Backlog

Italian black IPA, the first tick of my trip to Sweden this week, at an Italian restaurant in Södermalm, Stockholm. Very thick and foamy, pale yellowish beige, cobweb-lacing, extremely stable head on a black beer with hazy dark purplish-brown edges. Aroma of toasted walnuts, dried wormwood leaves, bitterroot, coffee grounds, black peppercorns, unsugared black chocolate, chicory, dried thyme, black olives, pine resin, cigar tobacco. Clean onset, refraining from explicit sweetness as is to be expected from a good Cascadian dark ale, sourish and very spritzy in its carbonation, rather stinging; some dried fruit notes hovering over early signs of firm hop bitterness. Smooth, very toasted nut-like malt core, black toasted (burnt) bread, chicory-like roastedness in the end with its bitterness amplified - rather than taken over - by a very firm, very rooty and quinine-like, everlasting, tonic water hop bitterness, very piney and resiny, blocking nearly all malt slickness. Very bitter, a bit overcarbonated perhaps, but in all respects a more than exemplary black IPA, that can easily work as a model for the style in general. Another testimony of the Italians' determination to master every single craft beer style, this was a very pleasant surprise to a BIPA lover like myself.

Bottle split at the Hackobock tasting, thanks to Jacob & Co, 24/11/16. Extremely dark mahogany brown with a decent khaki cap. Nose is pine needle, ripe citric flesh, spice, earthy hops, light charring and roast. Taste comprises bitter roast, charr, pine, tropical fruit shreds, dried fruits, earthy. Medium bodied, fine carbonation, semi drying close peppered with earthy hop bitterness. Decent CDA.

24th November 2016
Grand tasting at Craft Islington with Hackobock. Thanks to Jacob. Light haze on this amber beer, tidy pale tan head. Palate is airy, dry and has modest fine carbonation. Thin dark malts, some dark chocolate. Tangy pine. Mild hop spice. Red berries underneath. Light semi dry finish. Serviceable.

Bottle, thx to Cunningham. Wow, this one was close to scaring the hell out of me, it’s been a very long time since I cracked open a bottle with as loud a bang as this one gave me. Was of course expecting serious gushing, but fortunately nothing happened. Well, it has a large, diminishing, fluffy beige head in the glass. Unclear deep reddish brown to black body. The aroma is quite roasted, close to burned, some dark dried fruits blends in, and a distinct piney hoppyness is in the back. There’s some yeasty notes too, making me think it wasn’t as finished fermenting as it should’ve been when bottled. It’s quite bitter on the palate, mostly of the hoppy kind, but there’s also some roasted malts kind of bitterness. Close to harsh. A tad effervescent for my liking, but it gets better as the beer have some time in the glass. Full body and a certain warmth. Roasted malts, coffee grit, dates and some pine cones and yeast notes in the flavor, leading to a roasted, piney and bitter finish with less room for the coffee and dates. Some licorice too actually. Well, it’s sure a decent brew, although a bit heavy on the carbonation and that it’s too roasted for a Black IPA I think. 161230

Bottle shared at the Hackobock tasting at Craft Islington. Thanks to Jacob et al. It pours cloudy dark reddish - brown with a small beige head. The aroma is quite soft, tangy ,fruit, little bit sour, wood, leather and a hint of vanilla. The taste is soft, bitter- sweet, tangy, rather woody, earth, leather, toffee, vanilla, dirt and resin with a woody finish. Medium body and average carbonation. Found this a bit drying and woody. Fair.

Bottle shared at the Craft beer Co tasting 24/11/2016. With thanks to Jacob and Co. A dirty brown coloured pour with a lasting tan head. Aroma is strawberry shortcake.. Nutty, toffee. Flavour is composed of semi sweet dirty grains, coffee. Dirty pine.. Palate is semi sweet moderate carbonation. Grainy, grassy.

Bottle share in London - thanks to the broa. Pours reddish brown with a creamy, off-white head. The nose has some milk cocoa, orange zest. Medium sweet flavour with light roast, lots of zesty citrus, brown bread. Medium bodied with average carbonation. Good balance in the finish, more well toasted brown bread, light cocoa, light roast. Solid.

Bottle from Systembolaget, e-order in June 2016. Black with a tan head. Aroma of roasted chocolate, yeast, some grapefruit and toffee. Similar taste. Some licorice in the medium bitter finish. A decent one.