Church-Key Black IPA

Brewed by Church-Key Brewing
Style: Black IPA
Pethericks Corners, Canada

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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Bottle from the brewery. Dark brown pour, small head. Strong bready hops in aroma. Taste is very bitter - really nice astringent hops over a malty but not heavy body. I thought this might just be a darker west coast, but the hop profile seems different and the beer is entirely different - a true black IPA that measures up with the best in this interesting style that I have had. Solid very bitter brew that I could drink lots of, nice work Church Key.

Bomber bottle from the brewery. I do not taste any hops at all. Taste is very similar to a porter. Kind of disappointed. Kind of weird tasting but that goes away as you have more.

pretty much was a bad porter. no hops. very hard to get through while cold for some reason, as it warmed up it got better. wouldnt try again

Bottle from the brewery, first thought, this is not an IPA, period, the brewery mentioned it had 2 times the hops in there then their IPA but it didn’t show, the smell was decent it was coffee and roasty malts, Taste was very similar, it was strong of coffee at the front then roasty malts you would expect in a porter, this beer should be labeled as a porter, thats the only taste thats comes off to me, it ended up being quite drinkable but it wasn’t something I would have often. small note: the bottle said the ABV was 7%, not 6%

650ml bottle from the brewery, deep black color, with a thick tan colored head, with a roasted, black, chocolate malt nose with some burnt dried fruity notes, with some light coffee, mochaish, cocoa accents, and with a faint floral piney, resiny hop aroma follows through on a medium-bodied palate with a sweet roasted, chocolate, black malt, dark chocolate, black coffee character with some burnt dried fruit, fruitcake notes, with a flowery hop grassy undertone, leading towards a burnt dark candied fruitiness, chocolate bittering, and roasty bitterness finish. Is it really a black ipa? can’t tell!

Bomber from the brewery, served at cellar temperature in a tulip glass. 21SE120.

App.: Deep brown-black with a nice light mocha head. Aroma: Nice chocolate, lighter hazelnuts, some coffee, molasses, dark dried fruits, really much more porter/stout than IPA...lacks hop notes. Palate: Medium+ body, soft/silky effervescence. Flav.: Lots of dark-roasted malts, chocolate, coffee, molasses, dark dried fruits, again, mainly porter/stout; off-dry with good bitterness and a somewhat hoppy finish.

Doesn’t match the name, but tasty nonetheless.

Sample, at the brewery, savoured on May 22 2010; eye: black, opaque, dark beige head, nice lacing; nose: roasted malt, burnt malt, dark chocolate, cocoa, resinous hops; mouth: roasted malt, burnt malt, dark chocolate, cocoa, resinous hops, finale in roasted malt with presence of resinous hops, full body, average carbonation, rather bitter, good astringency; overall: quite likable FRANÇAIS Échantillon, bue à la brasserie, savourée le 22 mai 2010; œil : noire, opaque, mousse beige foncé, bonne dentelle; nez : malt torréfié, malt brûlé, chocolat noir, cacao, houblon résineux, bouche : malt torréfié, malt brûlé, chocolat noir, cacao, houblon résineux, finale en malt torréfié avec présence de houblon résineux, corsé, carbonatation moyenne, plutôt amère, bonne astringence; en résumé : bien aimé

650mL bomber shared by a friend in Bracebridge, thanks Jed. Pours an almost opaque dark brown with a medium tan head. The aroma is very much what I would expect from a good stout, lots of coffee roast and chocolate malt, not a whole lot else. Very faint hop presence but I could just be hallucinating. Considering it’s supposed to be an IPA of sorts the aroma is pretty disappointing. Flavour is quite nice, again lots of roast and chocolate with a good smokey finish and minor booze presence. Same barely existent hop character. I really like this as a stout, but an IPA? Are you f***ing kidding me? I don’t have a strong grasp on this whole ’Black IPA’ thing, and frankly I don’t agree that it’s a legitimately seperate style, but this can’t be a good rendition of said ’style’. If they just called this a stout of any sort I’d be much more inclined to give it a better rating, as it is tasty, but I just find that it totally fails to deliver on what it claims to be.

On tap at Volo. Appearance: pitch black with a small brown head, the spitting image of a porter. Aroma: lots of chocolate, malt, a little peat, smoke and the tiniest amount of hops. Flavour: chocolate up front, rather creamy mouthfeel, malt & again; tiny amount of hops. A little smokey in the finish. Long bitter finish. Lovely.

Very dark black pour with a nice, tight brown head. The nose is quite hoppy with a bit of soft pine and citrus fruit over a very roasty dark malt base. The flavour has earthy/roasty elements in addition to a heavy pine stickiness. Chewy and resinous like I expect the style to be and although there is a lot of heavy roast – the abundance of chocolate and dark malts put it more in the stout vein than in the black IPA vein, such as it is.