Tag Archive for: Black IPA

Bastard Brag Black IPA – ABV 7.2%

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Taking its name a version of poker, this light-bodied Black IPA is drinkable and balanced with roasted dark malts and citrusy Simcoe and Centennial hops.

Look: Clear and dark with nice amount of lacing with a creamy beige head.

Aroma: Roasted malt well balanced with light citrus interludes

Taste: Malt, charcoal, grapefruit and pine, combined well in an easy drinking beer with a nice dry finish.

Food Pairing: This beer works well with smoky, spicy flavours. Try it with Mexican food, or a paella made with chorizo.

Verdict: Bastard Brag’s full back story includes being initially brewed as batch 333, inspired by the version of poker favoured at the By The Horns brewery – in which three 3’s is the strongest hand – and this is a full house of an IPA.

Syd Strongs Black IPA – ABV 7.1%

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Originally a collab with Brewdog, this full-bodied Black IPA hits hard with the spiciness of rye plus citrus pine notes, but manages to keep an almost porter-like smoothness.

Look: This full-bodied Black IPA pours with a thick tan head.

Aroma: Roasted malt combined with citrus and pine the hops.

Taste: It has the smooth mouthfeel of a porter, but with lots of spiciness the rye. Spice eventually gives way to a nice velvety finish and thirst-quenching bitterness the hops.

Verdict: Totally delicious and very moreish – a fitting memorial to Syd Strongs, a long-gone hairdresser’s on Camden High Street.

Carbon Black IPA – ABV 6.8%

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Light-bodied, herby and refreshing, this is a great example of a Black IPA a brewery that is growing in reputation.

Look: Fixed Wheel Carbon Black pours with a nice tan head.

Aroma: Big juicy scents of grapefruit and pine.

Taste: Roasted malt to balance out the pine and citrus, and a nice bitter finish with just a hint of herbs.

Food Pairing: This is a terrific beer for pairing with fatty meats. Try drinking it with a plate of sticky sweet BBQ ribs.

Verdict: Plant Earth needs carbon to survive. Say no more.

In the Dark we Live Black IPA – ABV 7.2%

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A pitch-black pour moves through a blackberry and dark chocolate aroma to a fig taste and a summery pine finish – this beer isn’t dark at all; it’s a rainbow.

Look: This beer lives up to its name: it pours pitch black in the glass with a thin beige head.dark chocolate

Aroma: Intense pine with some grapefruit and some berries those Mosaic, Columbus and Simcoe hops.

Taste: Full bodied and comple, the taste is malt, coffee and  before the fruit comes through with blackberry and fig plus a big resinous finish the hops.

Food Pairing: Black IPAs are versatile when it comes to pairing with food; try pairing this with a charcoal grilled steak and salty triple cooked chips.

Verdict: A quite brilliant example of a beer in this style. We want to live in the dark, too.

Imperial Black IPA – ABV 7.5%

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Fresh hop aromas, pine crispness, orange zest and bitter lime peel taste with lingering forest fruit and candied red fruits – this is a black-belt Black IPA.

Look: Very dark, almost jet-black with a pale tan headthat just clings to the side of the glass, and medium carbonation.

Aroma: Strong starting notes of pine and tropical fruits plus some berries and strawberry jam.

Taste: Red berries move to centre stage accompanied with stone fruits. Still some background orange zing and zest of lemon; long, roasted malt and bitter finish and full bodied.

Verdict: For something so dark this tastes like Mediterranean sunshine.

Agent of Evil – ABV 7%

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This Black IPA / Cascadian Dark may ‘celebrate the Dark Side of the Force’ but the New World Hops positively shine through in a smooth, crisp and drinkable ale.

Look: Pours a deep black-brown with lasting lacing and off-white head.

Aroma: Smokey roasted dark malts with piney hop accents and some light orange zest and pineapple fruit notes.

Taste: Caramel, chocolate and biscuit sweetness balanced with crisp bitterness on the palate. Medium bodied, velvety mouthfeel and a lingering bitter finish.

Verdict: Well balanced, fine depth and smooth. This is an Agent of Evil we’d happily side with.

Necropolis – ABV 8.2%

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Best Before Date April2018 but is aging nicely!

Necropolis, is an Imperial India Black Ale. Expect a strong aroma of heavy tropical fruits and viscous malts. The flavour brings all of this promise into a complex cauldron where a perfect mouthfeel meets bittered chocolate malts and a full hop cacophony of jungle fruits.

Mets Black – ABV 7.0%

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A forest-inspired black IPA brewed with hand picked spruce tips and forest blueberries.

Taste: A rich citrus hop character and intense lemony touch spruce tips hit the tongue first. Berries and red fruits – blueberries, raspberries, and redcurrant come through, balanced by an assertive bitterness. Slight coffee notes compliment a rich caramel maltiness.