Death By Hops - Olde Hickory Brewery

bobhits

Kentucky

4.2/5  rDev +7.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 4

Death By Hops Olde Hickory Brewery

Deep orange, high density (protein and perhaps yeast), tall shell colored head, and a mild amount of carbonation. Looks like a bit thick heavy double IPA and a good one at that.

Very citrus and fruity hops with a pine finish. They say 5 different hops and dry hopped twice on top of that…I believe it! The malt is rather sweet and certainly powerful. The pine aroma with the rest of this gives this beer an odd but very nice aroma.

There aren’t a lot of words to explain American IPAs. They all more or less are the same with radical differences in execution. This one executes wonderfully. Wonderful bitter bite backed by caramel malt. The beer leaves a lingering ripe fruity (almost like grape peels leave) flavor with some bitter dry hops. I would say there’s a touch more malt here than needed, but nit picking.

The one part of this beer that doesn’t work for me is the body. The beer feels double IPA thick, lacks carbonation in the tongue, and just seems out of line for an IPA and at the same time I can tell it isn’t really thick enough to be a double IPA. 7% abv does put this beer right on that IPA/Double IPA line.

A huge thanks for this extra, it blows every Kentucky IPA out of the water! This beer in my opinion could be placed up there with virtually any IPA out there and hold its own. A few flaws in the mouth feel keep this from having the resume to call itself exceptional, but it comes darn close.

Serving type: bottle

06-10-2011 22:22:07 | More by bobhits

jzeilinger

Pennsylvania

3.95/5  rDev +1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A - Pours a hazy medium to dark orange with a creamy and dense white head. As the beer warms up the haze fades away to a bright, clear beer.

S - A little on the light side but has a nice amount of grapefruit, pineapple, mango, and some tangerine. The aroma has some resinous character to it and there's some light caramel in the background.

T - Hops from start to finish with more hops thrown on top in case there weren't enough to begin with! Juicy tropical fruit that follows the nose: grapefruit, tangerine, mango, and a little pineapple hits immediately up front with assertive sweet bitterness, dips a little in the middle to let some of the caramel malt come through, and then finishes with a strong grapefruit/floral, slightly resiny and extremely lingering finish.

M - Medium body, moderate carbonation in the beginning and and softens after a period of time.

O - The only reason this beer doesn't live up to its name is because I'm still breathing and very much alive! A solid D-IPA (although I would classify this in the IPA category despite what the label says and who am I to argue?). On a fresh palate and a cold bottle, the finishing bitterness is much more sharp and lingering; as the bottle warms the sharpness is more rounded, although it still finishes bitter, more resin starts to surface. One bottle of this will definitely trash your palate.

Serving type: bottle

05-23-2013 22:10:44 | More by jzeilinger

mikeincharleston

South Carolina

4.25/5  rDev +8.7%

05-19-2013 14:51:26 | More by mikeincharleston

illy0sis

Texas

3.5/5  rDev -10.5%

05-14-2013 22:12:55 | More by illy0sis

GennyCreamAle

New York

4.25/5  rDev +8.7%

05-08-2013 20:55:06 | More by GennyCreamAle

Holland

Pennsylvania

3.75/5  rDev -4.1%

05-02-2013 22:53:33 | More by Holland

FLBeerGuy

Florida

4/5  rDev +2.3%

05-02-2013 03:49:27 | More by FLBeerGuy

buckyp

South Carolina

4/5  rDev +2.3%

04-27-2013 05:10:17 | More by buckyp

Dope

Massachusetts

3.68/5  rDev -5.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

Best before 4/13

A: Pours a slightly hazy golden orange. Enormous fizzy tan head, which fizzes away pretty quickly. Nice head retention with an island of foam. Pretty solid fluffy tendrils of lacing too.

S: Lots of sweet caramel. Might have waited a little long to drink this one. There is some sweet citrus, tropical fruits and resin in there. Flowery, even. Honestly not bad, just not what I was expecting from a beer named "Death By Hops". I'll give it a reasonable score since it might be a bit past its prime.

T: Despite the modest aroma, surprisingly hoppy in the flavors. Lots of sweet, juicy fruits. Mainly oranges and grapefruits but hints of tropical fruit like mango and maybe even pineapple. Decent sharp bitterness towards the middle along with the sweet caramel malt. Moderate resin in the finish with some floral hops. Nice long lingering bitter and floral aftertaste.

