Drakes Jolly Rodger (2011)

Brewed by Drakes Brewing Company
Style: Black IPA
San Leandro, California USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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Bottle thanks to IrishBoy! Dark brown pour, a little lasting carbonation and a wonderful dark roast and strong hop aroma. Flavor is dark rich hoppy chocolate, a little coffee/peat and good strong hops all the way through. Not a big fan of most black IPA’s, but this is an outstanding exception!

22oz bottle: Pours a dark, dark brown to black with a medium tan head. The aroma is filled with nice citrus and pine notes. Caramel and chocolate malts come through. The taste is roasty with some alcohol on the finish. The mouthfeel is medium heavy with a nice coat. This is a good beer overall that starts out with a great aroma and falls short on the taste for me.

Nice dark pour, good sized light head. Aroma is spicy hops up front, roasted malt and some toffee notes. Flavor is really damn nice. Not many in this style are right, this one is! Hops and malt join well and the roast doesnt leave anything to be desired. Well done.

22oz bomber pours deep mahogany with infra red edges and a nice tan head. The aroma offers up some spicy black licorice, dark roasted malts and then some pine hops in the background. The taste is wow, great black IPA, where I get chewy sticky malt infused pine hops mixing with modest levels of dark roasted malts and just a dash of burnt malts. Beneath these notes is a thin layer of citrus hop flavor and a lesser amount of citrus hop bitterness banging around in the background. Yummy fully hop forward version of the style. Dig it!

Bomber from Country Club Liquors but I had it on draft at Drakes Barrel House in Nov. Nose is pine, light chocolate, a little smokiness, and hints of citrus. Pitch dark (according to Drake’s Imperial Dark IPA name but I would call it black myself) with a small lightly lacing beige head. Flavor is heavy bitterness, pine, and a charred smokiness in the background. Finishes pretty bitter but bitter is better with IPAs.

Bomber from City Beer, SF. Inky black pour with a raucous, filmy head. Sharp molasses initially in the aroma, but soon tons of citrus billowing in the nose. Slightly sticky mouthfeel, a touch boozy on the palate perhaps. But in a certain sense the sweetness of the beer helps to accentuate the IPA parts of the beer over the black parts of the beer. Resin and bitter roasts come on again in the finish. Pretty good BIPA.

A dark black body with a tan head and lots of lacing. Some pine and a bit of malt in the aroma. The taste has lots of pine and some sweetness from the hops. A great hop aftertaste with hints of coffee and chocolate. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Dark pour with big creamy tan head. Nose is pine hops. medium body smooth mouthfeel. Slightly toasted malts and sticky hops. Clean bitter finish. Classy-What a dark ipa should be! (Rather than an overhopped stout.)

22 ounce bottle thanks to Alen.
Aroma: citrus/pine hops, roasted/chocolate/coffee malts, very clean and well balanced
Appearance: dark black with a nice off white head
Taste: chocolate/roasted malts, citrus/pine hops
Palate: sticky with hop resins, medium bodied
Overall: probably the best Black IPA I have had, nice balance between the roasted malts and the hops, the ABV is well hidden, a well crafted beer.

Draught @ Amsterdam Cafe, San Francisco, CA

Pours pitch black with a medium smooth light brown head. Quite light aroma of slightly roasted malts, hops, licorice, burnt leather and ash. Taste is quite fruity with roasty notes, hints of pine, grass and licorice. Salty, bitter finish with a lot of hops. Quite nice black IPA that isn’t overly roasty or hoppy.