Deader Kettle
Right Brain Brewery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I picked up a bottle of Right Brain's Deader Kettle for $2,89 at The Lager Mill. I've had Dead Kettle many time's, but I've never had an Imperial version before and I'm interested to see how it turns out, so lets see how it goes. 2017 Vintage. Poured from a brown 12oz bottle into an IPA glass.

A- The label looks nice, it goes well with the name and it's eye catching. It poured a very murky brown/orange color that didn't let any light come through and it had two fingers worth of chunky and creamy very light tan head that died down to a thin ring that stayed till the end and it left some nice patchy lacing behind. This is a nice looking beer, but the color is pretty murky looking.

S- The aroma starts off with a higher amount of medium sweetness with the hops being the first to show up and they impart a big fruit aroma with citrus, tropical fruit and berry like aroma with the berries sticking out the most and it had a little bit of a creamy aroma to it and there's some earthy, green and floral hop aromas showing up in the background. Up next comes a little bit of doughy yeast and it's followed by some malts which impart some bready, grainy, pale malt and sweet malt like aroma. This beer has a good aroma, it's well balanced and the hop profile is nice and fruity.

T- The taste seems to be fairly similar to the aroma and it starts off with a lower amount of high sweetness with the hops still being the first to show up, but this time it's the green and earthy hops sticking out the most and the floral and fruity hops show up more so in the background. Up next comes a little bit of doughy yeast and that leads into the malts which are a little lighter than they were in the aroma, but they impart all the same aspects. On the finis there's lower amount of high sweetness that lingers a little a little along with a little more sweetness and it had a very hoppy and fairly sweet aftertaste. This is a nice tasting beer, but I wish the hop profile was more like it was in the aroma, I wish more of those fruity hops showed up.

M- Not the smoothest, a little cloying, a little sticky, a little crisp, slightly creamy, on the thicker side of being medium bodied with a medium amount of carbonation. The mouthfeel is nice, but I wish it was smoother and a little less cloying.

Overall I thought this was a nice beer and I thought it was a pretty close to being a solid example of the style, it's not bad, but when it came down to the key aspects of this beer I felt like they were all a little rough around the edges. This beer didn't have the best drinkability, one is a little more than enough for me. What I like the most about this beer is the aroma, it was good and all the aspects worked well together. What I liked the least about this beer is the taste, I wish it was just more like the aroma. I don't think I would guy this beer and I can't s say that I highly recommend it. All in all I liked this beer, but i didn't love it and I think with some more work this could be a pretty good beer. it's not a favorite Right Brain beer and it's pretty close to being a solid example of the style. Nice job guys, but with a little more work this beer could be better.

 

12oz bottle marked 0627172632 poured heavily into a libbey's porter glass.

Appearance- a semi transparent amber color with a frothy off white head. leaves heavy lacing.

Aroma- super sweet caramel malt with some citrusy floral hops.

Flavor- like the smell. do get some form of dankness which is always a plus. abv is noticeable but nothing crazy. bitterness is there but the sweetness and the abv kinda tame it.

Mouthfeel- medium/ heavy bodied. good carbonation.

Drinkabilty- easily gonna kill the four pack.

Overall- for an ipa (or imperial if you wanna be technical) this brew is wayyyy to much malt heavy. It feels like they tried to throw many hops at the beast but the malt is there just there taking it. if you're a hophead like myself I would recommend at least trying this within it's expiration of the hop character.

 

 

12 ounce bottle into tulip glass, bottled on 6/27/2017. Pours slightly hazy/cloudy medium orange/amber color with a 2 finger fairly dense and rocky cream colored head with great retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Nice thick soapy lacing clings around the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, peach, apricot, passion fruit, mango, melon, lemon zest, orange peel, light pepper, pine, caramel, toasted bread, herbal, and floral/grassy earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of citrus/fruity/tropical/pine hops and moderate dark/bready malt notes; with great strength. Taste of big grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, peach, apricot, passion fruit, mango, melon, lemon zest, orange peel, light pepper, pine, caramel, toasted bread, herbal, and floral/grassy earthiness. Moderate pine, citrus rind, grassy, spicy bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, peach, apricot, passion fruit, mango, melon, lemon/orange rind, pepper, pine, caramel, toasted bread, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a while. Very nice complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical/pine hops and moderate dark/bready malt flavors; with a nice malt/bitterness balance. A bit of lingering hop astringency, but not overwhelming. Light-moderate dryness from bitterness, increasing through the glass. Medium carbonation and medium-plus body; with a very smooth, moderately creamy/bready/grainy, and sticky/resinous/rindy balanced mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is well hidden with a mild warmth lingering after the finish. Overall this is a delicious DIPA. All around nice complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical/pine hops and moderate dark/bready malt flavors; very smooth and easy to drink; even with the increasingly bitter/resinous/drying finish. Really juicy and lightly dank hop profile; nice balancing malt backbone, without being too sweet or heavy feeling. A very enjoyable offering.