M: High carbonation, medium bodied. A little too airy and sharp as a result.

O: Not bad, perhaps needs to be a little younger to get the full "death by hops" experience. Floral character is a little strong, primarily composing the finish. Not bad but nothing amazing at the same time.

Serving type: bottle

04-27-2013 01:54:50 | More by Dope

Todd

Massachusetts

3.75/5  rDev -4.1%

04-23-2013 17:09:09 | More by Todd

Texasfan549

Texas

4/5  rDev +2.3%

04-18-2013 19:01:21 | More by Texasfan549

kjkinsey

Texas

4/5  rDev +2.3%

04-14-2013 01:10:51 | More by kjkinsey

DaPan

Ontario (Canada)

4/5  rDev +2.3%

04-11-2013 17:30:52 | More by DaPan

blackie

Virginia

4.1/5  rDev +4.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

bomber from Bruisin'

a: poured into a wide chalice, dbh is medium golden-amber in color, coated with a thin layer of carbonation and light retention

s: big tropical hop presence on the nose - grapefruit and mango, tangerine, pineapple - a veritable fruit punch - especially after warming a bit, lots of oily citrus rind, clean pale malts allow the cones to shine, very pungent - great start

m: carbonation around moderate, a little lively, with a body tending towards the lighter side of medium with a little weight

t: big acidic hops over a clean pale malt body, an upfront bitterness totally dominating the slight sugars, the hop flavors here are citrusy - but mostly the bitter rind and pulp rather than juicy, floral oils; greapefruit rind, the clean malt body and powerful bitterness keep my thirst moving, a bruising bitterness lingers deep into the finish

o: I tend to like a little more juice vs bitter pith and rind, but this is a great IPA - lots of aggressive hop character, good fruits, and a monster bitterness, none of the heavy caramel and grain sugar that hinders the drinkability of many dipas/ipas, absolutely no balance - but sometimes, that's what it's all about

Serving type: bottle

04-07-2013 00:07:32 | More by blackie

2dogbrew

Virginia

3.75/5  rDev -4.1%

04-05-2013 21:58:07 | More by 2dogbrew

devilben02

North Carolina

4/5  rDev +2.3%

04-01-2013 13:45:14 | More by devilben02

ADTaber

South Carolina

4.25/5  rDev +8.7%

03-31-2013 14:55:03 | More by ADTaber

Steimie

Michigan

4.25/5  rDev +8.7%

03-29-2013 21:58:07 | More by Steimie

GRG1313

California

3.5/5  rDev -10.5%

03-28-2013 04:47:28 | More by GRG1313

DrinkDrankDronk

North Carolina

4.5/5  rDev +15.1%

03-20-2013 02:24:12 | More by DrinkDrankDronk

wmobley

Wisconsin

4.25/5  rDev +8.7%

03-13-2013 21:46:12 | More by wmobley

lupercmda

North Carolina

4.25/5  rDev +8.7%

03-09-2013 15:59:11 | More by lupercmda

Finatic

Florida

3.75/5  rDev -4.1%

03-02-2013 21:31:57 | More by Finatic

facundoCNB

New Jersey

3.63/5  rDev -7.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

an opaque copper/orange pour with a finger of white head and some great lacing left behind. smells of pine, almonds, grapefruit.. first time i've ever smelled that almond in a beer, hmm. the flavor is a tangy grapefruit with some oddball grain notes.. hmm, i can definitely taste a nutty malt profile, there is a very earthy bitterness coming out of this beer - honestly, i'm not feeling the flavor profile as much as i did the smell. the citrus aspect i nice, but the bitter earthy hops does not work with this at all.
medium body, low carbonation.

this started off as an awesome looking/smelling beer and escalated to a lot of sad face. the flavor is just off - weir nuttyness with bittering hops, citrus tone overall. it just doesn't blend. i still appreciate it in a way though, because of the bitterness and the citrus combination, but after each sip i realize NO THIS IS WRONG.

Serving type: bottle

03-02-2013 09:25:01 | More by facundoCNB

mattafett

Iowa

4/5  rDev +2.3%

02-25-2013 01:50:37 | More by mattafett