Can from Geers.
A: hazy black, huge, frothy, beige head.
A: grapefruit peel, pine, roasted onion, liquorice, black olive.
T: sweet-sourish blackberry, citrus zest, pine, toast, umami mushroom.
F: piney & earthy hops, bitter grapefruit, liquorice, coffee.
P: medium body, slick texture, average carbonation.
Quite nice; a bit too much raw liquorice in my experience.

Black IPA by La Source, one of Brussels' most accomplished craft breweries when it comes to imitating U.S. and now global style idioms, hopped with Mosaic, Simcoe and new superstar Strata. Thick and dense, membrane-lacing, pale brownish beige, very moussey head on a very dark chocolate brown beer, as good as black, with just an edge of clear mahogany. Aroma of grapefruit peel, burnt toast, wormwood, roasted walnuts, brown bread crust, freshly crushed black peppercorns, wet leather, salmiak, dried elderberries, unsmoked cigar leaf, freshly grated nutmeg, rainwater, bayleaf, green olive. Cleanish, crisp onset, some 'dried' fruitiness (dried fig, dried apple peel) but low in sweetness with a vague hint at umami (black olive), lively carbonated but in a 'fine-bubbled way' so acceptable for the intended style. Brown-bread-crusty malts quickly shifting to a darker tone, with torrefied character increasing further on, moving into roasted walnut, toast and eventually coffee grounds - but then this wormwoody, piney, dried grapefruit peel- and toasted onion-like hoppiness appears and takes over, not entirely perhaps (which should have been the case), but still strong enough to manifest itself in a West Coast-like way, with drying, leafy effect. Alas, it does not last quite long enough to achieve a full black IPA effect: in the end, the earthy, mouth-filling, warming bitterness of roasted malts and grains takes over again. The nose was very promising here, revealing a convincing grapefruity and wormwoody hop character, but as is all too often the case with this genre (especially in Europe), the hops fade too soon and a hoppy porter or stout is what is left. Something beef stock-like lingers amidst the roastiness. Black IPA really must be the most difficult style to master in terms of balance: the roasted malts can be displayed at first, but at a certain point the (New World) hop character should take over completely to convey a full IPA experience - and many of them fail at this point, at least in my personal view. This one too feels like a hoppy porter more than a true black IPA - which feels like a missed opportunity, especially considering the aromatic potential of the 'chique' hop varieties used here. More hops next time guys, not for bitterness 'per se' but certainly for aroma - this is close, but no cigar, even if it comes closer than many other Euro BIPAs I tasted in all those years. Have a point for honouring the rare stag beetle, though...

33cl can, BB 28/05/2024, batch# P772.
Noire, col épais crémeux blanc-cassé/café au lait bien tenace.
Arôme sur un excellent malté grillé/chocolaté avec une note de biscuité – pungent hop résineux, léger agrumes, petite note de baies de forêts voir de genévrier.
Palais est généreux sur les malts dont de belles notes de toasté et de chocolat. Le tout balancé par un apport houblonné tropical – pin résineux mais plus sur le volet terreux de sous-bois conifères, pointe de poudre de chili, melon et un cacao qui revient en fin de bouche. Version toujours aussi solide d’un style pas assez souvent disponible.