Shadowplay
Steel City Brewing in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England 🏴
Brewed at/by: Little Ale CartIPA - Black / Cascadian Dark Regular Out of Production
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Score
7.08
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Brewing a proper black IPA requires very different ingredients than making a stout despite the beers looking identical; the dark malt needs to be de-husked to minimise the burnt flavour meaning Weyermann Carafa-Spezial, from Bamberg in Franconia, is the only real option, then you need a good dose of flavoursome pale malt to hold it all together plus a whole shed-load of resinous American hops to add the bitterness and hop aromatics these beers demand.
Having studied (OK, drank) plenty of commercial examples whilst in Portland, Oregon, and consulted brewers about the techniques and ingredients required, we’re now ready for our first attempt at a Black IPA - or Cascadian Dark Ale - and are confident that it’ll be an absolute beast of a beer! It finished at 5.6% and 116 IBU so expect something rather tasty...
Having studied (OK, drank) plenty of commercial examples whilst in Portland, Oregon, and consulted brewers about the techniques and ingredients required, we’re now ready for our first attempt at a Black IPA - or Cascadian Dark Ale - and are confident that it’ll be an absolute beast of a beer! It finished at 5.6% and 116 IBU so expect something rather tasty...
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7.6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8.5
Bottle at a tasting. Pours dark brown, a bit flat. Heavy citrus hops in the nose, some pine resin, some chocolatey roast. Medium sweet flavor, dry and roasty, with notes of cocoa, along with heavy and sticky hops, giving medium to strong bitterness. Medium bodied with almost no carbonation. Big, sticky finish, some good roast in there, mild charred tobacco. Some cheese in the nose, and I like it. Oily body, too. Nice beer.
Tried
from Bottle
on 29 Nov 2011
at 16:00
6.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Black with a small off-white head. Aroma of licorice, roast malt and ash with a fruity touch of citrus. Sweetish dark malty flavour with avery hoppy finish
Tried
on 20 Nov 2011
at 12:44
7.5/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Handbottled from Gazza @ ChrisOs.Clear dark brown colour with a average, frothy, fair lacing, mostly diminishing, off-white head. Aroma is moderate to heavy malty, roasted, chocolate, dark malt, moderate hoppy, grapefruit, crispy green hops. Flavour is moderate sweet and moderate to heavy bitter with a long to average duration, roasted, dark roasted, coffee, hoppy. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft. [20110806]
Tried
from Bottle
on 04 Oct 2011
at 12:15
6.5/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6
London Week, 2011. Pours unclear amber with a small white head. Coffee, fruit and some vague oxidized notes. Roast, caramel and hops. Smooth.
Tried
on 26 Aug 2011
at 02:28
8.2/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Cask, gravity at Merton Winter Beer Festival 04.02.11 Pours black with some reddish glints and with a light beige head on top. Aroma is quite big hoppiness but there is also some roasted notes and a goodly lacing of decent cocoa powder. In fact the latter was what I also liked in the mouth and whilst I really enjoyed that clean crisp green juicy hoppy bite I also liked the interplay with the nice smooth but dark cocoa richness that sat on the tongue. Overall a great beer and vying for my festival favourite with the Crouch Vale Pioneer. Great stuff again Gazza! A8 A5 T8 P4 Ov16 4.1
Tried
from Cask
on 07 Feb 2011
at 00:20