581. New Glarus Black Top Black IPA

More New Glarus. Which is always special. And as with the last large influx of New Glarus beers, I have Veronica to thank. Which I do. Profusely. We’ll add this one to an ever-growing list that includes Cherry Stout, Staghorn Octoberfest, Saison, Raspberry Tart, Belgian Red, and Fat Squirrel Brown Ale. Here’s to former students that reward me with beer.

Black Top pours a crystal clear chocolate brown with a creamy eggshell head that has excellent retention; there are also garnet highlights from the light through the glass. In the nose, there is evergreen and the fresh, bright pine sap of newly-cut Douglass fir, followed by a hint of creamy roast and bread crust. Flavors open with chocolate, brown sugar, and toast before the pine and evergreen assert themselves in the middle. There are also hints of roastiness, licorice, and molasses in the middle and onto into the finish, which features a lingering spicy resin bitterness along with a soft twang from the roast malt that leaves an almost minty feel on the back of the throat. The carbonation is bright but gentle; it rounds the beer on the tongue, and carries the roast malt flavor from the middle into the finish. The citrus in the nose that the first couple of bottles had has fallen by the wayside, but I think I like it better without it: the evergreen, roast, and dark sugar flavors play well off one-another, creating a delightful beer just short of aggressive. This is one of the more approachable and enjoyable Black IPAs I’ve had—I would happily drink this all evening long. The bitterness is prominent enough to clean the palate with each sip, and yet still allows the myriad of other flavors to play across the profile of the beer. Excellent job, New Glarus.

From the bottle: “We invite you to discover this newest beer style Black IPA. Political debate rages over the origins of this jet black beer as both coasts feel they deserve credit. Our Black Top is a pleasant road connecting Villages and Communities statewide on a ride of Black IPA discovery. Expect this beer to pour a hop forward jet black brimming with aromatic bitterness. Brewmaster Dan skillfully weaves molasses and chocolate malt undertones with a soaring rush of clean citrus and pine hop notes, to deliver a drinkable Black IPA. Savor Black Top, like Wisconsin’s miles of licorice ribbons of ink that meander through armies of corn and bovine fields. Enjoy the journey on a road less traveled.”

ABV: 6.9%

Oh, Robert Frost.

(11/29/2013)

549. Flat 12 Bierworks Nunmoere ABA

Another trip to Indianapolis for cyclo-cross means another trip to Flat 12. This time we packed food in, and spent some time hanging out in the tap room so we could sample more of their beers. Our consensus: Flat 12 beers are clean, dry, and well-attenuated across the board. And also super drinkable. We were going to try the Lacto-Matic Milk Stout and compare, as it seemed like the best candidate to have some residual body, but the keg blew right before we went up to get samples. So it will have to wait until next time. Our last beer from Flat 12 was Half-Cycle IPA, which was delicious.

Nunmoere pours a crystal clear dark chocolate with orange

Run that hill!

highlights; the head is a creamy tan with good retention that re-rouses easily. The nose is a clean mix of pine, herbal, and roast; at first seems like it won’t work, but it quickly starts to grow on you. While clean, it is also surprisingly pungent—Jeff described it as a fig that had been charcoal-roasted to a crisp accompanied by a subtle metallic tang. There is also a touch of roast creaminess amongst the evergreen hop aromas. Flavors start with roasted caramel and chocolate in the front, with pine and evergreen hop flavor helping transition into the bitterness of the middle. There is a subtle biscuit with the caramel as the beer heads into the final third, with resin hop bitterness, chocolate, coffee, and roast the predominant flavors, and a long lingering bitterness—while not especially bright and clean, it is still quite enjoyable. The body is medium, lightly chewy, and rounded—it is uncluttered, but still has a residual maltiness that helps carry the aggressively hopped body, lending support to the roast and bitterness that carries the beer. As well, the charcoal roast and hop bitterness pair especially well in this beer. This is the closest to a well-hopped lighter-bodied stout that we’ve seen in a Black IPA, much more so that Sixpoint’s Diesel—the flavors are brighter and more distinct with an almost aggressive but balanced relationship between the roast and bitterness. Delicious, but not for the faint of heart.

