Karbach is a local Houston brewery that is making some of the best damn beers anywhere on the freakin' planet. While the Hopadillo IPA is my go-to beer, the Rodeo Clown Double IPA is a great example of a smooth, higher-alcohol beer with lots of different flavors.
When I first tried a Double IPA (St. Arnold's Endeavor, I believe), I knew this style was special. They're generally not as bitter as traditional IPAs, and they offer flavor profiles that would seem out of whack in a normal IPA.
The Rodeo Clown is an exceptional beer. It gets a great head, and it's a rich butterscotch color. The color matches the taste, too. The smell is of yeast and malt, but the taste is rich and sweet with a bit of grass and bread. It's not overly bitter, and it does have a bit of spice on the finish. It's the rich, sweet bread flavor that comes through the most. It's creamy without a lot of carbonation.
At 9.5% ABV, you have to be careful with the Rodeo Clown, though. I think they call it that because when you drink too many of them, you may turn into one. When I go out, I can only have one of these. Then I switch to something with less meat, often Karbach's Hopadillo.
Or they could have named it after this old Bobat Goldthwait movie called Shakes the Clown (1991). Rodeo clowns are the bad-ass clowns who travel around and do hard drugs. Man, that movie is funny.