2.3 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 3/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 9/20Can.
Head is initially average sized, frothy, brown, mostly diminishing.
Body is dark brown.
Aroma is moderately malty (chocolate, caramel, roasted grain, husks), lightly hoppy (apricot, flowers), with notes of vanilla, light note of gum.
Flavor is moderately to heavily sweet, moderately acidic, lightly to moderately bitter.
Finish is lightly to moderately sweet, moderately acidic, moderately to heavily bitter, unclean/husky.
Medium body, watery/syrupy texture, lively carbonation, moderately alcoholic.
Not unpleasant in the nose (despite a lack of hops suggested by the name/style...this is really just a simple porter/stout), but man alive is this sour and dirty tasting in the mouth! Truly terrible aftertaste, almost invoking a spit reflex. Surprisingly, the nose suggests neither the sourness nor the foulness. So, it’s a total drain pour even though it smells ok. Poor Crabtree...they seemed to have lots of potential in the early days but things have definitely gone downhill in the last couple years.
3.4 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 13/20
(bottle - STLCOB tasting) dark brown, nearly black. Roast malts. Flavor is roast malts and some hops flavor - an aggressively hopped stout.
3.6 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 14/20
Deep mahogany brown with thick tan head. Fresh floral hop aroma. Rich and malty with forward hop character.
3.8 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 15/20
Very dark brown (nearly black) with a frothy, tan head. At first the aroma is all pine, but then that melts away and you get chocolate and mild orange. It has a light body with slightly oily texture and lively carbonation. The taste is bitter from beginning to end, but the roasted chocolate is still there with mild coffee behind the bitter finish.
3.3 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 14/20
Summer 2011 - In a concerted effort to "go local" with a lot of other consumable and munch able things on my menu, I plucked a bottle of the Crabtree Black IPA off the shelf. It came the relatively short distance from Greeley (hopefully outpacing the stench of rendered cattle) to my beer shelf. It didn’t last long there either, because Black IPAs are my new favorite exotic fruit, amalgamating many of the flavors I like from separate beers into one glorious style. Appropriate to the style, the body is a deep black, but billows up and out with a thin tan head. The aroma smells liken a combination of a wood shop and a rustic kitchen, combining the domestic aromas of dried wood, pepper, raisin and a handful of hops. The flavor kicks with an intense alcohol profile, calming down in the aftertaste to reveal a rich, dark maltiness. Fig and cinnamon and molasses sweeten the flavor where the alcohol burns it, a thin palate stretches the flavor, and then the hops are finally revealed in the end; this seems like a strange place for the hops to appear in a Black IPA. Overall, it’s a bit too dark and sticky sweet for me, but it’s a good example of what a Black IPA can taste like, one or two standard deviations away from a more mild version.
3.6 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 14/20
Pours a black color. Smell is roasted malts, some sweetness. Taste is well balanced roasted malts and hops, a bit of coffee as well. Overall a quality beer.
3.8 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
Aroma is citrus, bananas and a hint of dark malts. The flavor is citrus, bread/yeast, malts, a hint of coffee and a hoppy finish.
3.7 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 15/20
Pours like an impy stout - oily jet black with big lasting brown head. Citrusy nose like an IPA but with some Saison like funk. Taste mostly follows. Big hops for sure, but complex. Just hints of roast. Some tart and barnyard too. Crisp and dry with med-light mouthfeel. Best black IPA I've had so far.
3.5 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 15/20
Can @ Papsø. Pours a black color with a small longlasting tan head. Has a roated malty caramel hoppy aroma with weak piney hints. Roasted malty caramel and licorice flavor with bitter hoppy hints. Has a roasted malty caramel hoppy bitter piney finish.
3.6 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 15/20
Bottle at Papsø’s - Thanks. Black - offwhite head. Nice malty, burned malty, ok hoppy, chocolate, licorice, light yeasty, phenolic notes, ok bitterness.
3.5 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 15/20
Can. Dark black pour, tons of lasting carbonation and a slightly hoppy/roasty aroma. Flavor is more roasty dark malt and hops, a little sweet coffee, a hint of dry hops and oddly effervescent. Slightly above average.
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