Moor and Arbor, Dark Alliance

Opaque with a mildly foamy head, this Dark Alliance from Moor and Arbor had a thick coffee nose and taste wich was followed by a mild fruity hoppiness. Texture was a bit thin. Long, medium bitter aftertaste coupled with some fruity belches. I had this on keg at Westow House where I remember it being quite a bit more enjoyable (actually, it was one of those slightly embarrassing 'saying "cor" out loud' moments). Can I call this a black IPA? A black pale ale? (Or is that an oxymoron? Not that it particularly matters of course - good beer is good beer regardless of genre/type/pigeonhole/etc.) I liked this bottle and I polished it off quickly. It's nice to have the option of a decent session BIPA (most of the others I've tried have been 6%+ abv), although I suspect this is a limited edition. Purchased from Mr Lawrence before they went mail order only.

Beavertown, Black Betty

I've had three bottles of Black Betty from Beavertown this past month: my first was more hoppy/citrusy (had after a long evening of other beers), my second was had by itself and was where I got the malty flavours (coffee and possibly blackcurrant?) much more than anything else (maybe some citrus in the finish). The third was at Powderkeg Diplomacy (after a few other beers) - this one seemed low on coffee malts and high on the citrus. I get the feeling that this difference in taste says less about the beer than it does about how easily influenced my palette can be. One thing that isn't in dispute is that Black Betty has been no less than 100% satisfying each time I've had it. I love it and will go back to it time and again. Love the new Beavertown website - great graphics/branding and glad the core range has increased.