Belt’s Beer Garden: The DH Rule

River North was founded a decade ago in the RiNo (River North) district of Denver, Colorado. They took over the old space owned by Flying Dog Brewery, who left for Maryland a few years before. In 2015 they were forced to move to a different location, after their whole block was sold to be made into apartments. Their new, larger, home on Washington Street (just a few miles north) opened in April of 2016. A few years later, in 2019, they were able to open a second location just a few blocks from their original place on Blake Street in RiNo.

Today I have one of their special releases - 5DH Mountain Haze.

For this brew, they took their Mountain Haze base - a NE IPA - and dry-hopped with Citra, Idaho 7, Sabro, and Strata hops not once…not twice…not even three times. No, they dry-hopped it a ridiculous FIVE TIMES! The beer comes complete with a 7% ABV (the original is only 6.5%) and two 12-ounce cans cost $9.

It poured a very hazy golden orange color with some light airy head building up about an inch. The foam quickly fizzled away, leaving just a small accumulation around the edge of the glass and a single cloud floating in the middle.

The nose of this quintuple dry-hopped brew is packed with dank tropical fruit notes. Mango, papaya, orange, and multiple stone fruits are all packed into this tiny little package. There is just a hint of flaked wheat sitting underneath but, otherwise, the fruity/dank notes prevail. It’s insanely juicy and inviting and I can’t wait to dive in.

There was a small carbonation fizz that led off the sip before the hops pushed their way through. A slight bitterness hit first before wave upon wave of tropical fruit quickly washed over my taste buds.

Ripe and dank flavors of mango once again led the way. Orange and tangerine were quick to follow with another pop of juice. After another moment, there was a third burst of fruit…this time it was the papaya and pineapple that hit with a slight tartness.

The pineapple began to swell, taking over for most of the sip with its distinct sweet but acidic flavor. As soon as it began to fade, the mango and orange flavors regained control to finish out the sip with some nice soft and juicy characteristics.

5DH Mountain Haze finished a little dry with some lingering flavors of orange peel and citrus rind. However, it was still a rather clean ending and made me want to dive right back into this beer.

This was a super juicy, super tasty, super hopped-up brew that I wish I had bought more of. That juicy quality makes it light enough for hot days like today (it’s 94 degrees here right now) but the 7% ABV makes it heavy enough to be just as good on chillier days in the 50s-60s. I regret only getting two cans.

If you’ve had Mountain Haze you MUST try 5DH Mountain Haze. And if you haven’t had either…well, you need to try them both!!