Black Oak Hop Bomb

Brewed by Black Oak Brewing
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Etobicoke, Canada

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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Had this on cask at C’est What in Toronto. Awesome. Hazy golden color with a big flowery hoppy nose. Very smooth and easy to drink with lots of hop flavors coming through: grapefruit, flowers, and that green fresh hop taste. Well balanced with enough malty sweetness to keep you satisfied. By far the best beer I had on the latest Canadian trip.

Draught @ TFOB: What a treat! A Friday only special offer at the Toronto Festival of Beer found Black Oak offering up their hard-to-find cask conditioned IPA, I couldn’t wait to try it. The pour is stunning, even without any head, with a hazy amber body that looked like I thought it should. Aroma was rich in hops, citrus, and heavy in honey. Flavour was, as promised, a hop bomb. Somehow, it was so well balanced that it wasn’t at all offensive, with a perfect blend of honey sweetness and hops. I should have gone back for more at the end, but I’d promised myself one sample per beer. :(

Cask at ?C’est What? (Toronto, Onterrible) Orangey-golden with slight attractive haze. Light resiny feel but aroma has pronounced dry tangy ’pneapple’ esters than come across in the flavor as well. Extremely three-dimensional and fine. Full and balanced. Greatness. Must have hit this cask right on a peak day.

(cask conditioned draught at Volo in Toronto) Lovely hazy gold with generous head. Hops aroma was mild citrus. Flavor was citrus/pine hops. The mouthfeel of the cask ale was near perfect. Great IPA.

Draught at BeerBistro - 2005 Golden Tap Awards. Very hazy golden-amber with a small head. Fresh, green, citric hops in both aroma and flavour. Definately fits the moniker, although it’s quite well balanced despite the uber-hopping, so unlike many hop monsters, it is a fine session beer. Really nice stuff!

Sampled at Beer Bistro Golden Tap Awards, gravity dispensed. Hazy yellow, few bubbles in cask small head. Wonderful hop aroma that was not nearly as citrusy as others found. Big hop taste, a kicked up Pale Ale, but it remains very well balanced. A little citrus creeps in at the end. This turned in to my session beer for the afternoon evening and is an excellent effort, to be expected from one of Ontario’s best Micro’s. Thanks Ken!

Cask at volo. Strong taste of hops and aftertaste is slightly citrusy, this beer was absolutly incredible!! I will definitly go back to volo to get some of this stuff again. This beer had a sort of thickness I really enjoyed as well.

UPDATED: JAN 19, 2007 Cask at Volo, under the name Black Oak Atomic Hop Bomb - came with no head, and was a hazy, unfiltered orange shade. Aroma was very, very citrusy, predominantly with grapefruit. The cask conditioned version has almost no carbonation, as is true to the style, but I wonder if I might prefer this beer from a regular tap (or bottle) as I think some light carbonation would have helped out some of the flavours and mouthfeel. Taste is again, very fruity and citrusy with grapefruit, orange, and honey. Very minimal bitterness in both the body and finish. There was also a character to the beer not dissimilar to lemon iced tea, especially with the carbonation being almost not existent. Not the spectacular IPA that I’d been hoping that it would be, but a very good one nonetheless. With more bitterness in the finish and a bigger body (and a bit more carbonation) this could become outstanding - the only other beer I’ve had with this kind of intense, grapefruity taste is the phenomenal Bell’s Hopslam.

Cask at 2005 Golden Tap Awards at BeerBistro. This is my 200th rating and it’s for a beer that deservedly won "Best Beer of the Festival" at the aforementioned awards. Pours a hazy yellow with a spare diminishing white head. Aroma of fresh hops and citrus that you just want to keep smelling. Sweet flavour of hops and grapefruit is well balanced and oh so tasty. Very enjoyable and different -- I could drink this all night. Congrats to Black Oak for the win and keep up the excellent work!

Draught @ TFOB 2006. Well what a great chance to taste a unique ale. The Friday only offering of Black Oaks Hop Bomb cask condition IPA was the highlight of the TFOB. For my first true IPA it was everything I would have expected and a little extra on top. As the name would suggest its LOADED with Hops. Theres hops in the aroma, hops in the taste and hops in the finish. But added to those hops is a great combination of honey and citrus that is present in both the aroma and taste. As it was beer in its true form the appearance was a cloudy, amber hazy, but I’m not going to hold that against it.