Obsidian
La Source Beer Co. in Laken / Laeken, Brussels Capital Region, Belgium 🇧🇪
IPA - Black / Cascadian Dark Special|
Score
7.22
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Collaboration avec Hoppy House.
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Joren Monnens (3488) ticked Obsidian from La Source Beer Co. 4 years ago
tderoeck (22679) reviewed Obsidian from La Source Beer Co. 4 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 10 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9.5
23/XII/20 - 33cl can from La Source webshop, shared @ home, BB: 16/III/20 (2020-1146)
Clear dark brown to black beer, small creamy beige head, little stable, adhesive, leaving a nice lacing in the glass. Aroma: oh my, yest, super fresh, dank hops, thinking simcoe or chinook maybe? Sweaty feet, grapefruit, good roast, piny notes. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: oh yes, super piny, bit resinous, very good bitterness, super fresh hops, nice roast, bit malty, grapefruit, very bitter. Aftertaste: bit of a hop burn, cheesy hops, more resinous, very bitter, hiding the dark roast notes a bit, those come out afterwards, after the hop bitterness. Wow, great stuff!
Alengrin (11561) reviewed Obsidian from La Source Beer Co. 4 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
In spite of that whole “haze craze” in IPA land from recent years, you do not often see the New England idiom applied to a black IPA (or ‘Cascadian dark ale’), I guess due to the commercial decline of black IPA in general; this Obsidian by Brussels craft brewer La Source is therefore an interesting brew, and the first of its particular kind in Belgium to my knowledge. Thanks 77ships! Thick and foamy, yellowish beige, membrane-lacing head on a blackish beer with cloudy chestnut brown hue. Aroma of pine resin, young spruce shoots, pink grapefruit, dried chilies, toasted onion, black peppercorns, toast, black olive, bladderwort, dried juniper berries, orange peel. Dry onset, hint of umami (dried porcini), some dried blueberry sweetishness but very restrained, softish carb, oily body; hard-caramelly and toasted-walnutty malt core evolving quickly into strong hoppiness, very piney and oniony with a nice grapefruity lace as well as spicy, peppercorn-like bitterness – and even quite a “hop burn” in the end. Spicy and bready yeasty notes linger – clearly this is what represents the ‘haziness’, but otherwise this beer is hopped like a classic BIPA and therefore bitter, piney and peppery; I love a good black IPA like that, for sure, but considering the premise I was actually more expecting juiciness and waves of tropical fruit, like in a NEIPA… Perhaps the genre simply is not suited for that kind of effects, due to the roasted bitter character? I would love to see La Source or another global-thinking craft brewer in Belgium make another attempt at it, in any case.
Sebletitje (15832) reviewed Obsidian from La Source Beer Co. 5 years ago
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7.5
33can can, BB 16/03/2021. Lot# P168.
Brune foncée avec un trouble marqué rappelant des excès de levure mais sans jamais partir sur le noir/ et l'obsidienne, col épais crémeux café au lait.
Arôme hop goodness, résineux marqué, pin, rétro herbacé. Nez rappelant fortement les classiques d'Oregon - Deschutes vient en tête. Niveau malté, retrouve de fines effluves de malts, caramel, grillé, fin chocolaté qui heurtent aux houblons - touche aussi sur le pamplemousse.
Palais est plaisant, épais et soyeux avec une belle touche de malts oscillant vers le grillé, chocolaté.
Le tout est agrémenté par divers apports houblonnés qui confèrent des notes fines herbacé et agrumes/pamplemousse rosé (effet Talus?) avec un fini que je trouve plaisant au premier abord mais un peu trop axé sur l'épicé/levure en fin de bouche alors que la bière commence à se réchauffer avec un possible trop plein de levure - expliquant peut être ce côté très trouble de la bière.