Try?
So it was just a few weeks ago (late January) that I found myself at my local Kroger and was thinking about beer. I do that a lot actually, whenever I’m there for whatever reason I generally stroll by the beer aisle and see what’s new. I don’t know why but for some reason my Canton Kroger generally gets the 22ML bottles of Sweetwater Dank Tank specialty beers before anyone else does.
Anyway, I was thinking that I hadn’t seen any in a while, and further thought I might have a bottle of the last Dank Tank release that I had purchased, Sweetwater Dank Tank Series Johnny Hash Double IPA in my beer fridge. So, I headed home and drank it. A hop on over to the Sweetwater website revealed that this beer, released in April of 2014, was indeed the most recent release in the Dank Tank line. Better get on that, Sweetwater.
The bottle label gives some detail on the beer with the usual Sweetwater penchant for tomfoolery.
We broke the cell wide open that's been holding this hop hash locked up since the last time a Hooter girl passed the bar. We are walking the line with this Double IPA! Not just another boy named Sue, this renegade would get us thrown into Folsom prison with the amount of Citra “hop hash” we scraped from the inside of the Yakima pelletizers and fisted into this beer. This super concentrated hash is pure hop lupulin (ya know-the hop kief-the good stuff!) and will play a resinous riff with the pilsner, 2 row and wheat malt used to back up the man in black! With Amarillo on the drums setting the bitterness beat, Citra Hash takes the mic in the whirlpool, packing a sticky aromatic punch with potent lyrics creating a heavy hop forward set worthy of a July Carter finger dip. For the encore we invited Mt Hood and Simcoe on stage for a dry hop jam session, bringing down the house in a ring of fire!
Sweetwater Dank Tank Johnny Hash is no longer produced, but it did inspire Sweetwater Hop Hash, a now year-round double IPA that uses the same malt bill and one suspects the same hops (Sweetwater does list Centennial which is not listed for Hop Hash, and “hash blend”). At the very least, Sweetwater Hop hash is the Son of Johnny Hash. It’s also a little less potent than Johnny Hash (which was 8.5% ABV; Hop Hash is 7.8%), but it is definitely worth picking up. Like most beers in the Dank Tank series, its bargain priced at $5.99 for a bomber bottle.
Sweetwater Dank Tank Series Johnny Hash Double pours to a brilliant light golden color with a huge head of unruly, creamy foam and an explosive nose of bright citrus and passion fruit. Taking a sip, the beer has a remarkably light body up front with perhaps just a bit of caramel, but only a bit. The hops are the real star here, and they are intensely citric, packing a huge grapefruit punch and waves and waves of resin. I get lemon, too, and in the finish an herbal grassiness and a massive, I say massive bitterness.
This is exceptional, folks, truly a masterpiece of a double IPA. I bought mine in May of last year and it is simply bursting with fresh citra hop aroma and peppery hop flavor that dances over the tongue. I am always hearing from modern beer geeks you must drink IPA before you get out of the parking lot of your corner liquor store. Poppycock I say. Super hoppy beers can stand up to a bit of aging, and my bottle of Johnny Hash certainly did. Now if you’ll pardon me, I must be going. I hear that train a coming……
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft
