Irregular Eric vs Deviant Dales

Recently, I brewed Irregular Eric Double IPA ... the 5th beer in my Homebrew Colorado 6 pack.

Good stuff. If you're interested, you can read about my brew day at Irregular Eric Double IPA (Batch 273).

I designed Irregular Eric Double IPA as a tribute of Oskar Blue's Deviant Dale's IPA.

Sadly, Deviant Dale's doesn't exist anymore.

 

I really enjoyed Deviant Dale's. For awhile, I brought some with my every time I went camping. 

When Dale Katechis of Oskar Blues Brewery famously started canning Dale's Pale Ale over 10 years ago, just about everyone thought he was completely crazy. Only recently have other craft brewers started seeing the light and following suit. Now, it seems that your brewery is behind the times if you don't package at least some of your beer in a can. Apparently, this was not too bad an idea, because Oskar Blues has been experiencing crazy growth over the past few years. They opened a second brewery in North Carolina, but to me this will always be a Colorado Brewery.

Out of all the great beers Oskar Blues makes, my favorite is Deviant Dale's IPA. It is essentially Dale's Pale Ale, only more. More hops. More malt. More ABV. More Body. More deliciousness. It is an 8% ABV, 85 IBU double IPA with lots of citrus, grapefruit rind and piney resins in the aroma and flavor. Currently, I call this my favorite camping beer. I love drinking the "tall boy" cans right by the campfire. In fact, this past weekend, I had a few in the wilderness.

Irregular Eric Double IPA is a delicious beer, but I'm not sure it matches my memory of Deviant Dale's.

It is more of a gold color whereas Deviant Dales was more red. Deviant Dales also probably had a lilttle more body.

I think the hop profile between the two beers matches pretty well. But, out of all the 5 beers I've brewed so far in the Homebrew Colorado 6 Pack, this one is certainly the least like the commercial beer it is supposed to represent.

I think the "fix" is fairly easy. Maybe sometime I'll tweak the recipe and rebrew Irregular Eric Double IPA.

But ... maybe not.

Keep an eye on Sheppy's Blog: 6 Pack Project and maybe you'll see if I do.

In the meantime ... next up on the Homebrew Colorado 6 pack list is Stouticus American Stout representing Left Hand Milk Stout.

I'm looking forward to this one because I'll actually be able to compare the homebrew to the commercial beer.

Go Bears!