Dank You Very Much
I’ve been hearing a lot of complaints around the beer world. They center around the use of a word that many feel is being used incorrectly. The offending word is “dank” and I’m here to play the role of defender.
First, the definition as listed on dictionary.com:
dank
adjective /daNGk/
danker, comparative; dankest, superlative
- Disagreeably damp, musty, and typically cold
For comparison sake, we have a definition as provided by urbandictionary.com:
1. dank
Also an expression requently used by stoners and hippies for something of high quality.
That borritos was dank, man.
or… That borritos was the dankness2. dank
sticky, hairy, stinky, and highly potent marijuana.
I took two hits of that dank and was nearly transcendent.
We go from something negative in the classic definition to something positive in the slang use of the word. So is it a problem to use this term when describing beer?
The biggest complaint I see is people claiming dank is not a flavor. I will agree with this, dank isn’t necessarily a flavor, but is useful as an adjective. Hailing from Northern California and having spent fours years at Berkeley, dank to me describes something incredibly aromatic but with significantly resinous qualities. There is a mustiness, an earthy quality that leans towards the classic use of the word, but it is by no means considered disagreeable when used in this way.
As applied to beer, it’s commonly used to describe hop character. I find the term most applicable to fresh-hopped and dry-hopped beer where the resins of the hops stand out more prominently. This last harvest season I sat down at my favorite bar to have my publican push me a pint of local fresh-hopped ale and mutter one single word, “Dank.” Instantly I knew what he meant.
In the end, that’s what’s important; communication of an idea through verbal or written means. Dank creates a problem as you many need to know your audience. The farther west someone lives, the more likely they will know what you mean. Other indicators will be hemp clothing and accessories, hackey sacks, jam music, and use of the phrase “no worries”. If you use the word dank and get a quizzical look, explain yourself, use traditional terms until your point is made clearly and effectively. On the other end, if someone uses a term you think is misplaced, and it becomes a common occurrence, google it. You’ll be amazed how many thing you’ll learn about terms, phrases and politicians that you never knew.
6 Comments to “Dank You Very Much”
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Dank you for defending the term dank. Funny though, California wasn’t where I first heard the term used to describe beer. It was in Colorado, during an interview with Adam Avery. He declared Columbus hops to be his favorite, because they were so dank. And I was like, hmmmmm interesting use of that word. And then it stuck.
And I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve stuck my nose in some pac northwest wet hop beers (just like you noted) and been like … wheeewwww that smells just like mary jane herself.
The biggest problem is, like you said, the ambiguity with which drinkers use “dank.” It’s difficult at least, for me in Massachusetts, to digest “dank” as a positive description. So I agree with you, keep your audience in mind. I certainly wouldn’t go throwing “dank” on a description of one of my own beers though… although that may just be a personal vendetta against the mold in my early homebrew days.
Maybe we should switch to Diggity-Dank?
What it meant to British writer Pete Brown:
http://petebrown.blogspot.com/2011/10/dank.html
Stan, I also read Pete’s article and this was the first of what began coming out regarding the term. Since then people have taken much stronger stances. Pete seemed to handle it in his usual style, which made for a pleasant read and equally pleasant discussion after the fact.
A bit late on the comment here, but I thank you for your post. Dank is a great descriptor, and as I note in this blog post, some of the aroma compounds found in hops are identical to those found in marijuana: http://www.northernbrewer.com/connect/2011/07/flavor-through-a-prism/