DuClaw All Roads <Lead to> Centennial Double IPA
Welcoming sign at Pub 27 in Pompeii
Date: Sept. 28 , 2018
The Story–. DuClaw started as a small, but very good, brew pub in Bel Aire, Maryland. It moved to a larger brewery, and moved again when sales outpaced production. It now brews in Baltimore in a state-of-the-art modern facility. The consistent thread, however, has been that DuClaw has brewed beers worth seeking out.
The brewery isn’t afraid to take chances, and some of its riskier attempts haven’t made it to our favorites list “Sweet Baby Jesus,” its chocolate peanut butter porter broke new ground and won a bronze at the Great American Beer Festival, so even if it you don’t like it you have to respect it.
All Roads <Lead to> Centennial Double IPA is a Centennial romp. Centennial is a hop that has enough breadth of taste to work well as in a single hop beer, but it’s also gentle enough not to build to excess. DuClaw has brewed a fine range of IPAs over the years, but this example of complexity within a context of simplicity is one of their best.
The Beer— Chewy caramel malt has to struggle to make its way through the soft complexity of the Centennial hops, but the malt’s enough to keep it drinkable. Watermelon, grapes, slight lemon, stone fruit and scattered flower petals rest on that sweet malt as it continues to drink well.
Value — Very good. At 8%, you can buy one of these instead of two of something lesser.
COMING UP – For the next few days, we’ll feature more great American beers. Later, we’ll return to HIGHLIGHTS OF EUROPE 2018– Surprisingly good beer in “bad beer cities.” The best we’ve found in researching our next book – a guide to great beer in European tourist cities. (Planned publication 2019.)
About these posts: We taste and evaluate over a thousand beers every year. The beers posted here rank in the top quarter of those tastings. Values: “fair” is a good beer at an above market price, “good” is worth the money, “very good” is a bargain, and “excellent” is a steal.
Leave a Reply