Noonan Black IPA
Smuttynose Brewing Company in Hampton, New Hampshire, United States 🇺🇸
IPA - Black / Cascadian Dark Regular Out of Production|
Score
7.09
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Black IPA doesn’t quite seem to make sense, does it? How can something that’s black also be described as pale? Noonan is our interpretation of a New England original, the Black IPA. Dark like a porter, but hoppy like an IPA, this seemingly contradictory beer style originated in 1994, in Burlington, Vermont by brewer Glenn Walters and under the watchful eye of Greg Noonan. Greg was many things, a brewing pioneer and author, founder of three brewpubs, 2005 Russell Scherer award winner and genealogist. When Greg passed away suddenly, Smuttynose’s brewing team wanted to brew a beer in his memory and this was the result. We hope you find it a worthy tribute as well. Noonan (the beer) looks like an ordinary porter or stout, until you get the pint up to your nose. You can’t avoid the big whiff of piney, herbal and citrusy American hops, but there’s virtually no roasted character. Ponderous, huh? When you take a sip, you’ll notice that the beer doesn’t taste a lot like a porter either. Instead of the expected astringency imparted by dark grains, you’ll find a depth of caramel malts and more American hops. Don’t worry that’s by design; it’s also what we love about the beer.
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7.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
16oz pour at Salty Pig in Boston. Pours a watery black with some creamy, off white head. Nose is malty, toast, caramel, light dried chocolate, hops, citrus rind, light pine. Taste is also a mix, malt, cracker, bread crust, caramel, molasses, pine, lemon, grapefruit. Dry finish.
Tried
on 19 Mar 2013
at 09:05
8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Review from notes, on tap at the White Birch fest this past Aug. Pours a solid dark brown bordering on black with a smallish tan head that shows moderate retention and minimal lace. Smells of earth and pine, with a chocolate and caramel maltiness that does a fair job standing up to the hop onslaught. Taste is sweet caramel and a bit roasty and chocolaty behind lots of earthy pine and citrus. Medium body and carbonation level with a resinous and slightly chalky mouthfeel. I went back to this several times that night, this is a great brew, it should be a full time beer!
Earlier Rating: 12/17/2011 Total Score: 4.1
Review from notes, on tap at the White Birch fest this past Aug. Pours a solid dark brown bordering on black with a smallish tan head that shows moderate retention and minimal lace. Smells of earth and pine, with a chocolate and caramel maltiness that does a fair job standing up to the hop onslaught. Taste is sweet caramel and a bit roasty and chocolaty behind lots of earthy pine and citrus. Medium body and carbonation level with a resinous and slightly chalky mouthfeel. I went back to this several times that night, this is a great brew, it should be a full time beer!
Earlier Rating: 12/17/2011 Total Score: 4.1
Review from notes, on tap at the White Birch fest this past Aug. Pours a solid dark brown bordering on black with a smallish tan head that shows moderate retention and minimal lace. Smells of earth and pine, with a chocolate and caramel maltiness that does a fair job standing up to the hop onslaught. Taste is sweet caramel and a bit roasty and chocolaty behind lots of earthy pine and citrus. Medium body and carbonation level with a resinous and slightly chalky mouthfeel. I went back to this several times that night, this is a great brew, it should be a full time beer!
Tried
from Draft
on 25 Jan 2012
at 16:58
7.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8
Cask gravity @ GBBF 2011. Pours a black color with a small off-white head. Has a roasted malty hoppy licorice aroma. Fruity malty hoppy bitter grapefruit flavor with hints of licorice. Has a fruity malty hoppy bitter grapefruit finish.
Tried
from Cask
on 03 Nov 2011
at 09:16
7.1/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Cask at GBBF 2011. Black with a small tan head. Fresh hoppy aroma of citrus and grass with a touch of licorice. Citrus and licorice flavour with a somewhat rough grassy hop bitterness, otherwise a very tasty beer
Tried
from Cask
on 17 Oct 2011
at 12:38
7.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
3rd August 2011
GBBF. Cask. Opaque black beer, residual tan head. Light dry palate. Nice mild malt backbone. Pokey green piney hops. Super fresh hop nettley sting - grassy and pretty bitter. Real fresh hop attack. Dry finish. Nice Black IPA.
GBBF. Cask. Opaque black beer, residual tan head. Light dry palate. Nice mild malt backbone. Pokey green piney hops. Super fresh hop nettley sting - grassy and pretty bitter. Real fresh hop attack. Dry finish. Nice Black IPA.
Tried
from Cask
on 17 Sep 2011
at 10:05
8.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Cask at GBBF 2011, Day 2. Pours opaque brown with a bubbly, tan head. Big, raw hop aroma, pine, slight roast. Medium sweet flavor, plenty of bitterness, notes of citrus and earth, dark roasted malts. Has a bit of a raw edginess to it, which I like. Medium bodied with fine carbonation. Sticky, resinous hop finish, some floral character, more grass and pine. Lingering pine, roast and oily hops. Great stuff.
Tried
from Cask
on 15 Sep 2011
at 14:47
7.5/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Cask (gravity) @ GBBF 2011, Great British Beer Festival, Earls Court Exhibition Centre, London, England.Unclear dark black brown colour with a small, fizzy, fair lacing, mostly diminishing, off-white head. Aroma is moderate malty, caramel, moderate to heavy hoppy, grass, pine, grapefruit, sharp. Flavor is moderate to heavy sweet and bitter with a long duration, licorice, dark malt, hoppy. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft to flat. [20110803]
Tried
from Cask
on 13 Sep 2011
at 14:43
6.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Location: Draft at RnH, 8/8/11
Aroma: It has a light nose, slightly hoppy (floral/pine) and some light roast
Appearance: This one has a brown-black pour with a thin tan head atop it
Flavor: The taste is fairly balanced between the pine hops and roasty malts
Palate: The body is medium, with a decent mouthfeel, and a slight dryness to the finish
Overall Impression: Overall, I thought this was a pretty good beer. It wasn't any kind of stand-out, but a fairly solid example of the Black IPA style.
Aroma: It has a light nose, slightly hoppy (floral/pine) and some light roast
Appearance: This one has a brown-black pour with a thin tan head atop it
Flavor: The taste is fairly balanced between the pine hops and roasty malts
Palate: The body is medium, with a decent mouthfeel, and a slight dryness to the finish
Overall Impression: Overall, I thought this was a pretty good beer. It wasn't any kind of stand-out, but a fairly solid example of the Black IPA style.
Tried
from Draft
on 19 Aug 2011
at 15:29