On the Saturday before Christmas, Mrs. G-LO and I were invited to attend a holiday party at the home of Dr. and Mrs. Bones (real names withheld to protect those that would rather not be associated with this blog. For the record, our buddy The Alemonger refers to Mrs. Bones as The Goat (not to be confused with @Goats_Udder), and he refers to Mrs. G-LO as The Viking. In Alemonger World, everyone has a bizarre nickname). Since Dr. and Mrs. Bones are Craft Beer lovers, and since (as Limpd would say) my Mamma and Papa raised me right, there was no way that we were showing up to the party empty handed, so before we headed over to join the festivities, I made a quick stop at Canal’s in Berlin, NJ to pick up some special beers to bring to the party. I decided to pick up two bottles of Maine Beer Company beer (Peeper and Zoe I believe) since I was pretty sure that they had never had them before. Since Maine Beer Company sells their beer in 16 ounce bottles that just happen to fit in a six pack carrier, I decided to pick up four additional beers for myself. The Old Dominion Double D Double IPA that you see in the above photo was part of this mixed six pack. There are two reasons why I decided to pick up a bottle of this beer:

Reason #1 : I always wanted to be a fighter pilot.

: I always wanted to be a fighter pilot. Reason #2: I’m a sucker for WW II era pin up art.

Before we get to my review, below is a bit more information about this beer from the good people at Old Dominion Brewing Company:

Double D is a full-bodied Imperial India Pale Ale, flaunting sultry guava, mango, and tropical fruit aromas as a result of dry hopping with Citra, Zythos and Crystal hops. Brewed with light toasted malt and Bravo bittering hops, this double delights with smooth warming alcohols and a torrid finish. A daring draft, she is available in six-packs and on draft.

Let’s find out if I was duped by a pretty label…

Appearance : Clear, pale orange color. Thick off-white head that tops off at about an inch and dissipates slowly. Moderate lacing.

: Clear, pale orange color. Thick off-white head that tops off at about an inch and dissipates slowly. Moderate lacing. Aroma : I’m liking how this smells! Honey and tea biscuit scented malt along with citrusy hops, i.e. tangerine with a hint of grapefruit.

: I’m liking how this smells! Honey and tea biscuit scented malt along with citrusy hops, i.e. tangerine with a hint of grapefruit. Taste : Medium bodied with soft and creamy carbonation. A tiny bit of sweet malts at the onset, but they are quickly pushed aside by a somewhat aggressive bitterness. The bitterness in this beer transitions from grapefruit and tangerine to resiny pine. A bit of alcohol comes through in the finish. The ending is astringent with a lingering piney hop bitterness.

: Medium bodied with soft and creamy carbonation. A tiny bit of sweet malts at the onset, but they are quickly pushed aside by a somewhat aggressive bitterness. The bitterness in this beer transitions from grapefruit and tangerine to resiny pine. A bit of alcohol comes through in the finish. The ending is astringent with a lingering piney hop bitterness. ABV: 9%

I’m somewhat torn on this beer. While I love the way it smells, I thought the bitterness dominated a bit from the middle to the end. On the flip side, when I let this beer rest for a few minutes, I grew to like it more as it warmed up. Kinda weird right? Overall, I thought this beer was just ok. While I didn’t love it, I liked it enough to wanna give it a second try, especially after being informed by our blogging buddy Oliver of the Literature and Libation blog via a brief Twitter #beerchat (as luck would have it, we just happened to be drinking the same beer at the same time) that this beer is much much better on tap.