Clown Shoes Hoppy Feet 1.5 Double Black IPA

Clown Shoes Beer
Brewed at Ipswich Ale Brewery
Style: Black IPA
Ipswich, Massachusetts USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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From a bottle poured a dark brown color with a fair amount of head. Toasted malty flavor with a quick finish.

Bomber, about 2 months out from bottling. The pour yields an extremely dark, charred mahogany colored body that is impenetrable at the center. A small but lasting head of smooth, mocha tinted foam leaves dense band of solid tapestry lace all around the glass. The nose is indeed quite hoppy, showing notes of resinous pine and semi-oily orange pith over a base of sweet blackened caramel, dark chocolate, and licorice. There’s a little bit of roast, but the caramel really overpowers it. Flavors largely follow suit, hitting with a strong blast of piney, bitter hops, nodding also towards citrus. Bittersweet chocolate and darkly toasted caramel provide ample balance, showing a high concentration of residual sugar. Roast comes through on the lengthy, hoppy finish. The palate is huge, sticky, and syrupy, with low to moderate carbonation. In short, ton of malt....ton of hops....not alot of ingenuity or refinement. Huge beer.

have only had 1 other Clown Shoes beer before so I really don’t know what to expect from this beer. Looks dark and has a nice head on it. Smells pretty hoppy and if what I just read is correct this was only brewed once?? This is a VERY hoppy beer with a nice dark finish. It appears to be dark and menacing, but it’s really a hoppy and refreshing black ale. nicely done! Good mouthfeel to boot.

Bottle pours a deep red to jet black with a medium tan head. Scent is roasty with pine. Taste is the same. Very nice

Sampled at an ESBLS tasting. Dark and mostly clear with a big funky kind of tan head. Some chocolate and lactose in the nose. Dark fruit, too. Big malt that is anise, chocolate and coffee in the flavor. Pine is fairly big and nice. This is tasty.

Pours dark brown/black color with light brown head. Aromas of roasted malts with lots of pine and citrus. Citrus and pine flavors up front with moderately sweet roasted malt finish. Medium body with average carbonation and a sticky mouthfeel. Their best brew I’ve had by a long shot. Excellent!

UPDATED: DEC 9, 2011 (10/30/2011) Clown Shoes Hoppy Feet 1.5 Double Black India Pale Ale is a pitch black ale with a huge, lumpy, beige head. It looks like a bowl of coffee ice cream. The foam covers the glass in a solid sheet. Citrus and grass are shrouded in dry roast to make a big and bold, yet very well balanced aroma. There are notes of orange, coffee, chocolate and caramel. It’s full bodied, very smooth, soft and creamy. The finish is dry and it leaves the tongue stunned and the back of the teeth a little gritty. The flavor is huge and complex. It’s a bit sweet and grassy at first and then a strong bitterness rolls in along the lines of orange peel. Then it’s dark roast coffee, a bump of dark caramel and then a baking chocolate finish that has a hint of juniper. This is pretty face melting. Even after 22 ounces, it continues to amaze and entertain. These guys make shockingly modern beer and I love it. (9/7/2011) Clown Shoes Hoppy Feet 1.5 is a cola black ale with a huge, foamy, turbanado sugar colored head that stays put and leaves fancy lacing all down the glass. It has an aroma of pine, lemon and burnt sugar. Tons of hop juiciness is detected. It’s full bodied and creamy on the tongue. The finish is pretty chewy and it leaves the mouth a little raw. This beer is jarringly bitter, raising my heart rate, quickening my breath, dropping my jaw. Nice. The bitterness has a big juniper quality. It is resiny, wooden, almost smokey. There’s light sweetness and almost a hint of melanoids. It’s blurringly bitter, hot, boozy syrup. The blackness doesn’t give a hint of coffee, but there may be a blackstrap flavor to this. This is not for the hoi polloi. It would kill them. This is a beer for you, Mister Beer Snob. Someone used some science to get a fluid that packed with this much flavor into your mouth and I’m impressed with that. These Clown Shoes guys are off the handle. This is a New England beer that will win a fight in a San Diego bar. I am humbled by this beer.

WOW! It doesn’t get much better! I really liked the regular Hoppy Feet, and this is really 2x as good. Coffee, hops, and a bit of booze - NICE! Try it!

Bottle. Clown shoes hype was stomped on when I tried their belgian ipa earlier this week, but reinstated with this thing...I usually despise these black ipas...even more so when they go imperial, but low and behold, I think this beer is quite fucking exquisite. Poors a dark brown with a nice, frothy light brown covering. Nose has the elements of black ipa...the roasty malts, the piney hops...but they combine in ways others do not...soft, cashmere-like...chocolate, fudge, and coffee underneath the roast...spicy christmas vibes underneath the hops...an inviting nose for the style here. Flavors do not let down in the slightest...the roasty malts still have chocolate and coffee and add some caramel and licorice spice to it...the piney spice of the hops is remarkably complimenting...making each component of the malts come to a coherent point in the finish. Seriously, this is a remarkable beer for this style, most definitely the best I have had so far, without a doubt.

Bottle. Moderate malt aromas of toasted and roasted, moderate to heavy pine for the hops, light soap for the yeast, with wood and pepper in the background. Head is average size, frothy turning creamy, light brown with good lacing and is mostly lasting. Color is very dark brown. Flavor starts lightly to moderately sweet and lightly acidic, then finishes lightly sweet and acidic and moderately to heavily bitter. Palate is medium, oily with a lively carbonation and a finish that is moderately alcoholic and fairly dry. Simple but excellent aromas, bold flavors leaning on the harsh side, this Black IPA is a great example of the style.