We also tried two of the 12 Beers of Christmas series, the Glazed Ham Porter and the Brandy Walkabout. The Glazed Ham Porter is good, but spiced, which means I am contractually obliged to complain about it. You all know my feelings on spices in beer. I will say that the spices are in balance with the beer, which is tantamount to me saying that I like it. The Brandy Walkabout was interesting: it was their normal Galaxy single hop pale ale aged on brandy-infused oak spirals. The vanilla and oak cut down on the overall hop flavor, and created a more distinctly smooth and creamy mouthfeel. I like the initial hop bite in the Walkabout Pale Ale, but this version does cut down on some of the sweeter malt flavors in the body—honey and caramel—that tend to get in the way. Choosing between the two versions of Walkabout would be hard, though, so I’ll just let my comments stand.

From the Flat 12 website: “Don’t let the color deceive you, this beer is lighter than it looks and packs a big hop punch. Loaded with 5 different American hops, Nunmoere is a complex bland of roasted malts and fragrant hops.”

ABV: 6.5%

IBU: 78

(12/16/2012)

548. Sixpoint Diesel

Each dawn is clear
Cold air bites the throat.

Thick frost on the pine bough

Leaps from the tree snapped by the deisel

The above are the opening lines from the eighth poem in the “Logging” section of Gary Snyder’s Myths and Texts; it is also the excerpt Sixpoint uses to keep their poetry-theme going with Diesel. How can anyone not love beer and poetry? Well, I mean, as long as you have a soul. Our previous dalliances with Sixpoint include Apollo, Bengali Tiger IPA,  Righteous Rye, that sweet, Sweet Action, and Signal.

Diesel pours a clear chocolate with some light red highlights and a cafe au lait-colored head that manages to hang around for a while, and even provide some lacing on the glass along the way. It also rouses rather easily when swirled. The nose is a mix of roast and pine, with the pine rather faint and in the background; as it warms, there is also some caramel sweetness and a more pronounced bitterness. Flavors start with roast, caramel, dark chocolate, and a touch of brown sugar, leading into pine and hop bitterness in the middle. The finish is dry and crisp, with residual caramel flavor mixed in with creaminess and even more bitterness; there is also a touch of mineral chalkiness and burnt toast, and maybe a hint of alcohol buried behind the bitterness. The body is thin, with more bitterness than roastiness, and none of the weird sourness found in some of the other Black IPAs we’ve sampled: it strikes us as more Black IPA than stout—even if we were pretending it was a dry stout—regardless of Sixpoint’s description on the website. There is some lingering astringent roast that is the last remaining flavor on the back of the throat—it almost comes across as alcohol heat, if that makes any sense. Nonetheless, a solid beer from a solid brewery: the emphasis on bitterness got good marks from Elli, and I found both the bitterness and the dark flavors with a light body enjoyable and refreshing. Word.

From the can: “On the darkest days of the year, light becomes a luxury. Just when you think you cannot penetrate the darkness. . .SNAP! Light pierces through the roasted pine forest.”

From the Sixpoint website: “This undefinable black brew is part black IPA, part American Stout, but 100% Diesel powered. Robust chocolate and roasted flavors, with thick pine hop flavor and aroma.”

ABV: 6.3%
IBU: 69
SRM: 33

(12/15/2012)

508. Two Beers Heart of Darkness CDA

More perambulations in the Seattle region. Two Beers Brewery is located in a light industrial wearhouse district in south Seattle—just south of the West Seattle freeway. We’ve been enjoying as many of their fine canned products as possible during our time here, so we figured a trip to the brewery was in order. Plus, who doesn’t love poking around? Thus, while this is not our first beer from Two Beers, it is the first one we’ve bothered to inform all you lovely readers about. I hope you don’t take it personally—it’s not you, it’s us. Oh, and let’s be honest—straight up awesome name for today’s beer. Even Joseph Conrad would approve.

