen.

M-Drinks well. Bitter but not relentless in its bitterness.

O/D-No real qualms here. I have had perhaps hundreds of IPAs like this one though. Its a pretty standard IPA and I will not knock it for that. I'd like to see a bit more secondary flavors I guess.

On tap in a snifter at Smoke & Barrel on 4/27/13

Deep amber brown with honey cloudiness. Just under one finger of soapy foam. Thin retention and drippy lace. Pretty good amount of lace overall.

Dank Simcoe and Columbus aromas: tropicalia peach, pineapple, etc. The Amarillo is a nice touch. There is a sweetish bread backing with a hint of cookie. The flavor is full of hop oils and tropical candy sweetness. Dry malt notes of sugar cookie and bread. Full, slick body with appropriate carbonation. The aroma is really good upfront but the hop flavor decays quickly as the beer shifts to malt, booze and bitterness.

The three C hops, Simcoe and Amarillo make for a deep pit of an aroma but the taste falls kind of flat. Decent enough; there are a lot worse out there.

Appearance: Arrives with an amber color and an impressive head that does a pretty good job in the lacing department

Smell: Caramel and piney hops

Taste: The caramel lays down the groundwork and the piney hops march right in, assaulting the tastebuds with a bitterness that verges on aspirin-flavored; while the bitterness lingers into the finish, there is quite a bit of caramel flavor in the aftertaste, as well

Mouthfeel:L Medium to full body; moderate to high carbonation

Overall: Not my favorite DIPA, as I like my beers to be more attenuated

 

 

 

 

Another above average if not great DIPA from Franklin's I love these beers.

Beer is orange / dark amber with a haze and a thin tan head of small bubbles, some lacing, moderate carbonation.

Aroma is like getting hit in the face with a grapefruit.

Beer is medium in body and chewy with some great bitterness on the back end and nice malt backbone without being sweet. The beer is hoppy, nice mixture of floral and spice with fruit and a mild pine. The finish is nice for a big IPA, bitter but not too dry. Maybe I'm a little IPA deprvied but this was exactly what I wanted and I bought a growler of it immediately and look forward to drinking it at home later.