Clown Shoes Hoppy Feet 1.5

Clown Shoes Hoppy Feet 1.5 First Anniversary Ale - double black india pale ale (2010)
Brewed and Bottled by the Mercury Brewing Co., in Ipswich, MA. USA.
Limited Release (Brewed Once)
22 fl. oz. / $9.49 USD / 10% ABV

About: "One year of brutal work and abundant shenanigans is in the books. So, we up sized Hoppy Feet (...lovingly crafted by combining Premium malt with lots of Amarillo and Columbus Hops. Grapefruit and Pine are balanced on the nose and on the palate by a nutty, dark chocolate, roasted backbone) and dry hopped it twice. The huge, complex flavors and powerful hop and malt aromas make a worthy tribute. Thank you, each one of you, for helping make our dreams real."

Thoughts: Poured a dark brown initially out of the bottle, that immediately transformed into a solid pitch black in the glass. The head was a one-finger with a khaki color and it didn't last all too long. There are puddles of foam atop the brew now.

Juicy plums dipped in chocolate sauce. It smells really strong, so I better get ready for my head to be knocked backwards. It's a hazy strong dark fruit scent with a strange background that almost like graham crackers and caramel. 

First gulp went through about four or five phases. Smooth and strong, then spicy, there's an alcohol burn after the swallow, with a grassy afterglow, and a hint of coffee at the end of everything. Mostly it's just that hazy burn, with an aftereffect of breathing some pepper dust. After warming, the overwhelming sensation of booze dies down a bit and the flavor really comes through. It's of dusty hops up front, lingering grassy hops following close behind, and dirty caramel.

Mouth is clear and pleasant, not too low or high of bubbles, and there's no lingering effects.

3/4th's of the way through and it's pretty much just OK for me. Nothing really stood out taste-wise that especially impressed me, and at the same time, I wasn't really disappointed to any severe degree. It's got the pluses and minuses, and it infected my sinuses, but in the end, it's probably just a hopped up version of their Hoppy Feet brew. After tasting this I'm bound to try many of their other brews, but not the Hoppy Feet normal release anytime soon. So we'll see...