Castle Danger Brewing Double Crossing IPA

Beer Name: Double Crossing
Brewery: Castle Danger Brewing (Two Harbors, MN)
ABV: 8.6%
How sold: 16 oz tallboy cans; on draft
Where bought: Purchased online at France44 (Minnesota)
Price: $11.49 for 4-pack of 16 oz tallboys

Date Canned: February 16, 2017
Date Purchased: March 6, 2017
Date Received: March 9, 2017
Date Opened/Drank: March 13, 2017
When brewed? Seasonal beer; released in Spring.

What's on the Can/Website: "Originally brewed as our Second Anniversary beer in 2013. It was so good, we keep it coming back each spring. We put an amazing amount of hops into this beer, over 4lbs per barrel! It has a lot of tropical fruit, citrus & apricot going on in both flavor & aroma. Despite the crazy amount of hops, it is a very well balanced double India Pale Ale.'" Read more here!

Where distributed: Unknown. As of March 2017, Castle Danger Brewing likely has a limited distribution area. Click here to see where Castle Danger ships!

REVIEW:

Appearance (5%): Poured clear dark golden into a pint glass. Frothy white head. Good lacing on the glass. 4.5/5

Smell (25%): Malty, with tropical fruit and stone fruit. Peaches and apricots come to mind. 4/5

Taste (40%): Malt and dank hit at the start, then mellows off some with citrus and stone fruit. Aftertaste is mainly citrus, a lovely touch. Still, the malt really nails you good here. 3.75/5

Mouthfeel (10%): Medium-bodied; good carbonation. Some dryness on the tongue. 4.25/5

Overall (20%): A decent Double IPA. I got this right as Castle Danger rolled this out for its Spring 2017 release. Since we don't get Castle Danger out our way, my curiosity got the best of me. On the nose, it's a mostly malty and dank beer, and it is probably not one I would be drinking more than one of in a single sitting. As I continue to drink the beer, I can easily see this as one where I could either like or dislike depending on my mood. Right now, the malt here takes over a bit too much for my liking to have it all the time, but the citrus aftertaste is keeping me going. At the same time, it makes me want to try Castle Danger's Ode IPA, which is 7% and probably not as big on octane. 3.75/5

Final Weighted Rating: 3.9/5