Damascus Beaver Rage
I received this crowler of Damascus Beaver Rage ten days after it was canned as a “thank you” for watching the neighbors’ house while they were out of town late September. The older couple know I’m a fan of craft beer and tend to snag a bottle or two from their travels. Damascus Brewery is a small operation down in the Southwest tail of Virginia just inside the Tennessee border.
Beaver Rage is their flagship IPA. It’s brewed with a blend of Summit, Willamette, CTZ, and Nugget hop varieties to create an ” IPA for people who don’t like IPAs.” Personally, that doesn’t make sense to me, but whatever. As far as the crowler of Beaver Rage is concerned, the brew has more to worry about than offending non-IPA beer drinkers. The overall character of the beer is a bit muddled — flavors of orange/tangerine compete with bread and caramel. There’s also a twinge of sulfur within the beer’s amber depths that shouldn’t be there.
That sulfur presence isn’t a problem when the beer is chilled, but as it warms in the glass, it builds in intensity. It’s not a good trait to have in an IPA that is rather subdued to begin with. I understand that the fruit-forward and not-too-hoppy IPA is on the rise, but this one from Damascus Brewery needs a bit of work.