Hop Centric Black
Two Brothers Brewing Company in Warrenville, Illinois, United States 🇺🇸
IPA - Black / Cascadian Dark Regular|
Score
7.23
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Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
22 ounce bottle into tulip glass, bottled in 7/2013. Pours opaque dark brown/black color with a 1-2 finger dense and rocky light khaki head with great retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Thick foamy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of red grapefruit, tangerine, lemon, peach, pineapple, apricot, mango, melon, citrus peel/rind, wood, peppercorn, pine, dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, toasted biscuit, and dark bread/crust; with lighter notes of dark fruit, smoke, char, herbal, floral, grass, and roast/toasted earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance and complexity of citrus/fruity/earthy hops, and dark/black/roast/bready malt notes; with solid strength. Taste of big red grapefruit, tangerine, lemon, peach, pineapple, apricot, mango, melon, citrus peel/rind, wood, peppercorn, pine, dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, toasted biscuit, and dark bread/crust; with lighter notes of dark fruit, smoke, char, herbal, floral, grass, and roast/toasted earthiness. Light-moderate pine, citrus peel/rind, herbal, floral, woody, grassy, peppery hops; and roast/char bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of grapefruit, tangerine, lemon, peach, pineapple, apricot, mango, melon, citrus peel/rind, wood, peppercorn, pine, dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, toasted biscuit, dark bread/crust, dark fruit, smoke, char, herbal, floral, grass, and roast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Great complexity. robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/earthy hops, and dark/black/roast/bready malt flavors; with a great hop/char bitter/sweet balance; and no cloying, acrid, astringent flavors after the finish. Light-moderate increasing dryness from lingering hop/char bitterness. Medium carbonation and medium-full body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky/bready/sticky, and fairly chalky/resinous/rindy balanced mouthfeel that is great. Mild increasing warmth of 9.9% after the finish. Overall this is a delicious Black DIPA. All around nice complexity. robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/earthy hops, and dark/black/roast/bready malt flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to sip on for the ABV, with the modestly bitter/resinous/drying finish; not aggressively bitter/charred. Feels like Columbus, Centennial, Amarillo hops. Very juicy and fairly dank/earthy hops; with a great balanced rich dark/black/roast malt backbone. Light residual sweetness with lingering resin dryness. A very enjoyable offering, and impressive style example considering the age. Held up exceptionally well for 6 years.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Draft. Pretty much black color, thick and foamy dark brown head. Aroma of rich dark chocolate and floral pine. Taste is roasty cocoa and pine. Very tasty.