Stone Brewing Co.
India Black Ale/Black IPA/Cascadian Dark Ale/Gimmicky name # 10
8.7 % ABV90 IBU's
Received in trade with dvelcich before Stone started distributing to MN. Thanks Dan! 22 oz. bomber with a best by date of 05.04.2011 poured into a New Belgium globe.
Pours dark brown, looks real black in the glass, with a dark-ish brown head, good retention and great lacing. Smells of nothing initially but then leafy fresh minty hops come along. I can swear that there's some overlap in the hop profile of this one and AB. Still nowhere close to what I experienced in the doubly dry hopped version of this beast. Take a sip... shall we?
Yeah baby, this is a black IPA alright! Taste transitions smoothly from an IPA to an incredibly hopped up stout, this is what a "Black & Tan" oughta taste like. It has the fresh, light, and cleansing hop bitterness and the bad-ass, broody-ass depth of roast. This is Robert De Niro playing a trigger happy cowboy. Mouthfeel is sadly a little watery-ier than I'd like. The finish is bitter and roasty, and dry.
I hate that BA has done away with drinkability because this is where I used to voice my opinion on drinkability, obviously and stuff like ABV. This beer is way higher in alcohol than it should be, in my opinion. Overall good, but nothing earth shattering. Still an achievement considering that this is the first beer of a style everyone wants to brew these days.
Score: Appearance 5/5; Aroma 3.5/5; Taste 4/5; Mouthfeel 3/5; Overall 4/5
No comments:
Post a Comment