Black IPA
Otter Creek Brewing in Middlebury, Vermont, United States 🇺🇸
IPA - Black / Cascadian Dark Regular Out of Production|
Score
6.93
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Dark in color and character, this unfiltered Black IPA exudes caramel and roasted notes while highlighting a bold hop bitterness and citrus aroma. Apollo, centennial, and citra hops intermingle with the deep complexities provided by copious amounts of caramel malts and de-husked roasted barley.
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7/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Draught from Spring Lounge. Poured a subtle dark, not a lot of head. Nice roastiness and hoppiness. I really like this style.
Tried
on 20 May 2025
at 01:03
7/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Bottled (backlog). More or less black colour, small beige head. Aroma is roasted malts, liquorice and quite much fruity and floral notes. Flavour is quite much the same. Almost like a mix of a bodied IPA and a Porter in a good balance.
Tried
from Bottle
on 31 Oct 2015
at 12:53
9/10
—
Appearance 10
Aroma 9
Flavor 8
Texture 10
Overall 9
Bottle poured into pint glass from Signal Variety, Plaistow NH. Aroma is chocolate, roasted coffee and licorice, slightly smokey. Appearance is dark, dark reddish black (perfect for the blood moon!) at the bottom of the glass, opaque black at the top, with sparkle (where I could see it) and finger-width beige head with good retention and attractive lacing. Taste is rich moderate sweetness with roasty bitterness. Palate is medium-to-full bodied with creamy texture, lively carbonation to remind you you’re not having a porter or a stout and long roasted bittersweet finish. Overall, a fantastic way to take in an eclipse, but would be fantastic otherwise, too. Bravo!
Tried
from Bottle
on 27 Sep 2015
at 21:16
7.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Bottle. Pours black with a small tan head. Smells of luscious ruby red grapefruit, light caramel. Taste is a nice combo of grapefruit, orange, and caramel. Yummy.
Tried
from Bottle
on 12 Feb 2015
at 17:14
6.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 6.5
Pours a rich brown from a bottle. Aroma is roasty, but with some grapefruit and pine. Flavor is a balanced blend of coffee with some grapefruit. Good beer.
Tried
from Bottle
on 26 Dec 2014
at 21:22
6.8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 7
Bottle from Bo Brooks’ Lighthouse Liquors, Baltimore. Near black, with a frothy, off-white, head. Big, plain chocolate character, some toasted malts and plenty of hops in the finish. Good.
Tried
from Bottle
on 23 Oct 2014
at 02:34
6.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 5
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6
Great pour and a good initial smells but doesn’t really follow through. Pours a really dark amber with super awesome head and lacing. Carpet lacing. Finishes with medium bitterness, and a little citrus. Tap at Black Squirrel.
Tried
from Draft
on 03 Aug 2014
at 20:24
7.6/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 6.5
Smell of roasted malt. Black colour, light brown head. Aroma of chocolate, roasted malt, hops, cocoa. Bitter, medium sweet. Soft, medium-rich carbon, ashy palate. Medium body, slightly watery.
Tried
on 04 Jul 2014
at 10:42
5.3/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 5
Texture 6
Overall 5
Off black, amber edges. 2 finger coffee head. Nose is roasty charcoal licorice with a major fruitiness. Chocolate and peat. Very light though. Thin mouthfeel. Pine needle. Finish is maple smoke
Tried
on 28 Jun 2014
at 21:38
7.2/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7
Reviewed from notes.
The appearance had a black body with a quick dissipating tan/off white less than a half finger head, lacing graces the pint glass with some rings around it with a bit of spottiness as it goes down.
The smell had hops up front, coffee coming through fairly strong in a roasty sort of way, light smokiness coming through once it starts warming.
The taste was bittersweet through the hops and coffee, some pine in the back of it, and balanced.
The palate sits about a medium with nothing harsh on the tongue, balanced, dry and bitter aftertaste and finish.
Overall, this is good for its style and great to me.
The appearance had a black body with a quick dissipating tan/off white less than a half finger head, lacing graces the pint glass with some rings around it with a bit of spottiness as it goes down.
The smell had hops up front, coffee coming through fairly strong in a roasty sort of way, light smokiness coming through once it starts warming.
The taste was bittersweet through the hops and coffee, some pine in the back of it, and balanced.
The palate sits about a medium with nothing harsh on the tongue, balanced, dry and bitter aftertaste and finish.
Overall, this is good for its style and great to me.
Tried
on 28 Mar 2014
at 20:20