Single Hop Imperial IPA (Denali)
Flying Dog Brewery

 

 

 

 

 

Appearance: Pours clear and amber colored, with a modest head; a few squiggles of lacing hang around

Smell: Caramel, pineapple and lemon

Taste: A malty caramel backbone underpins the pineapple and lemon tones that build through the middle; some spicy rye tones build, as well; after the swallow, a soapy bitterness builds through the finish

Mouthfeel: Medium to full body with moderate carbonation

Overall: Not bad, but I am not crazy about the profile from the Denali hops

 

 

Pours a clear, sunburst color with a soapy white head that leaves little bits of lacing.

Smells of tropical and citrus fruits.

Tastes of the fruity hops layered over a solid malt backbone. Hop lead off with notes of pineapple, lemon, grapefruit, and some apple. This gives way to caramel malts with plenty of toasted bread. Fair amount of sweetness. Some earthy hops come towards the end and linger through the finish.

Mouthfeel is medium with a smooth amount of carbonation.

Overall, this is a nicely done DIPA.

 

$ 2.03 (Including tax)/12 oz bottle ($ 0.169/oz) at State Line Liquors, Elkton, MD.
Bottle dated 07.07.17 at 42 degrees into a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter.
Aroma – moderate pineapple with a weak hint of pine. Upon standing, the pine disappears and the pineapple becomes very weak.
Head – large (Maximum 6.2 cm, aggressive pour), white, moderately dense froth, rapidly diminishing to an irregular eight to twelve mm frothy ring and thick frothy partial layer.
Lacing poor. Some towering columns of drag marks remain but there are neither rings nor curtains.
Body – medium yellow, clear, effervescent.
Flavor – begins slightly sweet with a medicinal taste, neither pine nor pineapple. This is followed by what tastes like a malt bitterness and that in turn is followed by a more aromatic bitterness with a decent hang time. Alcohol is not present in either nose or taste, nor is diacetyl.
Palate – thin, watery, lively carbonation.

Overall, not a pleasant experience. Denali was an experimental hop that, to my taste, doesn’t do well alone. Unfortunately, the aroma does not translate well to the taste.

Appearance 3.5, Aroma 3, Flavor 3.25, Palate 3, Overall 3.

 

 

Denali hops (aka Nuggetzilla) produce a pineapple-citrus, lemony nose that translates directly to the palate of of this beautiful beer. There’s a piney element at work here, too. Four different malts—Pale, Rye, Carapils and Biscuit—provide a solid malt backbone in this very well balanced offering from Flying Dog. Nice mouthfeel, nice head that fades fast to sticky lacing. At 8%, it packs a punch, but well worth a sixer. Will NOT pair well with brownies, cookies or tiramisu…just sayin’…

 

 

 

Poured from the bottle into a Flying Dog goblet glass.

A big crystal clear body, filled with shimering bronze and amber colored tones. Small creating two finger nice white head, light and fluffy and settling to one finger of height.

For a hop aroma boy does this beer just STINK! A weird mix of not quite dank but supper pungency. Can litteraly smell it sitting 2 feet away from my face. Closer examination gives an earthy like odor of some sort of tree bark muddy smell. Sort of a sharp pine and rotting wood quality. It's fascinating and unlike any hop aroma I've experienced. Not sure how this translates on the palate but very curious.

Palate is actually considerably tamer than expected. Almost juiced quality but a good simple caramel malt backbone suffices. Moderate bitterness of somewhat pine and tea herbs in the mid palate. Spicy and quite peppery hop flavors and aftertaste though while finishing. A bit of unfortunate tongue numbing flavors and aftertaste, almost mint like stinging.

Very interesting hop varietal being showcased here. Seems to be in need of some complimentary flavors though, and not the easiest of drinking, but a very memorable punch.

Enjoy by 7/7/17. 12oz bottle poured into a tulip. Pours golden with great clarity and transparency; big fluffy white head that slowly falls leaving great thick retention and very sticky lacing. The aromas are pretty faint and subtle. Hints of pear. Bready malts are there with some hints of caramel. The flavors focus on the clean sharp bitterness coming from the hops. Hints of citrus, especially grapefruit. Lots of pine. It's pretty earthy. Malts are there, but the hop bitterness shines. Alcohol goes unnoticed for the most part, although there's a mild warmth. Mouthfeel is nice. It's on the lighter side of full-bodied with active carbonation. It's fluffy and smooth.

This is a decent DIPA. It's not flashy, but it's well crafted. This one is very similar to alot of the brews from their Single Hop Series.