Rhinegeist "Stryker" Double IPA

From the entirely adequate brewery in Ohio comes a new beverage. I have not had a double IPA from Rhinegeist, and it is one of my preferred styles, so they stand a very good chance of coming away with a winner here. The can is a slight departure from their labels that feature their logo prominently in the middle of the front, but I kind of like the Shazam/Flash lightning bold they have for this one.

The very hazy beer is so deep in its copper tones that it becomes almost brass. The splotchy head trails fingers of lacing as it whittles down to a very thin layer across the top of the beer with a strength of bubbles along the sides of the glass. The aroma is a little dank, a little citrus, and a little tropical. The toffee malt is backing it up, but the dank is in the spotlight.

First sip is, indeed, dank. Passion fruit, pears, and peaches make up the balance of flavors, but the dank is hitting on all cylinders. The result is a beer that I'm sure would appeal to a certain demographic, but I'm not sure that one is me. I can take a certain amount of dank, but it has to be accompanied by something more substantive, and the fruits aren't cutting it.

Tip-in is dank with peach and passion fruit while carbonation does almost nothing. The middle is a constant drone of dank with pears and peaches joining the fruits with that toffee malt absolutely fading into the background. The finish is dry as a desert while the dank drops a bit to allow the sweetness from the malt to swell, crest, and fall before the dank echoes into the trail-off.

Bottom Line: I'm sure someone will like it more than I do.

2.0/5