Benelux Strato

Brewed by Benelux Brasserie Artisanale
Style: Black IPA
Montreal, Canada

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   add pic

Cask at Soirée des Grands Crus, Siboire (Sherbrooke). Appearance: Black with a small creamy brown/moka head and beautiful lacing. Aroma: Citrus, coffee, chocolate and hops. Taste: Citrus, roasted malt and hops. Palate is creamy. Slight bitterness. Overall: Well balanced and refreshing but could add more complexity.

(Un verre de bonne dimension. Version 6,3%) Une présentation soignée. Une mousse brune passablement dense qui laisse quelques traces. Une robe très foncée, jamais noire, touchée par des éclats rouges. Un nez qui présente un aspect rôti enfoui sous des aiguilles de pin et d’épinette. Des saveurs plus intéressantes avec une petite place pour le chocolat. Des aiguilles de pin, encore une fois. Un aspect floral intéressant. Une proposition éloignée de la grosse résine malhabile. Un corps qui penche vers la légèreté. Une texture qui présente un très fin profil crémeux. Des bulles bien placées. Une finale enrobée par la verte fraîcheur de houblons modérément vigoureux.

cask days 2011, less than intense roasted malt aroma, some c itrusy hop bitterness. Flavor was solid, not too roasty nor to bitter, a nice balance between the two. Pretty good

Almost black with a small beige head. Nose is piney with a touch of roasty grainy malts. Light to medium body, lots of roast malts in there, average bitterness, sticky finish. Average black IPA.

On tap at Benelux. (Listed as a "west coast stout" at 6.8%). The aroma is all hops - no roast or caramel features. Lots of fresh hops. The flavour has lots of hops early, some roast in the middle, and some chocolate at the end. Nice lingering bitterness. Full creamy body. Nice beer.

Cask - Volo Cask Days 2010, Day 1 (session 2). With Stephen G ragging me non-stop in the background, I rate on. 60 IBUs. Mostly opaque ruby, clear around the edges, with an average frothy light brown head. Smells like a nice (non-syrupy) brown ale with a tad more than usual alcohol and oddly some salty tuna (???) and a hint of oak - some, but not much herbal bitterness. Taste is still quite malty and roasty, but in addition to the herbal bitterness, there is building low-level citrus zest bitterness as well - interesting, not entirely sure it’s a complete success. Slick, astringent, weakly carbonated, eventually develops near-IPA level hoppy bitterness, but still very roasty ..... I am still not sold on the "black IPA" concept.

Pint at the brewpub. Deep black pour with a tight creamy tan head. The aroma is loaded with hoppy pine needles and resinousness. Lots of chewy hops over a very roasty base. Sticky hop oils and some roast as well. A little bit of cocoaish flavour but the hops are the start here. Black IPA even if the brewers call it a "West-coast style stout" - and a damn good one at that.

Pint at the brewpub. Opaque black pour with dense whitish head. Aroma of burnt toast, lots of piney hops (cascade would be my guess), licrorice and coffee. Taste is very bitter, quite harsh with coffee and bittering hops dominating throughout, some notes of herbs and roastiness. Palate is superb. Very well carbonated, not too heavily bodied with a long dry bitter finish. A very good beer, the only thing that could keep me from lining up successive pints of this is that the repeated assault on my tastebuds would probably leave me tasting nothing else for the rest of my life.

Tap at the brewery. Great, round beer. Aromas of coffee, herbs, chocolate, and liquorice. Taste has a sweet start, with bitterness taking over for a long finish. Palate is creamy, with a medium-to-full body. Dark brown, with a frothy white head.

Cask at ’Volo Cask Days 2010’ . Pours black with a spare lasting bubbly tan head. Really nice hoppy aroma, I love it! Delicious flavour with lots of leafy green hops along with light roasted malt, some fruit, chocolate and a decent bitter finish. Average to medium bodied. A fantastic beer!