Sampled between ratebeer and brewver, so no real specific notes taken. I remeber this one being very balanced. Subtile intensity, but a seriously good start for your beer-evening !

I Draught /I White head, gone fast over practically black, brown beer. Roast, faint (cigarette) ashes. Bit of I zoete drop /I. Quite bitter, and more roasted than most black IPA/IPL. Finish is more classical dry hopbales. Quite slick, light to medium bodied, long-lasting flavours. Seems a bit undecided, not sure of its intentions. In the end, OK.

quasi scura discreta schiuma piacevole nota maltato leggero torrefattore buona luppolatura media secchezza

27 April 2019. At Zythos Bierfestival. Deputy Taster: Anke. Cheers to Ama Deke, Erwin, John & Meeki! Hazy dark brown, lasting, foamy, slowly thinning, tan head. Aroma of toast, roasted nuts, raisin, fig, burnt caramel, orange peel. Taste is light to medium malty sweet, restrained caramel & chocolate, fruity accents of raisin & fig, subtle bitterness in the form of a hint of black tea, toasty & walnutty edge, leading to a dry, earthy hoppy, subduedly malty finish where toast, caramel & fruit rinds linger. Medium body, slick-creamy texture, soft carbonation. Interesting brew by the Ministry, daring choice and well executed.

Tasted in 'avant-première' in Ghent (poured by the brewer himself) but officially only released during ZBF in Leuven and tasted again there. The bottom-fermented equivalent of a black IPA, this black India lager shows a thinnish and open, mousy, pale beige ring of a head and deep dark chocolate brown robe, blackish in general appearance, but not quite. Lovely nose of toasted pine nuts, cedar oil, dried grapefruit peel, caramel, green peppercorns, 'fondant' chocolate, touches of marijuana and cigar tobacco. Clean onset, restrained in sweetness with a dash of dried fig and unripe banana, very slick with medium carbonation, smooth nutty-toasty malt bittersweetness eventually tilted towards bitter when the toasty accent is highlighted by a spicy, grapefruity and mildly piney hop bitterness, adding a long bitter pepperiness that quenches the thirst very well. The 'commercial' version turns out to be a much more streamlined, smoothened out 'reworking' of the test batch, which was less balanced between malts and hops and much more directed towards the hops, with a very peppery, literally 'piquant' hop punch to it. Could have stayed the way it was for me personally, but it has remained a very well-crafted, solid black IPL - and one of the first of those in Belgium. I hope this will make the Ministry of Belgian Beer even more noticed in Ghent and surroundings and I will certainly revisit this if I come across it again.

Imported from my RateBeer account as 13 Black Indian Pale Lager (by The Ministry Of Belgian Beer):
Aroma: 8/10, Appearance: 4/5, Taste: 8/10, Palate: 3/5, Overall: 17/20, MyTotalScore: 4/5

28/IV/19 - sample @ Zythos Bierfestival 2019 (Leuven), BB: n/a - (2019-651) Thanks to nathanvc, 77ships & Anke for sharing today's beers!
Clear dark brown beer, solid creamy off-white to light beige head, stable, bit adhesive. Aroma: nice tropical fruits, hoppy, some citrus notes, bit resinous, good! MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: bitter, soft roast, some tropical fruits, hoppy, dry. Aftertaste: more bitterness, bit resinous, decent stuff, some tropical fruits. Nice one, I really liked this one a lot!

Very dark brown with thin head. Aroma and flavour have a lot of fruity hop notes. Very flavoursome and nicely bitter in the finish.