What does the expression "dankness" mean to you?

While I usually think of resinous, piney, weed-smelling beers, I also kinda think that beers that have an overripe, to the point of almost rotten, pineapple or mango aromas are dank as well.

 

I had an Other Half Dank last month, and was annoyed there was no dankness to it.

“Dank” means marijuana-like, and I wonder if legalized weed has changed what people expect from that description these days.

To me it means strong pine resin, skunkweed, forest floor, gym socks and maybe some jungle rot. Today, I see marijuana strains marketed as rooty tooty fresh n fruity or whatever and can’t help but think it may smell different from what weed used to smell like.

 

When I use dank, it means weed-like.

 

Dank was co-opted from weed culture, and to me it describes a certain aromatic quality of some weed strains, but not all. I think it's a misconception that it simply means weed-like in aroma. The aroma of weed varies widely, and dank describes a certain past-ripe fruity, earthy funk smell common in some modern strains. It's not simply citrus/pine, it's deeper and funkier than that. And breweries apply the term far too often to beers that aren't dank at all, to the point where the word has basically lost all meaning.

 

I like this. It confirms my worldview. Modern strains might be a bit of a stretch. I quit smoking for the most part 20 years ago, but when I did "dank buds" was used to describe particularly resinous weed- piney, not necessarily needles, more like sap, some citrus/fruity, a certain earthiness that was like tropical or stone fruit that was overly ripe, just on the edge of rotting. An apple that is just about to rot has a much different aroma than a peach.

 

dank
adjective
(especially of buildings and air) wet, cold, and unpleasant:
a dank, dark cellar -- In the cathedral vaults the air was dank and stale.

dank
adjective (GOOD)
slang
of good quality:
The food was dank but the service was terrible.
slang
very attractive:
I like your sneakers - they're dank.

So, I think the slang meaning got a little off track somewhere.
Cool, boss, rad, gnarly, sick... dank.

 

As stated above, dank as good came from stoner culture describing what was particularly good weed 20-30 years ago, when good nuggs tended to exhibit the negative qualities of the adjective dank.

Nobody uses "kind" to describe something as being of high quality these days, which was another description used for good marijuana 25+ years ago. Shit, "hydro" or "indoor" don't even mean anything anymore, it's almost assumed if you're not on the west coast.

 

Dank smells like a very dark cellar with camel crickets the size of quarters. It's like the New Zealand description of ripe Sauvignon Blanc as cat pee on a leaf. Kinda like just up to a point.

 

I've never had it before but people who have tried SweetWater's 420 Strain G13 IPA swear by it as a prime example of the "dankness" I think you are describing. I'm with @JackHorzempa and @steveh, that's not something I like nor look for in a beer.

 

This is exactly how I think about it. I would add that in addition to marijauna, it sometimes has a herbal onion note. I feel strongly there is a difference between a bitter WCIPA, and "dank". I love a good WCIPA, but avoid anything described as "dank".

 

Dank.

Have you seen the movie Silence of the Lambs? Did you see Buffalo Bill's basement? The smell of that basement is dank. Unpleasantly moist or humid. Damp and often chilly.

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/dank

 

I believe the term “dank” was popularized by Snoop Dogg in about 93 or 94. It has nothing to do with the dictionary definition of dank, I think the rappers picked it because it rhymed with stank.

I haven’t heard the other terms for weed on “Doggystyle” like Indo or chronic in decades, it seems like dank is the only term still in use from those years

The dank marijuana/ hop odor is reminiscent of road kill skunk or cat piss. I’ve never really smelled a skunky hop outside of the clear or green bottle skunking, but I think John Kimmich said that he seeks out the cat piss smell when making hop selections.

 

That is the first beer I think about. Not something I seek out

 

I definitely don't seek it out but if I get the same notes in an ale from shoving my face into a bag of Skunk OG bud, I'd consider it dank. I've had very beers I'd actually qualify with the label. The only one that jumps to mind that was good is the Alchemist's Kiss of Dank.

 

To me the expression darkness means that prickly weedy scent and taste that you get from hops like Simcoe and some Australian and new Zealand hops whose names escape me. Dank like pseudo sue, or dank like sculpin. Grapefruit and dank go together but mango does not go with dank. I was reading other threads and I think it was tacitly decided that muddy look and turbid mouthfeel associated with neipas was clashing with darnkness in flavor . I'm a woman and I read these thongs into your posts. There are west coast ipas that were not dank like union jack and there were neipas that were not overcome by a too mushy mouthfeel. The best neipa I ever had was called giant panda and was cloudy or hazy bu t not murky or too soft feeling. Dank is a flavor that's catty but not cat pissy. Dank is like grassy but not like c hops grass. More like that weed you see in your garden that looks like lettuce with pickers on it.

Aside- the only neipa that struck me as unusually good was resurgence brewing anniversary beer? It's a question mark because I'm "hazy" on the facts.

 

I can't remember the last time I saw a brewer use the word dank if ever I have. It is disappointing to be told something is like this and then it isn’t.