Double Shaka Imperial IPA - Butcher's Brewing

mactrail

California

4.33/5  rDev +34.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A powerhouse in alcohol and flavors. Attractive dark amber with an orange tint. Aroma is a floral bouquet with some roasted barley. Think of this as a hoppy Barley Wine if it doesn't live up to expectations as a DIPA (it's obviously not an IS). Interesting nutty flavor, more like pine nuts. Butterscotch heated up with jalapeños.

Sugar and hoppy blast picks you off at first. But the long strange trip this takes you on is great. Textbook carbonation makes for a spritzy mouthfeel. Warm, rich, and malty on the tongue. Tastes better as you sip. Bitterness is just one more attraction along the way. Just enough sharpness, plus the hot alcohol gives it an edge. Malty sweetness just goes on and on in a cloud of richness.

22 oz bottle from Sprouts Market in Pacific Beach. Check this out, it's an audacious beer if you're only making a couple, but it does show some cojones.

Serving type: bottle

02-12-2012 06:38:54 | More by mactrail

gleemonger

California

3.5/5  rDev +8.7%

06-12-2013 21:28:50 | More by gleemonger

bpasquini

California

4.5/5  rDev +39.8%

04-24-2013 04:30:38 | More by bpasquini

LJC3

California

4/5  rDev +24.2%

04-01-2013 21:48:50 | More by LJC3

heresy22

California

3/5  rDev -6.8%

01-28-2013 03:39:17 | More by heresy22

srandycarter

California

3.53/5  rDev +9.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

A - Murky but bright bronze, lots of thick off white head, lots of cling lace.

S - Maybe too cold, but I get a little malt and a little hops and that is about it.

T - Thick malt center, pretty nicely battled back by the hops. Much better than the single IPA.

M - Medium body, good carb, finishes to the malt side, but not too bad.

D- I like this one. I could session except for the ABV.

Serving type: bottle

10-03-2012 02:36:39 | More by srandycarter

t0rin0

California

2.25/5  rDev -30.1%

09-09-2012 21:18:03 | More by t0rin0

drewone

California

2.5/5  rDev -22.4%

08-31-2012 15:42:53 | More by drewone

UCLABrewN84

California

3.33/5  rDev +3.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Pours a murky dark brown with a 1 inch foamy dark khaki head that settles to a film on top of the beer. Small dots of lace slowly drip into the remaining beer on the drink down. Smell fairly mild and is of malt, brown sugar, and some herbal hop aromas. Taste is of malt, brown sugar, slight caramel, and some herbal and citrus zest hop flavors. There is a medium amount of bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a low level of carbonation with an almost flat mouthfeel. Overall, this is a pretty good beer flavor wise but average in all other ways.

Serving type: bottle

07-04-2012 00:35:45 | More by UCLABrewN84

mtschmitz

California

2.6/5  rDev -19.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

22-oz bomber purchased at a local market here in Encinitas

A) A nice golden amber color, light single laced head

S) For being a 10% dipa I expected a huge hop smell which was certainly lacking. Really hard to pick up any notable aromas

T) again not too hoppy on the tastebuds with definite fusel alcohol notes on the back end. Decently balanced with the malt though. More like a pale ale in my opinion

M) mouthfeel is decent, not too stick or with residual sugars on the end. OK carbonation.

Overall wasn't too fond of this one. Had a lot of potential. Need more beta acid hops...

Serving type: bottle

06-13-2012 23:41:52 | More by mtschmitz

sponch51

California

4/5  rDev +24.2%

03-21-2012 04:39:15 | More by sponch51

HalfFull

California

3.08/5  rDev -4.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Bomber purchased on a whim as I was unfamiliar with the beer. As it turns out I'm also unfamiliar with the brewery. Apparently a newer contract brewer based here in San Diego County.

Cracked open and poured into a globe glass, this beer pours a reasonably clear golden copper and sports an inch or so of slightly off white foam. Offers good retention and lacing as the beer settles.

Light caramel malt aroma with a hint of earthy hops. Hop profile is rather weak. Not bad per se, just not really there. Improves a bit with warming but remains a bit under the radar.

Flavor is decent and offers a light bitterness on the finish. Rather nondescript yet not negative either. ABV is rather hidden for me and the sweetness is by no means cloying. Some hop spice reveals itself in time.

Neutral on the feel as the beer is smooth and drinkable, particularly for its heft. In the end, the aroma expands nicely with warming though the taste lacks the bite I would expect for the style.

Serving type: bottle

03-11-2012 06:23:40 | More by HalfFull

ehammond1

California

2.08/5  rDev -35.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

Bottle

Thanks for opening this, Nathan!

Clear, light copper and amber with a moderately sized off-white head that leaves small dots of lace down the glass, but it lacks significant stick.

This is not a good smelling beer especially for a Southern California DIPA. It's sweet and malty, first and foremost, with a mild earthy hop character, but there are also lots of fusel alcohol aromas as well. Even though this beer is big at 10% ABV, the amount of alcohol emanating from this beer is too much to excuse.

The flavor is just as bad as the aroma. The beer is fairly bitter and simple, with malty sweetness and mild hop presence, and again, there's burning, rubbing alcohol-like alcohol harshness. No good.

Medium bodied with moderate carbonation--not this beer's failing.

I will not drink this flawed DIPA again.

Serving type: bottle

02-27-2012 18:26:23 | More by ehammond1

travolta

California

2.63/5  rDev -18.3%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

App: Initially, it looks beautiful, however, it does not keep it's charm. Head retention is minimal, with average body to start. Poor lacing. The color is very nice. It is a cloudy apricot and very dense. A one finger retention, for two minutes.. Head color is very light tan with an apricot tinge to it.

Nose: A little malty sweetness at first with biscuits or graham crackers in the middle.

Taste: Syrupy at first which breaks way to a balanced carbonation. Excellent carbonation. The syrup fades away and you are left with a resinous, piney taste. Perhaps a tiny bit of citrus in the middle. Not much going on here, but well balanced. Lots of syrup and hop oils, but not a whole lot more.

Notes: Mind the 10% alcohol on this one. Not a good representation of the style, but I must say it was very well balanced .

Serving type: bottle

02-10-2012 02:11:47 | More by travolta

hawkmage

California

3.5/5  rDev +8.7%

12-31-2011 04:08:04 | More by hawkmage

vince4953529

California

2.73/5  rDev -15.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

After their HPA's lackluster performance, I was a bit apprehensive upon opening this. Here it comes:

Color is of light copper, with a thin head and no to very little lacing.

Smell is muted, then scent of earthy pine and a thin whiff of cough syrup emerged.

Taste is akin to the smell. Again, muted sweet taste, earthiness, and then finished off with a more pronounced cough syrup booze taste.

Mouthfull: medium-bodied, good carbonation.

Overall, this is an improvement over their pale ale. The 10% abv can definitely be felt here. Still below average among its peers.

Serving type: bottle

11-24-2011 02:45:50 | More by vince4953529