Black Sand Imperial IPA

Bottle. Amber-brown beer with a dark cream head. Grapefruit and light caramel aroma. Grapefruit and light pine flavor with light caramel. Medium bodied. Good bitterness. Grapefruit and light pine lingers with light caramel and light dark malts.

Draft @ the brewery. Pours a dark amber color with a small off-white head. Has a fruity malty grassy citrus hoppy aroma. Fruity malty citrus hoppy bitter flavor. Has a fruity malty grassy citrus hoppy bitter finish.

Bottle from Total Wine in Huntington Beach, CA. Pours Pours dark copper with a slight off-white head. Aroma is malt and hop. Strong aroma. Betting on pine for hop. Med + body. Flavor is rather roasty malt with lots of hop. I think the Simcoe is contributing pine, but there’s plenty of citrus. So it’s finishing malty, citrus and bitter. Something to test the taster.

14th July 2014: large sample at The Clay Oven, Irvine Orange County at a beer and Indian food evening. Pours a dark amber brown with a red hue when held to the light, off-white to beige head. The nose was both malty and hoppy, semi-sweet molasses vieing with mild citrus notes for your attention. Bitter with a centre of maltiness in the mouth, good blend of flavours which hide the alcohol nicely. A complex and interesting beer which crosses a few style boundaries in every sip.

Bottle. Pours with a clear bronze hued body with an off-white head that slowly fades. Aromas are of big tropical fruits, citrus, mango, pine and resin along side way too much sticky caramel and nutty/astringent tannic extracted malt. I am a bit torn. I love the super fresh hop profile, but despise the amount of sweet crystal malt that I am smelling. Flavors are tropical fruit, but a near cloying sweetness with massive body. This beer (about 2 weeks old at the max) is saved purely by how fresh it is. Grass, mango, papaya, low bitterness. Huge body with massive amounts of caramel. Lively carbonation, full bodied. Great hop profile, but WHY would you add so much dextrin malt?