The can popped with almost no carbonation. It felt strange pouring a beer out of a can and into a glass, so I figured why not drink it straight out of the can?

The aroma is instantly hoppy, but with a nice sweetness to it. It doesn’t scream at you that its going to be terribly bitter, more that its going to have a nice nose and a more balanced flavor.

First drinking it, you can notice the alpha acids in the finish, but they’re not too present up front, making this surprisingly refreshing for an IIPA.

Subsequent drinks reveal a bit more of the bitterness, but its still really well balanced with the malt character. The malt is gently sweet, and a substantial mouthfeel that doesn’t overwhelm.

If we could get this in Michigan, I would absolutely be buying it. Probably the closest an Imperial IPA will ever get to a lawnmower beer – and in this case that’s a good thing.

8/10

You’re beautiful head, your sweet, floral aroma. These are only two reasons to love you.

A deep, rich color, and a nice, not too aggressive bitterness. A sweet malt flavor in the front, and a darker, roastier malt in the finish, hiding behind the bittering hops.

Brian and I both do enjoy ourselves some IPAs, and the Imperial IPA, when well-done, holds a special place in our hearts.

Hopmouth finds its way right into my heart, and makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. And not just from the alcohol – at 8% its not a light beer, but it isn’t going to kill me either.

This beer is one to make any hop-head happy, and is one of the best beers from a Michigan brewery that usually makes only modest English-style ales. A titan among mere mortals.

9/10

Ian!

You’re beautiful head, your sweet, floral aroma. These are only two reasons to love you.

A deep, rich color, and a nice, not too aggressive bitterness. A sweet malt flavor in the front, and a darker, roastier malt in the finish, hiding behind the bittering hops.

Brian and I both do enjoy ourselves some IPAs, and the Imperial IPA, when well-done, holds a special place in our hearts.

Hopmouth finds its way right into my heart, and makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. And not just from the alcohol – at 8% its not a light beer, but it isn’t going to kill me either.

This beer is one to make any hop-head happy, and is one of the best beers from a Michigan brewery that usually makes only modest English-style ales. A titan among mere mortals.

9/10

Ian!

Onward.  To Imperial Hatter.  Pretty respectable color.  A nice copper.  A lasting head.  Grassy, slightly citrusy scent to it.  Nothing overpowering, but it lingers, and is really quite nice.  To be honest, this might be one of the best examples I’ve got in recent memory as to what an IPA should smell like.  Now, how does it taste…  Well, it tastes like hops.  There is very little sweetness present, but there is the standard residual flavor.  Theres a good deal of hop flavor and bitterness to this without being absolutely mind blowing.  If this were considered a standard IPA, I’d give it a 10.  Seriously.  However, once you add that whole Imperial thing to it, you’ve put yourself into a new category…  And when you’ve got devil dancer, early hopslam, hop stoopid, and double trouble to live up to…  this beer is good.  In fact, its great. I’ll give it a happy 8.0.  Buy it.  Drink it.  Love it.

This is what Brian had to say about it. I drunkenly transcribed everything he said.

“It was delicious, but it lacked in those two areas, in my opinion. It was delicious, but with an air of resignation. Towards the end it was lacking the malt sweetness that should be there when the alcohol shows up. The hop taste: I mean there is some, but they seemed to have forgotten to put emphasis on the late boil hopping, what we have is bitterness and aroma, but nothing in between. Little hop flavor.

You can definitely tell they hopped the motherfucker out of it with the chinook and the cascade, but with the hop back, this styrian golding nonsense, they completely vaged out. Where as the dry hop is plenty present – you can totally tell its there in the aroma. The scent is delightful.

Otherwise it was pretty good.”

As for me, all in all, I really liked. It was kind of disappointing in how the scent was a little deceptive as to what it would taste like, but it was good. It really seemed like it would be a lot more hoppy than it tasted.

All said, it would call this really well balanced. I was super pleased with it. I will buy this again.

We agree when we give it an 8/10.

Ian!

First up, I tried Founders Devil Dancer. It’s useless to point out that this has always been a fantastic beer because theres hardly a flaw in either of the two I’m comparing, but I must say, this is so astonishingly well balanced in my opinion. Upon completion, I ate some peanuts, some cheese, and drank a glass of water. I immediately poured the Dark Horse Double Crooked Tree after that. Here is what I noticed between the two.

Pour: Devil Dancer pours a thick copper/tan with extremely little head. Double Crooked Tree pours with a frothy finger thick head, and a lighter copper than the Devil Dancer. Appears to be less body to the beer as well. My theory is that the Devil Dancer basically topped out around 13% and when they force carbonated it, they left it light. Whereas with Double Crooked Tree (which finally pours without yeast!) was force carbonated, after fermentation, possibly in excess. It was not an enormous head, like a belgian, but surprising for an IIPA with as much Oomph.

Aroma: Both aromas are similarly hoppy. Its likely they used the same varieties, as those high AA hops are just not very common. The difference I noticed was that while double crooked tree was all hop and no play, the Devil Dancer rose up with some sweetness, and some serious alcohol. The intriguing thing about this is that the Double Crooked Tree is actually 0.6% higher. It is possible that the sheer abundance of hop aroma in the Double Crooked Tree masked the aroma of the alcohol.

Taste: Heaven. Greatest experiment ever. The Devil Dancer was glorious. It was bitter as hell, really hoppy, a bit malty sweet, with some residual alcohol. The Double Crooked Tree was all hop. It was really good, but I felt and continue to feel that it lacks the complexity and balance of the Devil Dancer.

In conclusion, the Devil Dancer pulls it out for the win. While there were certain improvements over last years Double Crooked Tree, it just can’t hold up to the Devil Dancer. If devil dancer is a true 9.5, Double Crooked Tree is a 9.3. I can’t naysay either of these beers, I can merely say I’ve enjoyed Devil Dancer more. They are both excellent representations of my favorite style.