Tag Archives: black ipa

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Clown Shoes Beer, IPA - Black, USA

Clown Shoes Hoppy Feet

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Brewery: Clown Shoes Beer
Country: USA
ABV: 7%
Style: American Black IPA
Other Notes: Brewed and bottled by Mercury Brewing Co., Ipswich, MA.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) 80 IBU’s of Columbus and Amarillo balance a dark malt backbone. Warmed in the glass bittersweet flavors emerge from beneath the west coast hops. This Black IPA was first made as a joke, but we crafted the best ale we could dream of.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.97
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.8

Intro: A 12 fl oz bottle with a bottled on date of 2nd March 2015 and poured into an oversized wine glass.
Appearance: Poured a near opaque black with a one finger caramel coloured head that dissipated slowly leaving spotty lacing.
Aroma: Begins with caramel malts and toffee followed by notes of pine, grass and also some dark chocolate.
Taste: Caramel, black coffee and bittersweet chocolate followed by grassy and piney hops.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with medium carbonation.
Overall: A nice hoppy Black IPA that I would revisit again.

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5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Denmark, IPA - Black, Mikkeller ApS

Mikkeller Beer Hop Breakfast

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Brewery: Mikkeller ApS
Country: Denmark
ABV: 7.5%
Style: American Black IPA
Other Notes: Brewed and bottled by Mikkeller at Lervig Aktiebryggeri (Norway).

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Black India Pale Ale brewed with coffee.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.41
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 330ml bottle with surprisingly for Mikkeller, no best before date either on the bottle or cap. Poured into an oversized wine glass.
Appearance: The beer poured opaque black with a slightly less than two finger dark mocha brown head that dissipates quickly leaving spotty lacing.
Aroma: Mainly roast coffee bean and chocolate, hints of almond and brown sugar with a pine hop background.
Taste: Strong coffee bean mixed with pine hop and grapefruit bitterness. A hint of brown sugar sweetness lends a hand to a very nice lasting bittersweet finish.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with medium carbonation and slight creaminess.
Overall: I enjoyed this a lot. It is very well balanced and extremely tasty. I see debate on whether this is a black IPA or just a hoppy stout, but for me, mostly due to its lightness, it’s a black IPA.

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5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Denmark, IPA - Black, To Øl

To Øl Black Malts and Body Salts

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Brewery: To Øl
Country: Denmark
ABV: 9.9%
Style: American Black IPA
Other Notes: Brewed at De Proef Brouwerij. Malts – Pilsner, Cara Crystal, Black Malt, Flaked Oats, Melanoidin, Chocolate, Rock Candy. Hops – Centennial, Tettnanger, Simcoe.

Brewer Description:
(from bottle) We present to you a black IIPA made with french press coffee.

(from To Øl online store) When a brewer is stirring the kettles while steam arises from the mash and when we actually do put some effort into our work, an occasional drop of sweat will drip down into the mash. So this is a salute to all the hard working proletarian brewers around the world. Giving you the perfect amount of body salts, mixed with french press coffee and IIPA’ish amounts of bittering, flavour and dry- hops… Perhaps a slightly schizophrenic beer, but still damm good!

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.77
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.6

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of 1st December 2019 and poured into an oversized wine glass.
Appearance: The beer poured an opaque black colour with a really nice two finger brown head with good retention but leaves wonderful stringy lacing. It eventually settles to a creamy thin layer.
Aroma: Initial aromas of bready buscuit malts and espresso coffee followed by tropical mango and pineapple fruits. Maybe even some liquorice in the finish.
Taste: Starts strong with bitter espresso coffee, slightly smoky with a hint of dark chocolate which then turns fruitier with dark berries followed by citrus grapefruit before ending with bitter coffee again.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with medium carbonation.
Overall: This was really good as it has a very balanced yet complex aromas and flavours and of course coffee flavours. The 9.9% ABV is well hidden and it just goes down really easy. It is a must buy beer in my opinion.

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