Phillips Black Toque India Dark Ale

Brewed by Phillips Brewing Co.
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Victoria, Canada

Phillips have been brewing very nice West Coast style IPAs. Pleasant brown colour wih mocha head. Grapefruit and dark malt aroma. Smooth taste with grapefruit juice and dark malts, with bitter English finish.

Bottle from Josh and served in my Corsendonk tulip:
Poured a rich clean mahogany hue topped by a huge fluffy off-white head and excellent lacing.
The aroma is striking has it is more hoppy than I expected with grapefruit, apple, pine cone, burnt malt, and earthy yeast esters.
The taste is a tad unbalanced for a darker beer with the bitter character more dominate than the malt. That said, I still found this enjoyable once I adapted to the flavor profile. Some notes of prune and smoke as well. The palate is a bit too over carbonated and has both a chalky and astrengent note on the finish.
A solid brew but need a bit more heft in malts to push it to another level.

Bottled. Clear very dark ruby. Striking lychee aroma. Medium dry with clean mouthfeel. Very hoppy - the lychee and grapefruit flavours seem to last forever. Very bitter finish. Good stuff!

Bottle @ OMH-tasting
Big Cascade aroma. Bitterness is big with a lot of plum skin. Slightly toasted and fruity apricot. Big aftertaste.

650 ml bottle courtesy JoeMcPhee. Very dark ruby brown colour with a mostly lasting frothy off-white head. Light chocolate, toffee, but citrusy hop dominant aroma. Chocolate and caramel flavours with a grapefruit, tangerine, pithy, and piny bitter finish. Medium bodied, smooth and refreshing.

Bottle. Black body, small dark head. (3+) Sweet chocolatey malt aroma with interesting hops over top. Pleasant green hoppy flavour with underlying malt, and muted roast, and very slight chocolate notes. Pleasant but discordant flavours do not always play nicely with each other. Average to medium palate. Thanks for the delivery JoeMcPhee.

Bottle: Pours a dark brown with ruby tones in the light. Thick off white creamy head laces very well. A very nice herbal hoppiness and molasses in the nose. Flavour is full on hoppy IPA with a nutty roasted flavour working in tandem. Quite enjoyable but little to set it aside from other IIPA’s aside from the appearance. Re-rating I’ve increased points for appearance, flavour and palate. The more I drink it, the more I love it. Though I also admit to loving IPA’s first and foremost.

Bottle-conditioned, medium brown body, thin off-white head. Beany vegetal roastiness immediately reminds of coffee beans, supported by a moderately hoppy background that hints at mint. A fair medium body. That heavy roastiness sure keeps on in mouth, growing heavy tobacco flavours that closes onto chalkiness astringence, but efficient carbonation cleanses the feeling off.