The Alchemist / Ninkasi / Stone More Brown than Black IPA

Brewed by Stone Brewing Co.
Style: Black IPA
Escondido, California USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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Deliciously strong aroma of grapefruit peel and pine. Rosehips also present. My God, there are some hops in there! Clear brown, medium tan head, good lacing. Grapefruit peel, pine, soil, tangerine, and light chocolate flavor. Subtle chocolate and pine needle finish. Exquisite! Medium body, alcohol not noticeable. This is an exceptional beer and nearly perfect in every way. I can not bring myself to say this, but this is better than Stone’s Sublimely Self-Righteous! Stone is the undisputed King of IDAs! Please continue making this beer.

Beer No. 3,700 for me overall. The beer pours a dark brown color with a tan head. The aroma is a mix of lightly roasted malt, chocolate and resinous pine. The flavor is similar, with a good bit of pine, resin and a hint of orange. I also get some lightly roasted malt and a bit of chocolate. The bitterness is fairly low, but the hop flavor - particularly the pine notes - really stand out. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation. A nice collaboration. Glad I got to try this one.

12 oz. bottle. Pours brown with a moderate-large tan head that lasted until nearly mid-glass and left considerable lace all the way to the end. Very pleasant aroma that is filled with resinous pine hops along with some notes of lightly roasted malt. The flavor begins with a solid dose of malt, lightly sweet, and is followed by some resinous pine hops. Moderate hops bitterness at the finish. Medium-full bodied. Very enjoyable.

Bottle. Moderate malt aromas of dark bread, toasted and roasted, moderate to heavy pine for the hops, light leather for the yeast with wood in the background. Head is large, frothy, light tan with good lacing and good legs and is mostly lasting. Color is murky dark brown with a thick amount of medium sized particles, Flavor starts lightly sweet and lightly to moderately acidic, then finishes lightly to moderately acidic and moderately bitter. Palate is on the fuller side of medium, oily with acarbonation between soft anf lively and has a dry finish. Nice deep dark aromas and flavors with a great hop profile to balance out this tasty Black IPA.

Tasted at kickshaw. Pours somewhere between brown and black, tastes like a well-hopped brown ale. Very nice. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Oily nutty aroma. Hard to describe. Dark brown pour with sticky brown head. Thick pallet. Malty nutty and mildly hop taste. Different but I think I like it ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

I loved this beer. Bottle pours a muddy brown with off-white head. Strong notes of pine, roasted malts, and hops with a faint coffee and vanilla characteristic. Taste linger quite a while after.

Well all right, another Stone collaboration - hats off to Stone for doing these! Superb aroma with loads of pine in with some flowers and roasty notes. The flavor is likewise piney, with some dark coffee too - but it gets a touch harsh, unfortunately. The palate is unusual - a little thin at first, followed by a warming tingle. Maybe a little overhopped, but definitely complex and interesting, with lots of smoky campfire flavor (which is fine by me).

12oz bottle from Sam’s, Durham. Nearly black pour, frothy carbonation and an earthy look. Getting some black IPA fatigue for sure, but I found this one to be fairly elegant. Moderately roasty nose and mostly pungent hops. A hint of caramel and bitter anise/char in the tastes but mostly bright and floral. Still, it makes one wonder why you don’t just go for an IPA if this is where the beer is dialed in.

Pours a deep brown color with aroma of dark roasted malt. Taste was a bit too bitter for my taste. A hint of ginger and spice in the beer with a rough IPA bitterness in the end. Overall a good looking beer, but a little too much IPA punch in the taste department.

A bit dissapointed with this one. Pours definitely more brown than black...wouldn’t really call it a black IPA...just an IPA that’s darker than most. I’d say it sort of looks nice....but the thing has LOADS of sediment...and I don’t mean like cloudy like an unfiltered wheat....I mean like it looks like somebody dumped a bunch of minced garlic in the bottom. Having said that, the beer tastes fine and all...I’m just still taken back a bit by how much I’m going to have to chew the rest of this thing.