Double Dagger - Fresh Hop
Sockeye Grill & Brewery

 

this is very good, and really quite old school, being a little maltier to balance, but namely in being assertively bitter, especially for a wet hop beer. everyone wants to make these all dry hoppy and juicy, and thats nice, but this is what fresh hop beer used to taste like and i really am digging it, more of a rarity to find one like this now. this beer is also like triple listed here on BA, one under the now closed brewpub/original location, and two on this brewery page. in any event, its an excellent brew, reddish in color with a lot of head and visible carbonation, deeper looking than a lot of these, but very active from the tap. there is some real front of the palate spiciness on this one, piney and biting right in the center of the tongue, rather intense, but in a curious order of things, the sweetness of the richer grain comes seemingly after the hops, and balances it late, rather than the other way around where the malt is first. awesome! i also get some bitter orange and grapefruit to it, a kilned and toasted malt middle, but not as sweet, and then an outdoor weedy woodsy thing from the hops late with some oils on the feel. really cool flavor profile, very bitter to finish, and definitely among the best of the hoppy beers ive had from these guys. you can tell its strong too when you drink it, but maybe not this strong. look out!

edit: 2021 vintage also excellent, its sturdy as they come, pine forward, sweet in the right places, and soft but big in texture, warming alcohol balancing spicy hop bitterness late, great proportions and overall refinement. one of the better local wet hop beers this year once again...

 

 

From the firkin at the Hoptober Freshtival. Murky copper color and lots of sticky lacing. Mellow hoppy aroma, stronger taste. Smooth for the high abv.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12oz can picked up tonight at the Cole RD brewery... Paid $3ish for the can. Poured into my FunkFest goblet... slightly hazed orange... foamy off white head shows pretty good retention and lacing.

The aroma is a nose-hair coating resinous hop bomb... thick fruity hops make me think of grapefruit, melon and perhaps some pineapple... an overall piney hoppiness binds everything together... a bit too much maltiness for my liking as it seems to mute the hops a little.

Resiney hops dominate the palate with a lingering drying bitterness... Now this is what I am talking about. Big and burly... PNW abrasive... Not sure how to really discern the fresh hops... still a monster of a DIPA.

Feels a little thick on the palate... could use a little more bubble.

4/4/4.25/3.75/4