Mountain Goat Before the Dawn

Brewed by Mountain Goat Beer
Style: Black IPA
Richmond, Victoria, Australia

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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Pours totally black with a brown head. Aroma is malt with fruits, chocolate, roasty notes and hops. Taste is light to medium sweet leading to a hoppy and fruity finish. Very very good!

A fruit basket of aromas gives way to smoke, cigarettes, citrus, resin and coffee. The taste is fascinating, with lots of grapefruit, licorice, resin, and coffee to mention a few. There are a lot of flavours in here and the only real knock on it is that the palate is a little thin, but hey - it’s a beautiful looker, all deep black with a tan head.

Aromas of roasted malts and citrusy hops; pours a deep amber/brown with a thin tan head and delicate lacing. The taste is incredible - it retains the ’typical’ IPA characteristics (hoppiness, spiciness) and the roasted taste only kicks in after the beer is held in the mouth for a few seconds. Superb balance and complexity. Body is light and refreshing, a little on the fizzy side but nothing too extreme. The finish is long and hoppy - delightful. Overall, worth repeated drinks. Very pleasant and interesting.

Bottle. Pours jet black with a dense light tan coloured head. Hangs around for a while leaving some delicate lacing and a thin film throughout. Aromas seem very typically of th style. Resiny and slightly spicy citrusy hops, light roasted grain and some dark caramel. Nicely balanced. Taste shows probably more of the roasted grain than expected. A hint of astringency in the bitter finish adds to the resiny hops. Quite full mouthfeel. I like it.

Maybe it’s because I’d suffered a few dark hours Before The Dawn, but I thought this was a ripper. Looked great: as dark as you’d expect and the fat, lacing head was a real stayer. Hop-dominated aroma of mixed tropical fruit - passionfruit, pineapple. Galaxy mainly. Also some faint dark malts in the background. Good aroma balance. Quite a full mouthfeel, with that slightly syrupy texture that seems characteristic of highly hopped Australian ales. It works well here with that hefty 7.4% abv. Bitterness seems spot on for this weight and the malt bill provides a sold base. Ticks all the boxes for me. I liked this as much as their pepperberry collaboration with Mikkeller. I’d like to see a black IPA in their regular beer stable - I’d pick up a six-pack of this regularly if I could get it. Highlight of a poor day on Planet Earth. (640ml bottle from Carrington Cellars, Katoomba. 2012 vintage)

chocolate, black, frothy, medium sweetness, medium bitterness, medium body, long finish,

640ml bottle. Pours an intense black, with a moderate off-white head, which lasts well and leaves good lacing. Potent resin, bitter herbal and spice hops mix with some latte in the aroma. Strong pine resin and herbal hops up front usher in a touch of sweet citrus leading into bitter espresso in the mid-palate. Cocoa notes and fresh herbal hops make a pleasantly bitter finish. This is a very enjoyable beer. It could perhaps have done with a little more dark malt flavour, but nevertheless, it is a nice take on a black IPA.

UPDATED: JAN 17, 2013 Metallic smell of hops and malt. Bland flavours. Way too thin and disinteresting personally. Nothing on Murrays Shaun’s Fault Ale.

Pours black with little head. Aroma is sweet, fresh and robust. Flavour is a great balance of malt and hops. Very good example of the style

Bottle. Clear black body, with red highlights and a sparse beige head. Aroma-taste: citrus pith, pine with a biscuity body a minerally long bitter finish. Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.