Dank Tank Some Strange II Black India Pale Ale
SweetWater Brewing Company

Beer Geek Stats | Print Shelf Talker
From:
SweetWater Brewing Company
 
Georgia, United States
Style:
Black IPA
ABV:
10%
Score:
89
Avg:
3.98 | pDev: 9.3%
Reviews:
25
Ratings:
116
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Feb 25, 2015
Added:
Apr 19, 2013
Wants:
  6
Gots:
  5
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Jadjunk:
Photo of Jadjunk
Reviewed by Jadjunk from Georgia

3.68/5  rDev -7.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
The writing on the bottle is just too long, unrelated and possibly NSFW to justify repeating in this post. Some Strange II Black India Pale Ale is brewed in the style of an American Black India Pale Ale. Released February 2013 as another installment in the Dank Tank series, available in 22 oz. bottles and on limited draft.

Poured from a 22 oz. bottle to a pint glass. Served above 61º Fahrenheit.

(Appearance) Pours a caramel brown head of a crisp frothy foam consistency over a dark brown body with deep maroon highlights. Carbonation is plentiful and energetic. Retention is good, lacing is light and streaked. 4

(Smell) Roasted barley, black patent malt and herbal, peppery and resinous hops with a moderate bitterness. Some mild fruitiness, burnt chocolate, mellow alcohol. Potency is medium. 3.5

(Taste) A fairly malt-prominent black IPA. Toasted caramel, some black patent malt and a light pale malt syrup base is joined by a subtle dank, piney hop bouquet with a modest bitterness. Finishes on notes of roasted coffee bean and toasted cocoa nibs. 3.75

(Mouthfeel) Texture is smooth, slick, lightly chewy. Carbonation generates a very subtle airiness for a silky, soft mouthfeel. Body is medium for the style, medium+ overall. Balance is equally sweet to bitter. Alcohol presence is low, off characters are minimal. 3.5

(Overall) A mildly hopped Black India Pale Ale with a bit more malt character going for it than the hop profile. Very mild carbonation, not sure if it's enough for the beer altogether. While they were brewed years apart, I still feel that Ghoulash was the superior Black IPA to this newer beer. It's a bit too mild on the hop front for its own good. 3.75

SweetWater Brewing Company's
Some Strange II Black India Pale Ale
3.69/5.00
Jul 27, 2014
More User Ratings:
Photo of quang_dam
Rated by quang_dam from Georgia

3.12/5  rDev -21.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3.25
Ok beer. A little Too thin
Feb 25, 2015
Photo of OrestesMethuon
Reviewed by OrestesMethuon from Montana

3.62/5  rDev -9%
look: 3.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25
Far more "Black" than "IPA," more sweet than bitter, more molasses than hoppy-flowers, this is a beer that—unlike several other Dank Tanks I've tried—disappointed at first sip, but mellows nicely into a solid, if not really spectacular, beer. Not supremely jet in color—more deep, burnt-brown than black, really—this is a light-bodied ale that, at the very least, hides its (10%) alcohol-heavy nature very well. Yet it is just a bit creamy, with solid vanilla-oak notes to buttress that richness of flavor (which surprises slightly, given the aforementioned relative thinness of texture). It also boasts a very nice, sweet-while-dry, floated-hop nose that is one of the more winning characteristics of the ale.

But I keep returning to the principal issue: it's just not really any sort of IPA, as far as I discern—black or otherwise. What it is, I'd say, is a very drinkable, effectively sugared, burnt-caramel-inflected, somewhat-hopped brown ale—and if it were categorized as a brown, I might review it a bit more solidly, because I would feel it were pushing the stylistic envelope, at least, even if it is a little cloying where it does fail. But as a Black IPA, it deserves some black marks—not the least being that it lingers on the tongue, with a resolute lack of bittering notes, much less any sort of pine- or grass-forward hops qualities on the front end (which are, admittedly, harder to wrangle than bitter notes in the smoked, malt-heavier universe of Black IPAs). It's also, as said, just too sweet: even more smokiness or burnt-bitter layers would mitigate that, but instead it feels very bold at some of some of the edges it shouldn't be.

Again: not terrible, by any means—and still better than many of SweetWater's mainline offerings—but not up to the usual standards of their reserve series iterations (such as, for instance, the very good The Price is Wrong).
Feb 04, 2015
 
Rated: 4 by lillitnn92 from Virginia

Nov 25, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by RavenForBeer from Georgia

Nov 06, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by GeorgiaBeerGuy from Georgia

Oct 10, 2014
 
 
Rated: 3.5 by Mphis from Tennessee

Aug 08, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by ncstateplaya from North Carolina

May 29, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by seavercm from Washington

Apr 21, 2014
Photo of MDDMD
Reviewed by MDDMD from Pennsylvania

3.9/5  rDev -2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
A-dark brown color with a nice tan head and good lacing

S-light chocolate, roasted malt, pine , citrus, earthy, slight smokiness

T-dark roasted malt, pine, citrus, light coffee and chocolate, light char, mild to moderate bitter finish

F-medium body with moderate carbonation, crisp, alcohol did not come forward as much as I would expect for the ABV

O-decent black IPA with easy drinkability considering the ABV
Mar 13, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by Brinks from Alabama

Mar 12, 2014
 
Rated: 3.25 by TriageStat from Pennsylvania

Feb 21, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by psoriasaurus from Thailand

Feb 03, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by heysuz from Indiana

Jan 23, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by thatoneguymike from Georgia

Jan 06, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by Pearlstreetbrewingco from Florida

Dec 30, 2013
 
Rated: 4.25 by rrski198 from Georgia

Dec 27, 2013
 
Rated: 3.5 by dfhhead25 from Pennsylvania

Nov 29, 2013
 
Rated: 3.75 by drewone from California

Nov 21, 2013
Dank Tank Some Strange II Black India Pale Ale from SweetWater Brewing Company
Beer rating: 89 out of 100 with 116 ratings