Dead Frog Brewery – Obsidian Dagger IPA Noire: Is a dark IPA brewed in Aldergrove, BC and is part of Dead Frog’s 22 oz bottle release lineup. I promptly poured this into a beer glass, sat on the patio and started to take notes ans I drank it.
Aroma and Appearance: It pours a dark reddish brown with two fingers of foam, some good head retention and no visible bubbles. The aroma is citrusy sweet, with tangerine, grapefruit, charred malt and some caramel that sneaks in there when it warms.
Flavour: Dark toasted bread, citrus, mango and caramel with a dry, ashy bitter finish that was reminiscent of a fire grilled grapefruit. Sadly, the aftertaste was more like cigarette to me, bad nasty cigarette taste.
Overall Impression: I really liked it until the aftertaste, I really did but sadly I poured half of it down the drain.
Rating: I personally give it a terrible rating of 2/10 because for me it was a drain pour. Now, this beer is rated high online and lots of people like it so please try it and make up your own mind, however for me the cigarette aftertaste was such a turn off that I hated it enough to dump it.
Food Pairing: Something smokey I guess, perhaps a cigarette?
I was dissapointed more in my palette than anything here, but I can’t argue with my taste buds so my personal rating stands. I love this style of beers, I love smokey stouts and porters so it was disappointing to say the least and it wasn’t an experience I wanted to collect.
West Coast Beer Geek 
Hi Terry,
Sorry to hear that you didn’t have the positive experience with the Obsidian Dagger that most people we’ve heard from have. There are many variables that can result in people tasting very different things. Past associations, for example, can emphasize certain flavours and aromas for some people more than others. Although I’m especially sensitive to cigarette smoke, that wasn’t something I picked up from the OD.
As you probably learned in the Prud’homme course, serving temperature does make a difference. If the OD was too cool, that may have had something to do with it. Letting it warm up may have taken that aftertaste away.
Fortunately, you liked our Rocket Man ESB, so I’m happy there’s at least one Dead Frog beer you were able to enjoy on your craft beer journey.
Happy trails!
Rick Green
Craft Ambassador
Dead Frog Brewery
Ph. +1 604-856-1055
Fx. +1 604-856-9803
http://www.deadfrog.ca
rick@deadfrog.ca
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Actually it’s funny that aftertaste got worse when it warmed to cask temperature so it’s too bad, I really wanted to like it and yes it seems many others love it so it’s probably just me. That being said I like the Rocket Man and really, really liked the Winter Beericle. I’ve got some Fealess IPA’s that’ll I will crack soon and some Commander Stouts & Uber Nutters in the cellar and I am sure many more to come! Thanks for the comments and looking through my review.
Ah, that’s too bad, Terry. I wonder if there was something off with that particular bottle. If it was a broader issue, we would have heard by now.
The more steps there are between the point of bottling to the point of consumption, the greater the chance of something going wrong. Getting beer directly at brewpubs or breweries minimizes this, so I think that’s one reason growler fills are popular.
Great to hear you are cellaring. Good luck with that! I think you’ll find the Commander and Uber Nutter will improve with time. Looking forward to hearing about your results.
Cheers,
Rick Green
Craft Ambassador
Dead Frog Brewery
Ph. +1 604-856-1055
Fx. +1 604-856-9803
http://www.deadfrog.ca
rick@deadfrog.ca
http://www.facebook.com/deadfrogbrewery – Like us!
http://www.twitter.com/deadfrogbrewery – Follow us!