BrewDog B Side: Black IPA

B Side: Black IPA

 

BrewDog in Ellon, Aberdeenshire, Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

  IPA - Black / Cascadian Dark Regular Out of Production
Score
7.05
ABV: 5.2% IBU: - Ticks: 64
Here at BrewDog, we love the hidden tracks; the unexpected discoveries. The B-Sides.

Take our 10HL pilot kit. It is the place our brewers let those imaginations fly and lay down unpredictable, creative tracks. Our brew team use it to dial in our small-scale experimental brews, each then finding its way to our bars as a draught-only special release.

However, we felt the naming convention used previously – Pilot Brew XXX – didn't fully reflected the ingenuity displayed by our brewers. To depict this a little better we now release each pilot brew as a bona fide B-Side; alongside our production-batch launches that take place at our bars, you’ll be able to discover a flip side in the form of one of our B-Side releases.
 

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6.8
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7

Old rating from 27-11-16 - As Prototype Black IPA, 330ml bottle, it pours a near black colour with a small foamy beige head. Aromas of chocolate & fruits. Taste is light sweet, fruits, chocolate, roasted nut & Simcoe hops. Medium body, Aftertaste is a medium bitterness.

Tried from Bottle on 07 Jun 2025 at 20:21


7.5
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

Tap @ Beer Temple. Deep dark brown color. Caramel and hints of licorice and roast in the aroma. Roastbitter citric flavor. Some tart notes. Roasty finish. Nice.

Tried from Draft on 26 Aug 2019 at 12:05


6.6
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

330 ml bottle into glass. 12 months past BBF date. Very dark red/brown beer with foamy tan-coloured head. Nose is citric fruit and caramel. Good body, smooth texture. Full of malty goodness with hints of bitterness in the finish. Very nice sessioner.

Tried from Bottle on 04 Feb 2018 at 11:05


8.4
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 7.5

2016 catch up - Bottle at home as the Prototype - A very good black IPA. Nice malt and a great kick of hops, alongside a great mouthfeel. Would happily drink this again and again and again

Tried from Bottle on 04 May 2017 at 07:30


6.9
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

From a 330ml bottle on 22/11/2016 (labelled Prototype Black IPA). Pours a very dark brown with little in the way of head. The nose is quite pleasant - primarily fruity hops. Taste wise, it has some mild roastiness, a good dash of sweet stone fruit, and a moderate hop bitterness at the back. Medium bodied with average carbonation. Decent enough but unremarkable.

Tried from Bottle on 22 Nov 2016 at 04:19


7.6
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Bottle, 330 ml, courtesy of Miro B. Shared with JFK10000. Pours black, medium beige head. Roasted malty, citrus hoppy, pine, cocoa, sweet with bitter finish. Smooth, Medium bodied. Nice one.

Tried from Bottle on 06 Nov 2016 at 14:37


6.5
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

Draft. Dark clear maroon color, tan head. Aroma of burnt toast. Taste is soft roast. OK.

Tried from Draft on 05 Jul 2016 at 13:47


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

Sample from tap at ’BeerTemple’ during Carnivale Brettanomyces 2016 dark bown to black (cola like) with a kaki head. Aroma of laurel, soft, roasted malts, liquorice, pine. Taste of laurel, soft, roasted and burnt malts, medium sweetness, medium bitterness, thin texture, medium body --- Beer merged from original tick of B-Side Black IPA on 24 May 2018 at 15:06 - Score: 7

Tried from Draft on 27 Jun 2016 at 13:33


7.2
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8

At BeerTemple in Amsterdam, from tap. Thick, creamy, lacing, off-white head, black robe with burgundy edges. Aroma of wet leather, black olive, hazelnut, black pepper, withered garden herbs, parsley, coffee grounds. Cured meat-like umami onset with a subdued dried fig sweetness inside, quite sharpish carbo, nutty and caramelly malt body turning roasted bitter in the end, meeting with herbal and lightly grapefruity, aromatic hop bitterness, drying but still ending juicy. Very nice, but could have been more complex and a tad more aromatically hoppy perhaps.

Tried from Draft on 27 Jun 2016 at 13:23


7.5
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

THANKS for sharing RB people! Sampled draft @ Beer Temple during Carnivale Brettanomyces 2016! Black, red hue. Nose is big cacao, roast, herbal, cacao, coffee grounds. Taste is mildly herbal, licorice, milk chocolate, quite bitter in a herbal, tad vegetable way, milky. Milky, low roast body. Decent, tad too herbal, tad vegetable, tad too milky with a tad unfitting licorice. This isn’t perfect, it’s a bit messy but it’s a decent beer. Not stellar but decent and enjoyable for sure.

Tried from Draft on 27 Jun 2016 at 12:22