Since we got there early, we had to sit in the car for five minutes or so before they opened the tasting room for the day—we didn’t want to start out by pushing our luck barging in, and it was raining (Seattle and rain? No way!). We were the first ones in, and after surveying the beer offerings, Elli went with the Echo IPA while I opted for the Heart of Darkness CDA—Cascadian Dark Ale for all of you that don’t know—it’s just a black IPA with a fancier name. Heart of Darkness was a luscious deep chocolate with a tan head; the nose was a mix of spicy resin and evergreen hops coupled with sweet caramel and a touch of roast/oatmeal. Flavors open with malt—light roast and sweetness with accompanying lighter chocolate and coffee hints. The hop flavor comes in after the initial malt rush, with spicy and resin hop flavors and reciprocal bitterness peeking through the darker malts. The finish features a touch of roast with a creamy bitter finish, and lingering flavors of roast and resin on the back of the tongue. There is a little warmth and graininess in the mouthfeel—the spicy hops contribute to the impression of warmth, but it is also 8.4% ABV, so it ain’t all just the hops. The creamy, rounded flavor leads me to suspect oatmeal or rolled barley in the grist, but the underlying beer strikes me closer to a sweet stout than a dry stout—the roast is subdued, allowing the sweet caramel flavors to come to the forefront. Nonetheless, an excellent beer—this is by far the best and most approachable CDA I’ve tried—the fresh flavors and bright, spicy hops make the beer pop, and it is certainly delicious.

In our discussions with the gentleman running the tasting room, we found out that the Echo IPA is a Northwest IPA, while the Evolutionary IPA is closer to a San Diego-style IPA. We tried the Evolutionary in conjunction with the Echo, and both concluded the Echo is far better, which kinda struck us as odd, since Evolutionary is Two Beers’ flagship IPA. We also got to wander around in the back and check out the brew kettle and the conicals, and ask a couple of questions. All in all, an afternoon well spent—we’d happily visit again anytime the opportunity presented itself.

From the Two Beers website: “Whether it’s hiking a moonlit trail or sleeping under the stars, our senses are heightened in the dark. We notice the little things and discover the word anew. This complex Cascadian Dark Ale is our tribute to those moonlit experiences. This hoppy yet smooth ale is an adventure all its own.”

ABV: 8.4%
IBU: 67

(1/6/2012)

433. Alaskan Double Black IPA

Another non-porter beer from Alaskan Brewing Company; this one is part of their Pilot Series, which is their Limited Edition Specialty Series—the same one that their Baltic Porter is from. Previously, we’ve tried Amber, Baltic Porter and Smoked Porter, making this our fourth beer from ABC.

Double Black IPA pours a deep rich chocolate; in the glass it looks black, but when tilted you can see that it is really more of a dark chocolate. The head is a burnt cream that is initially creamy, but quickly reduces to a ring with an island left in the middle—we’ll call it the Island of Burnt Cream, which is like the Island of Dr. Moreau, only with the animals turned into desserts and tasty alcoholic beverages. Ah, to find that island. Aromas revolve around roasted malt, chocolate, and spicy hop bitterness—the roasted malt and chocolate cancel out most of the hop aromas (we’re assuming that there are hops, since we can taste the bitterness), leaving just the spicy component. All three components blend nicely in the nose, but it smells more like a stout than an IPA. Flavors open with caramel sweetness and roasted malt; the middle dries out and is bitter with chocolate. There is a light return of caramel sweetness and roastiness in the finish coupled with a bit of creaminess and dryness, ending with a light touch of chalkiness. With a medium body and a medium carbonation, Double Black IPA is smooth and even; the roastiness and bitterness mix well together. While we’re sticking with the “it’s not so much an IPA,” it is still a delicious and tasty beer that gets better as it warms—the chocolate and roastiness merge better with the bitterness than at the beginning, and the body opens up on the palate. I just wish we could find some more of that Baltic Porter...

From the Alaskan website: “Alaskan Double Black IPA is a combination of traditional beer styles, with a flavor profile most similar to an Imperial IPA and the dark black color, rich flavor and light chocolate head usually found in heartier stouts and porters. The aroma of Alaskan Double Black IPA consists of fresh, citrus notes from Northwest hops and the heavy, dry bouquet of roasted grains. Brewed with an array of dark malts, Alaskan Double Black IPA features the distinctive flavors of coffee and bitter chocolate with a subtle toasted sweetness. Large hop additions late in the boil, and dry-hopping after fermentation, lighten and refresh the overall perception and flavor of the beer. It finishes with a dry palate and lingering warmth and bitterness. The Black IPA, also called ‘Cascadian Dark Ale’ or ‘American-style India Black Ale,’ is a relative newcomer to the craft beer world. We may not know what to call it yet, but we do know it’s dark and it’s hoppy and we can't get enough of it.”

ABV: 8.5%

IBU: 70

OG: 1.087

(11/24/2010)