3.9 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
From tap at Sunset Grill. Pours dark brown to black wtih a small off tan head. Aroma is dark maltish and slight breadish. Ends dry malty and almost spiced. Dark roasted malt and slight fruity. Bitter and slight hoppy. Bitter and dry malty finish.
3.5 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 14/20
Draft. Medium tan head atop dark brown body. Aroma is moderately sweet, grapefruit/pine, roast. Taste is moderately sweet, roast, grapefruit, some caramel, pine. Soft light-medium body, some acidity.
3.8 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
Tap at Pacific Coast Brewing. Pours black with a creamy tan head. Aroma seems citrus. Med body. Creamy burnt malt with a lot of resin hop - finishing a bit like grapefruit rind. Burns! Just excellent.
3.5 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 13/20
In general, I’m very much in favor of black IPAs, I think they’re very creative. This one, though, is a bit too conservative, and although it has decent pine in the aroma and flavor, it’s malt characteristics are too understated for it to be memorable.
3.5 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 14/20
Sample at Blue Palms. Pours with a dark, essentially black, body and a tan head. Aroma is very fruity, with citrus, coffee, toffee and nice zesty hops. Flavors are smokey, citrus and toffee. Very bitter finish (that doesn’t quite have the hop flavors to back it up, just very bitter). Aroma is better than the nose. Light carbonation. A pretty good beer!
3.6 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 14/20
On tap at Frisco Grille (Columbia, MD): Pours a mostly opaque black with dark mahogany edges and a small ring of light tan head. Has a fresh piny hop nose with a touch of lightly roasted malts. Starts with good fullness and a light malty sweetness with some crisp resiny hop flavor and the slightest hint of soapy hops before a drier finish with some light lingering roastiness. Pretty true to style and drinkable.
3.3 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 14/20
UPDATED: APR 18, 2011 draft. soft nose of dark caramel malt and roasted barley with mild to medium grassy and pine-focused hops. medium-light body with mild roast roughness and mildly buzzing hop acid. watery finish and overall a rather tame beer. rating #500 from california.
3.5 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 14/20
Sampled on draft at Beer Run in Charlottesville, VA. Pours a dark brown color with a red tint. Clear. Medium sized offwhite frothy head. Decent head retention and lacing. Aroma of citrus hops and chocolate malts. The taste is bitter roasted malts, bitter hops, citrus hops and some chocolate. Medium bodied.
3.3 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 14/20
Draft. Blackish beer with a dark cream colored head. Low pine aroma. Grapefruit and pine flavor with backing malt and light roast. Medium bodied. Good bitterness. Grapefruit and pine lingers with light darker malts.
4.1 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 16/20
Tap at Paradiso Dupont. Well I wasn’t expecting much but damn this was good. The pour is clear blood ruby with a healthy, tan head that has good retention and leaves rings of tan lace. Aroma is grapefruit, Yakima valley fresh hop forward with additions of dark chocolate, vanilla, and pecan pie in the nose. Taste is dry and full: massive 90+ IBU bitterness wrecks your palate while big roast and bitter 75% cacao chocolate add nothing but more complete bitterness. As it warms and opens up, some nice vanilla ice cream comes in for sweet balance. No olive or brine character. Somehow the palate is a bit lactic, coating, and full never going dry or chalky. Probably my favorite Black IPA thus far.
|
