Pitch black with a very tall tan head. Roasted grains, bitter cherries, dark chocolate, cocoa and coffee. Medium bodied with medium carbonation and a bitter chocolate/cherry aftertaste. Excellent.

Danish BIPA American style. Thick, densely ’membranous’ lacing, moussy, creamy, pale greyish beige head over a blackish beer which reveals its chestnut brown hue only on the edges, hazy. Strong hop forward, ’American IPA’ aroma of blood orange, lychee, overripe strawberry, hemp, dried grapefruit peel, toasted brown bread, blackberry, toffee, teriyaki, pecan nuts, some liquorish candy, haemoglobin - a tad more new World hop fragrance than dark malts in the nose, but very seductively so and both play the BIPA game on a high level. Lush onset of tropical fruit sweetness (lychee, mangostan, papaja, lots of citrus peel freshness) perfectly balanced with a blackberry sourish undercurrent and light umami hints (beef broth), but little saltiness contrary to its more famous sister Black Malts & Body Salts, though a subtle silt effect does linger on the sides of the tongue. Finely tingling carbo perfectly suited for the style, supple, resinous, slick body; lovely caramelly malt sweetness pops up for a brief moment, even with a volatile honeyish accent, but then goes into toasted bittering effects, though refrains from becoming overly roasted - it becomes bittering just when the wave of powerful American hops come in, with strong retronasal citrus, tropical flower and lychee effects as well as a deep, resinous, very long-lasting, spicy, tonic-water- and grapefruit-like bitterness, drying the back of the mouth almost completely and yet somehow remaining elegant; alcohol remains as good as completely hidden. A narrow trace of the caramelly malt sweetness creeps through and prevents the hop bitterness from becoming all too harsh, though it sure remains vigorous and pretty intense. Black IPA, or perhaps better put: Cascadian dark ale, is a relatively new style which took me a while to grasp, but now that I know what it is all about, it has become one of my favorites, and this is an exquisite example, in my opinion. I liked this even more than Black Malts & Body Salts, which is arguably To Öl’s most famous achievement in this style. The IPA hop profile is there in full glory and is clearly the star of the show here, but the black, bittering roastedness has not been forgotten and keeps in pace with the hops very well. Recommended to anyone ’into’ black IPA.

0,33l bottle at home from Drinkshop.sk. BB 19/01/2018. black color, medium big coffee-colored head. good lacing. smells of pines, coffee, light roast, some herbs, some chocolate. very nice smell. full body, soft carbonation, slick / almost creamy mouthfeel. tastes of pines, grapefruity, citric, some grass, herbs, after a while some roast, coffee, spices, light licorice, a bit soapy, peppery. finishes dry with some roast and some bitterness and notes of coffee and pines. very good stuff. great balance between hop and roast notes. drinks very nice. Roast 3,5/5, Bitterness 3/5