Some people like bud, some people like beer, and some like both. Those who are a connoisseur of both have taken to attributing the term “dank,” a term that means pungent, funky and odoriferous, to both good weed and very hoppy IPAs. Dank means an extremely overpowering odor that can smell like the citrus and pine flavors everyone loves. Dank beers are ones that can easily fill a room with its odor, just like dank marijuana. After all, beer hops and weed nugs are similar in taste and smell, and the characteristics of a particularly dank, hoppy beer can often be found in a jar of particularly dank, primo weed. Or so we’re told. Hops and marijuana both contain terpenoids, compounds that give the plants similar characteristics. In fact, both fall into the taxonomic family Cannabaceae, so it follows that you could create a fairly stinky beer with the right treatment of the right hops. Hops don’t get you high, but in smell, taste and appearance, they often feel just about as … dank. Enjoy our Craft Beer Crosscut 10.13.17: A Flight of Dank Hops.
Alpine Windows UP IPA
7% ABV, 41 IBU
After Green Flash Brewing’s lupulin lab grabbed the production reigns of several Alpine beers, the mad IPA scientists brewed even more amazing hopped-up masterpieces such as Hop Boxed, which was Alpine’s Duet’s malt bill, but instead of Simcoe and Amarillo hops, scientists used Citra and Mosaic. Alpine changed the name of Hop Boxed to Windows Up, but the mix of Citra and Mosaic still hold the window up for a soft and bitter room. Alpine describes it as falling squarely under the “dank” category. The dank base is complementary to the bitterness instead of balancing with a counterpunch. Windows Up is an IPA of two profiles that truly meets in the middle. With an aromatic floral and orange nose, the flavor begins soft on the mouth with a green meets papaya-citrus wash over the tongue that breaks away in a piney punch that leads to a bitter finish.
Green Flash West Coast IPA
8.1% ABV, 95 IBU
So much of the good, green stuff is packed into Green Flash’s West Coast IPA that you’ll find it overwhelming if you haven’t prepared yourself. Imagine licking a pine sapling on a spring day in a grassy meadow with your friend blowing weed smoke in your face. Seriously, West Coast is a bit like cramming fistfuls of freshly mowed grass into your gob due to a “menagerie of hops” layered throughout the brewing process including Simcoe (to impart a unique fruitiness and grapefruit zest), Columbus (for strong hop pungency), Centennial (for pine and citrus notes), and Cascade (for floral aroma). As the brewery puts it, it is a “multi-dimensional hop experience.” And they ain’t lying. It’s just over 8 percent ABV, with a malt body, resinous, hoppy and dank.
pFriem Dank IPA
7.8% ABV, 70 IBU
pFriem’s Dank IPA was inspired by installing a centrifuge, a machine that separates beer from the hops left over from dry hopping, which in doing so creates bright and dank hop flavors from Chinook, Mosaic, Citra, Warrior, Nelson and Columbus. The Hood River, Oregon brewery wanted to play off of this so it brewed an IPA with the most “dank” hops available to see how far it could push this beer. It’s pushed. The aroma is big dank hops, with a touch of malt and hop fruitiness. Flavor is much the same with lots of piney hop and oranges, not terribly dank, but with a delightful hop characteristic.
Founders ReDANKulous
9.5% ABV, 90 IBU
With a RateBeer score of 99 and back-to-back medals at the Great American Beer Festival in 2015 and 2016 in the Imperial Red Ale category (gold and silver, respectively), Founders Brewing’s reDANKulous has proven it’s a beer that’s made its mark. The striking red hue and subtle sweetness of reDANKulous are courtesy of the Caramalt and roasted barley, but hops are the true headliner to drive sensory overload. Brewmaster Jeremy Kosmicki combines one of his favorite classic hops, Mosaic, with standout newer varieties, Chinook and Simcoe, to create the “dank” texture. The result is a complex balance between malty sweetness and tropical flavor-forward hops.
Melvin Drunken Master
9.5% ABV, 95 IBU
The craft beer scene is full of colorful characters. There’s something in the DNA of brewers and founders that prioritizes individuality and the pursuit of fun. As a case in point, Melvin Brewing’s co-founders have the creative titles of “Field Hoperative” and “Head Donkey.” The Field Hoperative and Head Donkey have created a line of boozy hop bombs including the Drunken Master IIPA, a 2016 National IPA Champion, with a blend of Citra, Columbus and as-yet-unnamed hop varietals. This one strikes more of an old-school DIPA, with big caramel and toffee notes to support the huge bitterness, giving a thicker, slightly oily body, but at the same time there are some dank-leaning floral and herbal notes.
