8

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

Keg at Craft. Black coloured with small beige head with tiny bubbles. Aroma is fruity, orange and lime, hint of b.o./cat pee hops and pine, bit of bread and biscuit and quite a bit of alcohol. Taste is initially hoppy sharp bitterness, then quite sherbert fruity, lots of roasted malt, biscuit. Also, plenty of boozy sweetness and with a bitter hoppy finish with also some roasted malt. Very full bodied and with a real prickle in the mouth.

5

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 4

11.04.2015, 0,65l bottle (5-6 years old) shared with friends:
Tiny shortlasting head. Aroma is well oxidized, butterscotch, minerals, raisins, chocolate, caramel malts, grass, burnt toffee, candied sugar, paper. Taste is slightly concentrated and well oxidized, butterscotch, grass, caramel malts, raisins, burnt toffee, nuts, paper, chocolate. Medium bitterness, slightly harsh mouthfeel. Interesting, but it's not really aged very well.

9

Backlog

8.4

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

Well-known BIPA by New York’s Southern Tier, 65 cl bomber. Thick, moussy, lacing, pale greyish beige head over a very dark chestnut brown beer with rusty hue, approaching black in general appearance. Lovely sweet malty aroma of chocolate sauce, baker’s chocolate, cappuccino, strong caramel, burnt brown bread, cashew nuts, nougat, adorned with a ’high’ hoppy fragrance of blood orange, mango, mandarin peel, green pepper; other impressions include kahlua-like alcohol, a striking liquorice component getting stronger as it warms up, and very ’natural’ iron well-integrated into the whole. I cannot wait to dive into this. The flavour absolutely meets my high expectations: a deep, noble candied sweetness opens with accents of fig, pear and coconut, very light ’deep’ sourishness and mild meaty umami balance this sweetness to perfection. Carbo is soft, mouthfeel very smooth and slick, gliding over the tongue with a notably oily, velvety texture and leaving behind a lovely deep dark maltiness, caramelly, nutty and very chocolatey, with a bitter chocolate- to even mildly coffeeish roasted bitterish touch in the end; peppery hops show up as expected, with lovely retronasal citrus flesh and mango accents, drying and providing enough balance against the chocolate sweetness, but not quite as strongly bittering as I had expected, though a deep earthy spicy bitterness last for a long time after swallowing. A soothing, deeply warming but nowhere burning glow of kahlua- and bourbon-like alcohol ensues and further accentuates the lovely sweet chocolate maltiness sticking in the throat. A bittersweet black beauty, I’d love to taste this younger when the hops still breathe their aromas at full force, but in this somewhat aged form, I suspect this has become a bit more rustic, consolating on a gloomy December day, and in terms of style, almost imperial porter-like (but with thinner, more lean body) - a style I love as much as I love black IPA. Not cheap, but I’m glad I bought this, I will enjoy this to the last drop.

7.9

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

Bottle received as gift and then promptly spilled about half of it (ugh!). This is a really good black IPA. It pours a very dark, dark brown-black. Aroma of nuts, roasted grain, some hops. Flavor is a great mix of coffee, chocolate, roasted grains, and hops and all combined in a very smooth-drinking beer. Will have to try another of these to make up for losing so much of it to the floor...

8

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Bottle at tasting. Black pour. Aroma of malt, hop, nuts and roast. Taste of roasted malt, mandarine hop, coffee and passion fruit. Very balanced and very tasty.

9.2

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

Bottle from Epsom Circle Market. Aroma is mostly hops and yeast with mild maltiness. Appearance is beautiful, clear, dark dark reddish brown, with 1 finger height beige head, with nice persistent lacing. Taste is more bitter than sweet but is a good balance of both--hoppiness initially and more malty in the long finish. Palate is thick medium-full bodied creamy feel with just about perfect carbonation--maybe a bit to the high side initially, but mellows with time. Overall, nice complexity from the nose to the taste with nice appearance and palate.

8

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

Bottle at home. Pours black, nose is roast malts, fruity pine, taste is dry roasted, juicy fruit, bitter. --- Beer merged from original tick of Iniquity Imperial Black Ale (IBA) on 31 Mar 2013 at 20:48 - Score: 8. Original review text: Bottle. Bitter, fruit, roasted flavour.