7

A deep dark ipa with a thick frothy lacing brown head. In aroma, sweet chocolate malt with dark fruits, resinous hops, light oxydation, still pleasant. In mouth, sweet fruity chocolate malt with resinous floral hops, alcohol warmth, light licorice, pleasant.

8.8

Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9

Beer #12 of my #7000 Beer Celebration - 7 on either side of the milestone. Super jet black coloured body with an oily glow on top and a thinnish, one to perhaps two centimetre tall rich brown head and a fully opaque black and oily glow when held up to a light - this one looks more like an imperial stout than a Black IPA. Aroma is pure hops with a ton of resinous, pine and especially floral hop characteristics along with a dose of full and relatively heavy grains and a good deal of alcohol noticeable towards the end. Medium to even perhaps Full-bodied; Super strong hop elements show up front with a lot of resin and bitterness that show a great balance with the full-bodied character and rich malt presence and a dash of citrus and pine goes into the finish showing the balance on the super rich and pungent side. Aftertaste shows the hop bitterness up front and centre of course, but also has a pleasant malt body and sweet characteristic which make this enjoyable and rich throughout. Overall, a very nice and pungent beer that shows every bit of a Black IPA as you'd want, but with much more malt and character that make this almost bridge the gap between an American Strong Ale with the punch of more than 'just an IPA'. Great to sample and well worth trying to find or grab if you ever see it, even way after the brew date. I sampled this 75 cL bottle purchased from New Beer Distributors in New York, New York on 01-July-2016 for only US$6,95 sampled at my house in Washington on 28-August-2018. Vintage: 14th Anniversary (2012 on bottle?) // Purchased: 01-July-2016 // Sampled: 28-August-2018

7.3

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Bottle courtesy of sonnycheeba, thank you sir. Almost completely black, bright beige head. Aroma is roasty with light floral grass. Taste is smooth coffee, cocoa, bitter pine finish. Nice.

7

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Capped 750 from Half Time. It’s been around awhile. Pours fairly black with a creamy tan head. Aroma is malty and earthy. Med + body. Flavor is malt, chocolate, and some earthy/floral hop. Think this one has been around long enough to lose the original hop intensity. But the chocolate and other flavors make it a good drink.

7.2

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

750 mL bottle from Whole Foods Market Paramus, NJ. Pours a dark brown color with a large frothy tan head. Good head retention. I can smell the citrus hops already from about 18 inches away. The rest of the aroma is floral and earthy hops with mild roasted malts. The taste is earthy, citrus hops, nutty notes, roasted malts. Medium bodied, lingering bitterness. Definite hop forward black IPA. Nice beer, but could benefit from a bit more balance.

7.9

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

Bottle @ Chriso. Pours a dark ruby brown black color with a longlasting off-white head. has a fruity malty fresh piney hoppy aroma. Fruity malty hoppy bitter piney flavor. has a fruity malty hoppy bitter piney finish.

7.8

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

750mL bottle, sent from Glouglouburp (thanks a lot, Dany), pours a near-black with a medium tan head. Aroma is full of dark fruits, lightly roasted caramel malt, and some nice citrusy hops that aren't too harsh. Flavour brings out a healthy hope dosage atop some wonderfully roasted caramel malt, mild dark dried fruit notes, and a slight wood presence. A thick, chewy caramel malt backbone gives this is a wonderfully full body without much sweetness at all. Most excellent IPA.

8.5

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9

Bottle at Chriso Tasting, London. Big thanks to Chris! Pours clear brown with a trong, tan foam head. Great nose, full of ripe grapefruit, moderate roast and faint chocolate. Medium sweet flavor with great balance, notes of pine, modest roast and more grapefruit. Medium bodied with fine, creamy carbonation. Lightly sweet to finish, fairly roasty with toasty pine and more juicy grapefruit. Just exceptional balance throughout. Great black IPA, and one of the best beers of the day.

7.8

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8

75 cl bottle. Pours hazy dark brown with a huge tan and creamy head. Aroma is roasted malty, grapefruity and peachy. Solid bitter, grapefruity, light peachy and roasted malty, light chocolate note. Bitter, dry and light grapefruity into a roasted malty dry finish.

8

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Location: 750 ml bottle from Buy Rite, 9/4/12, Batch #E! 42

Aroma: The nose starts rather fruity (mango, grapefruit), with some grass, spice, and roasted notes
Appearance: Pours a dark brown color with a light beige colored head and medium lace coating the glass
Flavor: The taste has a plus sweetness up-front, fairly fruity as well, later on it becomes grassy and bitter
Palate: It is medium-plus bodied, has a fairly creamy, smoothish feel, average carbonation, and a dry finish
Overall Impression: This is an interesting beer. At first the nose was not saying hops to me at all, but as it warms a little bit more of a "typical" Black IPA aroma emerges here. While this isn't a standard Black IPA by any means, I liked it. This was another very nice offering from Ithaca, an brewery who's beers I regularly enjoy.