Toejam, pine, charred oak, and pencil shavings nose. Cola black, thin tan head. Smoky charred oak. Pencil shavings finish. Very light body, harsh mouthfeel, aspirin level bitterness. A pretty good stab at the style, but there are some execution issues.

Bottle from Signal Variety, Plaistow, NH. Aroma is herbal hoppy with hints of pine. Appearance is clear, very dark reddish brown--almost completely black, with thin creamy beige head with mild retention and fair lacing. Taste is moderately bitter with light sweetness, hints of chocolate and anise. Palate is medium bodied with creamy texture but initially is too carbonated--stingy on the tongue that takes away from appreciating flavor. Finish is mostly bitter with hint of sweet. Overall, sweet maltiness balances off the hoppiness, which you would expect from the genre, and makes it more enjoyable to me than a straight IPA. Too much carbonation detracts from it but it is definitely an above-average beer.

Another black IPA, with a very dark yellowish mahogany colour, blackish but still transparent around the edges, under a creamy, yellow light beige, lacing and stable head. Pleasant aroma of coffee grounds and coffee beans, charcoal, dried plums, cigar ashes, pine resin, bayleaf, toasted bread, roasted peanuts, banana, raisins, liquorice candy and (fairly strong) iron shavings. Rounded, smooth onset of dried fruits, a tad sweet (raisins, dried banana) with a sourish touch (orange peel), quite refreshing actually, minerally with finely sparkling carbonation, very subtle salty touch, lightly oily, creamy middle phase with very nutty and toasted malts, already mildly bitter to begin with; this bitterness strongly increases in the end, with both the coffee-like roasted bitterness and a resinous, peppery hop bitterness, drying the mouth and throat; the metallic ’sound’ I feared based on the aroma, fortunately does not come through. A subtle hint of bourbon-like, warming alcohol is there, but not disturbingly so. In all, this may not be the most amazing example of the style, but it is well crafted, well balanced and tasty. Liked it.

Color is black, 1 finger off white head. Nose is nice, a fresh pine and sweet ginger, a little smoke and roasted aromas. Taste is actually pretty good. Cream and some light table sugar taste. Roasted malts, a small coffee taste, very pine forward with grapefruit skin. Great beer.

From tap. Pours hazy dark brown to black with a small tan head. Aroma is roasted malty and light fruity. Bitter, dark roasted. Bitter and light fruity. Dry and almost herbal finish.

Bottled 355ml. -at O’Hara Zagreb. Black coloured, medium sized brown head, weak roasty hoppy nose. Light roasty, coffee, dark chocolate and fruity hoppy taste with also some coffee in the finish and aftertaste. Good brew.

Bottled at O’Hara’s Zagreb with Ribafish (huge thanks Marin & co!). poured a black/red body with a slow, creamy off white head. Creamy, coffee roasty aroma, nice sweetish and malty, only a touch fishy, but not really hoppy. The taste is slightly deceiving too - it starts off dominated by that roasty coffee, slightly tart, but then, underneath the roast a fresh, vague tropical fruit and lemon hopiness bulds up, carrying it, and making the overall thing somewhat juicy. Nice bitter roasty aftertaste. This ends up being quite enjoyable if you give it the time, and nothing about it is unpleasant really, far from it, though it might disappoint initially those coming for the hops... Nice work!

Bottle. Pours dark brown with a large frothy tan head. Smells of grapefruit, pine, burnt chocolate chip cookies. Taste is soap, grapefruit, roasted nuts, pine.

Bottle scura buona schiuma buona persistenza discreta nota lupoolats buone note di caffe lieve erbaceo buona secchezza discreto amaro