Anti-Venom - Centennial
DuClaw Brewing Co.

As I continue to winnow through the Bottle Backlog here at Chez Woody, I am finding beers that I do not even remember purchasing! In fact, I have so many DuClaw beers hanging around that I am embarking on a horizontal tasting for the next few days. This should be interesting.

From the bottle: "The Anti-Venom series reinvents the IPA by changing its hop bill with each new brew. Anti-Venom: Centennial boasts a grassy aroma and floral, citrusy esters that linger to a dry, bitter finish. Pop the top, and feel the ... bite of the century!"; "Respect_the_Fluid".

I have to apologize for the delay in reviewing this one. It is clearly one of my signature approved pics, but I have no idea when it was taken or why I have taken so long to review the beer. 8=(

Needless to say, once I Pop!ped the cap, I employed a VERY gentle pour in decanting the fluid into the awaiting glass. It looked fairly clear coming out of the bottle, but once into the glass, it took on a slight haze, so I backed off and stopped. An in-glass swirl raised a finger of dense, foamy, tawny head that settled back to wisps fairly quickly. Color was an oh-so-slightly-hazy Amber to Deep Amber/Light Copper (SRM = > 9, < 13). Nose had a citrusy bite, although the caramel malts were fairly assertive at this point. Mouthfeel was medium. The taste was actually quite cool and minty with an underlying caramel sweetness. Brach candies used to make caramels with a flavored cream center and one of my favorites was the Peppermint Caramel, of which this was quite evocative. Orange Caramel was my second favorite, with all others taking a back seat. I spent many childhood afternoons with my late maternal grandmother after school, watching various television programs & eating those candies. I digress. Finish was semi-dry, very cool, minty and quite tasty. Yes, it may not have been what it once was, but it was not at all bad.

I'm a DuClaw fan (they made my first "craft" beer called "Ravenwood"). I usually drink DuClaw there, on tap, but I picked up this in bottles to give it a try. Hazy gold to orange in the glass with a mild hop presence. Somewhat balanced in flavor, with a nice malt backbone, but lacked the bright hop presence of some good American IPAs. Still, I enjoyed it more than some--perhaps just for old time's sake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*This beer is listed twice, so I went with the correct ABV of 6.5 (I copied this from another review)

Pours a hazy dull orange color with a big off-white head. Head retention is good and there is thick bands of lacing on the glass. Aroma is grassy hops and biscuity malt.

Flavor includes some citrus hops and floral hops but is primarily grassy hops with sharp bitterness. The finish is dry biscuity malt. Mouthfeel is crisp, bitter and not too light. A pretty bitter standard AIPA, not bad at all!!!