Buxton, Battle Horse

Ever since a trip to Denmark where I sampled the glorious Mofo Stout, I've always expected my ideal drink to be a DBIPA, although up until now, I'd never actually had one. I've discovered that Kernel did one but I'd not seen any other versions until this one from Buxton. It was excellent of course, low viscosity, big DIPA character with burnt malt bitterness at the edges. An Untappd friend described it as 'a DIPA but black', which is more or less spot on: the 'black' characteristics were very much at the sidelines.

(On a purely personal note - as much as I fiended for this drink upon discovering it, the actual experience of drinking wasn't particularly epiphanic. I think my tastes (currently) lie with saisons, so as excellent as Battle Horse is, the lack of effusery in this post is possibly down to some sort of lupulin fatigue syndrome rather than indifference.)

Brodie's, Dalston Black

Finally, finally, finally. Having already eulogised about Brodie's beers in this post I figure it will suffice to say here that this one hit the spot. One point of note though - the best before date was mid-February and I drank it just recently, so it wasn't too fresh I guess. Still had knockout aromas and bags of tropical hop character though. I'm lazy so if you don't know what to expect from this beer, read one of Matt Curtis' early blog posts here.

Amager Bryghus, Hr. Frederiksen

Described as a stout, but with a bunch of centennial hops lobbed in to the boil giving it 60+ IBUs. Apparently. Stout/BIPA from Amager. Burnt malts, wet/used coffee grounds. Hops = citrus + fresh dark fruits (as opposed to the dried versions you might detect in an impy tout). Creamy on the palate, but a weird, slightly sharp fizzing on the tongue afterwards. I meant to get the imperial version of this (Mr. Frederiksen) but I messed up my order and now it's out of stock. Bugger. 3 x photographs here 'cos I was quite proud of that last one. Cheers.

Weird Beard Co, Something Something Dark Side

This is more like it from Weird Beard! Sherbet nose (strong!) and a little touch of mushroom/meat. Taste was milk chocolate and a slither of honey (wouldn't have recognised that element had I not read the label blurb properly), with the hop flavour dominating: crisp, leafy and citrus sweet (but not overly fruity if that makes sense). Bitter-ish. Bet this is incredible from a keg. Not as impactful as the Victory (although I did have a bit of a cold tbf), but I will definitely be getting this again. It says on the bottle that you can cellar it so I might give that a go.

Bear Republic, Black Racer IPA

Fabulous tropical fruit nose this one from Bear Republic, the taste was a more gentle hop flavour followed by a much heavier malt attack. Very joyful bitter aftertaste! Great stuff. My burps tasted of Rio Riva.

Late Knights, Hairy Dog

Very black pour this one from Late Knights. The mildest of hop profiles here against burnt coffee bitterness. A different, south London take on a BIPA (as compared, say, to the citrusy elements of the US style), more like a rough and raw stout perhaps. Had this on cask a few times, the smoothness suited it slightly better than the carbonation in the bottle for me (the cask flow smoothness balancing out the almost biting nature of the coffee bitterness here).

Weird Beard Co, Fade To Black

This'll be the first in a series of write-ups on the Weird Beard beers (their website not working too well on Chrome or Firefox, I think Safari works better). My notes went through a relatively threadbare stage for a while (laziness most probably) and all they say for this beer is "redchurch hoxton stout". Then they say "ooh - addendum: fruitiness by the halfway point." Clearly quite unhelpful. (There was rye in this too btw.) I suppose the upshot is that I've had better BIPAs. Which of course is not to say that this one was bad, rather that I've developed a preference for the Brodie's style BIPA: heavier on the fruit than the meat.

Kernel Brewery, Black IPA

Reappearance of Kernel's black IPA. Nice enough. I've put one down for Christmas, by when I suspect the malts will have almost certainly taken over. Not so much in the way of hops here. There was a metallic mouth feel at the end of the aftertaste. I preferred the collab with Brodies.

Brewdog, Libertine

Top drawer BIPA from Brewdog. I've had Libertine from a few places now (most randomly on my bro's stag out in Bratislava - on keg and in great shape), my first bottle didn't come until recently though. Perhaps not as exciting as the keg version (less obviously hoppy I think) but a worthy adversary to the hallowed Brodie's Dalston Black. Singly hopped with simcoe I discovered today! Another tick for that hop for me. Part of their core range now. FAO Sainsbury's: please stock this.

