Double Rainbow
Cismontane Brewing Company

Poured darker than your "typical" So Cal DIPA. Initial smell was a fruity,piney, and boozy. Taste was same but with the addition of a huge malt bill. My first thought was "this is a barley-wine", but as it warmed, the sweetness subsided and hops became more pronounced. Double Rainbow is a very unique beverage.

 

I picked up a bomber of Double Rainbox DIPA from Hi Times in Newport Beach, CA on 05/15/2017. No "bottled on" or "best by" date. 9% ABV. 130 IBU. Beware this "bomber" is only 16.9 fl. oz. Cismontane Brewing Company hails from Rancho Santa Margarita, CA.

Double Rainbow DIPA pours a red chestnut color with moderate carbonation. 3 fingers of tawny foam. Some retention. Some lacing. This is a good-looking beer.

The smell is hops, tropical fruits and malt. The taste starts with tropical fruits, pine and syrupy malt. The syrupy malt immediately overwhelms the hops, although the pine hops lingers somewhat in the aftertaste. This DIPA has a huge, syrupy malt backbone. The high alcohol content warms the entire mixture quite a bit.

Double Rainbow is a beautiful looking DIPA; however, its taste is syrupy, boozy, heavy and unrefined compared to world-class DIPAs. Its huge malt backbone simply overwhelms any subtleties of taste that its hop profile offers. Double Rainbow is good, but certainly not great -- it's not a beer that I'll add to my weekly rotation of daily DIPAs. Lastly, when I read the other Beer Advocate reviews for this beer, I wonder if perhaps Cismontane is still experimenting with its brewing process.

 

 

Poured from the bottle into a Spiegelau IPA glass.

Deep amber red with dark chestnut brown colors, and a great dark gem like crystal appearance. Fine carbonation meeting to a small somewhat three finger controlled head with a bit of creamy and light khaki color. Pill lacing, some good retention and a small island top. The beer just gleams.

Tea and soft to wet like hop aromas emanate off the first whiff. Leafy green and a chewy hop, almost taffy but less sweet and airy toasted bread. Dark notes of toast minus the caramel, leaving sweetness somewhere else but a juicy sensing hop profile with a unique herbality seems to be unleashed. Very impressive.

Palate floats with a bit of syrupy textures and flavors but manages to bring itself back down to earth. Slightly more fruity mid hop palate, juiced with a bit of pine and earthy quality, and an indistinct fruity character. Finishes with toasty and lighter aromas of pine and faint caramel to match. A bit of boozy warmth though on the finish that lingers.

A decent solid amped amber that manages to stay away from thick caramel, but does have a bit of heat that is unexpected.

 

 

Bottle dated 160311 into a Spiegelau IPA glass. Pours a caramel amber with 2+ fingers of high density khaki head, with great head retention and heavy ringed lacing. Nose is sweet, wanted much more hop contribution. Taste was a bit better than the nose, more balance of hop character and sweetness. Mouthfeel was good, carbonation on the higher side, and the finish had a little burn of alcohol. Hoppy reds are one of my favorite styles, and this one misses the mark for my palate, wanted much more hop character.

 

 

One of those darker than expected and average SRM for style beers. Aroma was dropping those pine forest smells.

Thick viscosity, like some of those pine feels brought some sap with them and thickened the body up here. Caramel flows big time. Alcohol absorbed, pumps the hops. A heavy beer but it works. Manages to drop more 90s hop mouthfeel without being one dimensional or excessive with the bitterness.

 

 

 

I am drinking this at 7 months old. L: a 22 oz bottle pours slightly hazy copper tinted amber into an ale glass producing a 3” sticky white foam collar that takes 3 minutes to recede to a thick film that leaves splotchy lace on the glass. S: Citrus, biscuit, fruit and a trace of nut aromas rise from the glass. T: The attack starts with light grains, a dash of toffee, bran flakes, and fruit, primarily melon, citrus and hints of tropical fruit, with a big assertive bitterness that enters mid palate and lingers. It is a quinine bitter rather than citrus. F: Very creamy soft palate with a medium full body and medium carbonation. O: This is a very satisfying hop driven bitter elixir.