Arbor FF #13 - 2012 Double Black IPA

Brewed by Arbor
Style: Black IPA
Bristol, England

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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330ml Bottle - Black with a foamy tan head. Liquorice, coffee, chocolate, roasted malt, soap and nuts int he aroma. Roasted, hoppy and fairly rich taste with coffee, chocolate, sweet liquorice and roasted malt detected. Some soapy hops can be felt in the lingering finish.

Black pour. Big tan head that is slow to fall and leaves tons of lacing. Big aroma of powdered chocolate and oranges, hops and malt. Taste is mirroring the aromas. Very tasty. Slightly bitter, but sweet at the same time.

Bottle at the Semi-Final Tasting. Deep brown color with a big espresso colored head. The nose is big roasty chocolate, wood, coffee ice cream and marshmallow. Some blackberry. The taste is quite hoppy tropical fruits. Plenty of pineapple and salty tang. A bit puckering, giving over to a lightly syruppy dry chocolate coffee finish. Big body, bold. A bit creamy. Overall, a really nice black IPA! Amazing to see a decent commemorative beer!

Bottle at home. Deep brown/black pour, very thick ice-cream sundae style beige head. Serious head retention, actually gets in the way a bit! Must be all the hop oils. Big rich nose, some light hot chocolate powder, soft chocolate malts, light spicy hops. Sweet dark chocolatey coffee roast up front, and then a huge whack of rich, resinous hops. Looooong resinous bitter finish. A bit harsh at first, but I’m getting used to it, after a while it really balances out rather well. Not bad at all.

Bottle. Black with a very lively beige foam. Aromas are woody pine with floral notes and cocoa bean. Liquorice with blackberry and coffee. Flavours are grapefruit juice with roast malts and nutty coffee. Woody with light smoke and even some burnt notes. Cocoa with pine and fruity bitterness. Very nice.

Bottled at 7.5% ABV from Grape & Grind, Bristol. Opaque and near black with a small, tan head. Beer had a heavy and slightly oily body that coated the mouth. Dark chocolate aroma with some pine and a tropical fruits. Flavour had plenty more pine, black coffee, grapefruit and a lingering, dry finish. Very enjoyable.

Bottle at Chriso’s Pre-GBBF Shindig 2012. Poured a cloudy, near opaque brown with a small, fading bubbly beige head. Lovely juicy citrus fruit aromas of grapefruit with resin & pine too & touches of roasted malt. Drier flavour-wise with more roasted malts, pine, liquorice & berry skin. Medium body, firm & lightly carbonated palate texture with a lingering dry, resinous bitterness.

Aroma has some notes of pear drops and some burnt malts and charcoal. The flavour comes through in the aftertaste with some bitter chocolate and intense coffee.

bottle, awesome rocky stable brown head, black, coffee, roasty, with hoppy hinds, very dry bitterness, medium sweetness, full body, thick feel, soft carbonation, on of the richest beers I ve had for last year, maybe lack of drinkability, cant drink four of these a night but thats not a mission of this brilliant beer.

Bottle at my Semi-Final Tasting, London. Pours muddy, brown-black with a light, beige bubble foam head. Rich nose of burnt malts, grapefruit and pine. Nice flavor, medium sweet with thick pine, dirt, burnt cocoa and burnt grass. Medium bodied with fine carbonation. Oily, highly resinous finish with lots of burnt grass and heavy roast. There’s a touch of abrasive hops in the finish as well, the the beer is quite decent overall. The beer does have its rough edges (as I think many Arbor beers do) butt his is a very solid effort.