Otter Creek Alpine Black IPA

Brewed by Otter Creek Brewing
Style: Black IPA
Middlebury, Vermont USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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12oz bottle poured into a pint glass. Super dark brown with a small dark beige head. Mostly roasted aroma, with slight piney notes. Hoppy flavors of earth and pines, coffee some dark cocoa. Med-hi bitterness, medium bodied, well balanced and overall OK.

12 oz bottle; code may indicate Sept. 2012 bottling. A: Pours clear, very deep and dark mahogany in color, looking almost black in the glass. There’s a very short-lived tan head that reduces to some thin film and a thin ring at the edges of the glass. A bit of spotty lacing is left on the glass. Aroma: Very dark roasted malts and fruity/earthy hops fight for dominance. Hints of chocolate, charcoal, peat, and citrus fruit: Complex but, like most black IPAs, lacks integration. T: Loads of dark and very dark roasted malts with a trace of smoke. Hints of dark chocolate, pine, grapefruit, caramel malt, and bitter chocolate. Mild bitterness ramps up a bit, but is well controlled, in the finish. A rather pleasant smokey-earthy-grapefruit aftertastes lingers on and on, with hops and dark malts in good balance. M: Medium+ body and carbonation. Clean with light amounts of dryness in the finish. O: A tasty black IPA featuring more darkly roasted malts, yet with only a limited and quite acceptable burnt quality. Rich and moderately complex, this is a very big beer for 6% ABV.

Dégustée en fût chez "The Reservoir Restaurant & Taproom" à Waterbury, VT. De couleur noire-brune et quasi-opaque. Nez de malt rôti, moyen de chocolat noir et de houblon herbeux aux notes florales et citriques avec des notes de pain grillé. Moyennement ronde en bouche avec un pétillement moyen ainsi qu’une texture aux notes crémeuses. Goût moyennement amer de houblon herbeux aux notes florales et citriques (une amertume présente en arrière-goût toute la gorgée) lors de l’entrée en bouche auquel se rajoute un goût de malt rôti avec un moyen goût de pain grillé ainsi que des notes de chocolat noir puis en finale l’amertume de houblon se fait légèrement plus herbeuse et aux notes asséchantes. Post-goût moyen-long et un peu sec, moyennement amer de houblon herbeux aux notes citriques avec un moyen goût de rôti. (1er mai 2013)

On tap at Water Street Tavern. Pours black with a thick than head. Piney hop aroma. Good balance of sweet malt and big hops throughout. One of my favorites currently. Not a big fan of IPAs in general but this is great.

UPDATED: APR 20, 2013 Bottle shared with Ariel at Beer Market Jaffa. Dark brown to black with a beige to light brown head. Aroma of citric and slightly piney hops and nice roastiness. Roasty flavor with some coffee, a bit of dark chocolate and a bitter hoppy finish. Medium-bodied. Nice.

Pours coffee black with minimal cream head- dissipates quickly. Aroma very grassy with laid-back hops in background and something I can’t quite identify. Starts with a hop bite and that same something, going into grass-clippings hops and ending in malt caramel that changes to mocha malts. Excellent.

Bottle. Pours pitch black with a small foamy head that fades normally and leaves a little lace. Aromas are light roast, toasted bread, citrus, pine, and flowers. Taste is a bit different. More roasty with some coffee and cocoa too. Hops are more subdued than the usual black IPA but they’re there, mostly citrus and flowers. Smooth and somewhat creamy finish. Mouthfeel is fairly thick, creamy, and bit bubbly. This is a pretty solid black IPA.

One of the better Black IPAs out there. Has the full hop character of an IPA with a nice roasted maltiness of a porter. Full flavor going on here. Bravo.

12.ounce bottle. Pours a dark copper mahogany color. A sweet malty nose, some pine. A smooth big bitter, cocoa, pine flavor. Pretty bitter. Good.

Pours dark brown/black with a bubbly white head. Aroma of pine, floral hops, and roasted malt. Taste is piney hops, citrus, and fresh cut flowers. Nice beer.