C4 Imperial Black IPA
Free State Brewing Company in Lawrence, Kansas, United States 🇺🇸
IPA - Black / Cascadian Dark Regular|
Score
7.33
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Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
On tap. Light brown-dark brown. A-pine/resin, roasty-medium/dark malt. T-roasty dark malt-cocoa, pine/resin hop bite.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
GABF 2011 - smells freaking awesome - lovely integration of dry, intensely bitter, piney hops and bitter black malts - the flavor is much the same - dry, woody hop bitterness and dry cocoa and woodsmoke - green, piney and citric hops are showcased well - lingering, intense hop spiciness - balanced despite it’s intensity - more please.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8
Sampled on draft at GTMW 2011. Pours a clear copper color with a thin creamy head. Good head retention and lacing. Aroma of peppery and herbal hops with toffeeish malts. The taste is citrus and earthy hops and caramel. Medium bodied with a lingering bitterness. Medium bodied. Nice.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8
From a growler filled 12 days previous. I realize this is way too long to wait to drink a growler, but thought I would rate with the caveat stated right up front. The pour is a hazed brown ruby with a minimal light khaki head. Aroma is fresh pine hops, along with some pleasant dark toasted malt. Mostly about the hops, which are clean and fresh. Bright nose. Taste is resinous pine hops right up front, followed by a lightly char roasted malted and finishing with a chalky grain earthiness which was nice, and quite dry. Nice integration and development of flavors. The palate is really the only place where it seems obvious the beer has been sitting a growler - medium to light bodied, low carbonation level - though with the great clean fresh grainy dry finish, it was hardly noticed. I am pretty hit or miss with this style, but really liked Free State’s take on it.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8.5
I am glad I got to try this on tap @ Angler’s in Lawrence. My expectations were low going in but I was blown away. The color of the beer is pretty damn black, khaki head. Aroma is straight up floral-sweet hop candy. I let my dad smell that beer and even he was blown away and he despises hop-centric beers. However, this is very floral and sweet in a novel and non-traditional hoppy aroma. Of course, the flavor my dad did not enjoy because there is a bigger hit of traditional hops with some of those elements in the aroma rounding it off. There is just a little hint of dark roasted malts that seem to fit nicely. I don’t get an impression that this is an IPA that was turned dark (as a fad) but more like a well constructed hop-centric beer that happens to have dark malts. Very easy to drink and love to smell it.