Thornbridge, Wild Raven

Finally got a chance to drink this BIPA from Thornbridge (via Mr Lawrence Mail Order). Tropical nose off the bottle neck and it poured with a very thick, bubbling head. The gentle fruitiness gave way almost immediately to a sort of over-baked biscuit, burnt-style bitterness from the malts, which kind of flowed into the bitterness from the hops. This last bitterness proved to be very strong and very long lasting! Hmmm. This BIPA came highly recommended from hop aficionado Matt Curtis but I have to say, it hasn't proved to be my favourite.

Buxton, Imperial Black

I've only had the almost surreally good Brodie's Dalston Black on keg (Westow House) so not sure what the bottled version is like. This beer from forward thinking Peak District brewery Buxton is, I feel, very close to the Brodie's (a lot better then their Black Rocks in my opinion). Big tropical nose, slight tinge of booze with a full body but delivered with a surprisingly light touch. Very professional balance between the resiny hops tand the meaty malts. Buying this again.

Moor, Illusion

Yet another truly world class beer from Justin Hawke at Moor. I'm trying to collate my recent BIPA tastes into a sort of series with this latest batch of blog posts, and whilst I would say that they're all excellent, I could easily say that this one is certainly one I'll go back to time and again.

My friend and I sampled this on draft at the excellent Holborn Whippet and I had this bottled version not too long afterwards (bought from the independently run Good Taste in Palace). Unbelievable tropical nose of the neck off the bottle, decent carbonation and a virtually seamless flow from the IPA tropicality into the malty chewiness (not so much of a coffee, more a like one of those malted biscuits with the cows on that might have been a little over-cooked in production?).

A blessed lightness of touch throughout, makes this beer, as it says on the bottle, a splendid session BIPA. The direct comparison would be with the Conqueror, but personally, I think this trumps it in most categories. So easy to drink the while bottle of this - a massively recommended drink. BIPAs are rapidly becoming my favourite type of ale and this particular one is possibly contending for the pick of the bunch.

Windsor & Eton, Conqueror 1075

I first tried this ages ago and I blogged (previous incarnation) that I didn't like it. What an amateur! This bolstered Conqueror (boosted from 5% to 7.4%) from Windsor and Eton looks like Coca Cola, has a decent citrus nose off the bottle neck then switches to burnt cereal aromas when sniffed within the glass. Thick and generous body with the malts winning out over the hops in the taste stakes, but only just. Having said that, the hops are evilly rounded - bitter and piney. The aftertaste is only mildly bitter, but it lingers for a long time. (You can just taste the booze at the end of this - a nice touch and a reminder to respect the high abv.) I would love to try this on keg. Maybe they'll have it at London's Brewing....? *fingers crossed*

Windsor & Eton, Conqueror

A good introductory BIPA from London brewing heavyweights Windsor and Eton. Also sampled on draft at the Alma (with a splendid roast btw). This bottle tasted quite differently on each sip, sometimes a coffe tinge in the malts, the tropical hit from the hops varied a bit too (I felt there was less hoppiness than in the draft version). Light and drinkable (for a BIPA) a good sense of a full body.

The Kernel Brewery + Brodie's Fabulous Beers: A Scanner Darkly

First had a swift half of this at The Old Red Cow after a job at Fabric. Such a delicious collaborative black IPA from Brodie's and Kernel. Large tropical nose, chewy malts after the juicy glug and lovely lacing down the glass. So, so satisfying. I've had a few of this modern type of ale - Magic 8 Ball (also on keg at the Old Red Cow), Black Rocks, Black Marble, Brewdog's Libertine and Black Betty. Who does it best? The Brits? (I don't think I've had an American BIPA?) I had this after a bag of chips. I love this drink alot - I went back to Oddbins in London Bridge and snapped up a load more.

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.

Buxton Brewery, Black Rocks

Not sure about black IPAs on the whole. I can understand the concept, but I'm not sure if I can get behind the more extreme versions of it. Kernel do a great one, the Beavertown one goes more towards the darker flavour associations, and this one from Buxton goes further still. This Black Rocks had an amazing fruity nose! The maltiness was definitely in the ascendency over the fruits. The after-zing wasn't especially bitter. (In fact the main fruit flavours seemed to come through then rather than before.) Nice fruity repeat!