OK, big props to Gregg for taking the time and the trouble to hook me up. I truly appreciate the gesture.
Firstly, the style or name “Black IPA” is ludicrous and I am glad that American Brewers Association agrees with me and calls this type of beer, “American-Style India Black Ale”! Anyway, back to this particular ASIBA!
Pour is a dark, dark chestnut (bordering on black) brown body with a lovely, creamy, thick mocha head. A few orange/red highlights at the extremities which are enhanced by the tapered glass that the beer sits in. An encouraging, “noisy” pour which suggests good body and creamy depth. Decent head retention and some above average lace. Looks great; so far, so good.
Nose reveals some deep, resinous pine, and as is usual with the style this starts to confuse the senses as the eyes see one thing and the nose sees another – I don’t like the confusion, but that is not a function of this particular beer rather a problem with the style in general.
Initial tastes reflect the pine nose, but this beer changes quite significantly as it warms. The malts really do come into their own and there is even a hint of chocolate that comes to the fore to compete with the hop bill. A little roastiness as one would expect with a licorice hint. For me the hops are simply way too aggressive and although they are tempered in the middle of the beer, they come back to haunt the aftertaste in a very, very aggressive manner. The aftertaste is bitingly bitter, and not in a good way. Alcohol is well-hidden. I’m just not sure that this malt bill can hold up the resin-based hop profile.
The mouthfeel is that of a classy brown ale, with great depth and a lovely creamy texture, however all of that good work is undone by the astringent bitterness that bites back over and over again. Along with the look, the mouthfeel is definitely the beers’ strongest point, but because of the unsubtle bitterness the drinkability is really pretty low for me.
I dunno, this is an extremely difficult style for me to get into and my review WILL reflect my general dislike of the combination rather than (necessarily) that of this particular beer, however I’m always upfront in saying that my reviews are not 100% “to style” and have my own preferences and subjectivity built in, so you can take it for what it’s worth. To be fair, I disliked this beer much less than some others I have had in the same style so I suppose you could call it a triumph in that respect!
I would imagine if you can stand the (what seems to me) unbalanced bitterness, and you enjoy this style you might really like this beer, but for me it’s a bit of a non-starter in terms of actually sitting down and drinking it. This would be so much better off if it were tweaked to be a straight up brown ale of even a porter. I understand that would negate the whole point, but nevertheless that’s what I leave with at the end of the bottle.