In The Dark We Live
Tempest Brewing Company

In The Dark We LiveIn The Dark We Live
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From:
Tempest Brewing Company
 
Scotland, United Kingdom
Style:
Black IPA
ABV:
7.2%
Score:
88
Avg:
3.91 | pDev: 9.21%
Reviews:
13
Ratings:
31
Status:
Active
Rated:
Nov 27, 2019
Added:
Jun 08, 2014
Wants:
  4
Gots:
  10
No description / notes.
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Ratings by westcoastbeerlvr:
Photo of westcoastbeerlvr
Rated by westcoastbeerlvr from California

4.13/5  rDev +5.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Mar 28, 2016
More User Ratings:
Photo of JonnoWillsteed
Reviewed by JonnoWillsteed from England

3.07/5  rDev -21.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
The lable suggests it's a hybrid of the contemporary IPA (fruity/hoppy) and Porter styles.
L- It's certainly black. It's bottle-condition/unpasteurised and the sediment, even it's it's well rested, stirs up into the pour veeery readily. 2mm fine-bubble dark tan head.
S- Mild coffee and hedgerow fruits + a bit smokey.
T- Pretty pungent coffee, deep roasted fruits, into hoppy/dryness that builds for a few seconds.
F- It's got presence in the mouth for sure plus some richness. The 7.2% isn't hard to feel either with it's moderate zing.
O- It's certainly very different. Like espresso and sour blackberry juice pimped to 7.2%. I can see this working very well amongst younger beer fans, esp those with over-pretty beards; 'it's very clever'. Interesting to try but there's nothing I find to make me wish to seek it out again.
330ml bottle. BB: Oct/2019 '#BN654'. Unpasteurised/unfilted. Bought from Beerhawk.
Nov 27, 2019
 
Rated: 3.5 by BdM from Netherlands

Oct 24, 2019
 
Rated: 4.03 by desint from Belgium

Feb 12, 2019
Photo of KooVee
Reviewed by KooVee from Finland

3.35/5  rDev -14.3%
look: 1 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Bottle bb Aug 19.

Black, standard foam.

Aroma is pure resiny/piney hops, some grapefruit cutting through the forest. Nothing roasted.

Taste is that of an IPA with the said flavours, medium bitterness, just a hint roast, maybe, but it might be just the colour playing tricks. On second thought, no roasted notes. Berry notes are prominent in the aftertaste, and I think that led me astray, as brown malt for example generates those, but these seem hop derived. Resin sticks on the tongue long afterwards. Mouthfeel is fine.

Overall an easy to drink IPA but what's with the 'black'... it really just means colour here. Never understood the emphasis on look that this site wants to add, either. You can colour same tasting beer in oh so many ways, and naturally as well. Only people naive in the making of beer think it is interesting. I get the marketing point and historically the rise of bland lager was for a large part caused by the looks probably. So, this is a nice IPA, but nothing special, and who cares about the colour. It does not look like a porter, it looks like a porter or a tmave, or a schwarzbier or ....
Dec 25, 2018
Photo of Spike
Reviewed by Spike from England

3.97/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
330ml bottle. A smokey, dry, dark IPA. Roasted malts, soft berries, wood, liquorice, alcohol, bitter chocolate, moderate carbonation. Enjoyable, high ABV, sipper.
Nov 17, 2018
Photo of Phyl21ca
Reviewed by Phyl21ca from Canada (QC)

3.92/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Bottle: Poured a black color ale with a large off-white/light brown foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of roasted malt with light piney hops notes is enticing. Taste is a nice mix of roasted malt, light bitterness with some piney hops notes with some subtle blackberry notes also apparent. Body is about average with good carbonation. Enjoyable black IPA with a nice blackberry twist that really fits in.
Oct 25, 2018
Photo of StJamesGate
Reviewed by StJamesGate from New York

4.15/5  rDev +6.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Jet; blackcurrant jellies plus licorice + ash; black rye, meat + char, blackberry then evergreen, resin, pine sap + orange rind. Long spicy linger. Goes savoury as it opens.

4 4 4.25 4 4.25

3 months from expiry, which never helps. But we've got a live one: porter notes, this big streak of purple fruit, and some swampy dank to end. Top 50 BIPA on RB, which I could get with just by virtue of uniqueness. Mosaic, Columbus and Simcoe is the rumour, which would mostly explain, actually. A bit intense to enjoy swiftly or repeatedly, but a singular example.
Sep 10, 2018
 
Rated: 3.79 by samEBC from Belgium

Jun 04, 2018
Photo of Sammy
Reviewed by Sammy from Canada (ON)

3.49/5  rDev -10.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
Well before official expiry date, but still rather thin and low hop. Below the standard of a Black IPA. LCBO online.More of a sessionable IPA - Black IPA version.
May 13, 2018
 
Rated: 3.99 by Allegue04 from Spain

May 22, 2017
 
Rated: 3.77 by Martine from England

May 18, 2017
Photo of Yoann
Reviewed by Yoann from France

3.77/5  rDev -3.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Poured from a bottle to a pint
A - Pitch black with a yellowish foam
S - Grapefruit hops in a black ale?
T - Only grapefruit once more letting a bitter aftertaste and hiding everything else
M - Not very carbonated but it fits the style
O - I thought I was drinking a black ale but it feels more like an IPA and I'm not sure it's a good thing.
Mar 20, 2017
Photo of Dutchcraftbeergeek
Rated by Dutchcraftbeergeek from Netherlands

3/5  rDev -23.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Hinten van koffie , toch wel hoppy! Mwah.
Jan 23, 2017
Photo of Bruno74200
Reviewed by Bruno74200 from France

4.27/5  rDev +9.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
L - porter like look, pitch black with a thin beige head

S - Grapefruit, grassy hops and hints of coffee

T - Pine, grapefruit and citrus in general, a bit of licorice and a just a few of roasted malts

F - Good mouthfeel, fine carbonation, nothing overwhelming

O - Look like a porter, taste like an IPA. If I couldn't see the beer I don't know if I would say that's a black IPA. Great stuff
Apr 18, 2016
 
Rated: 4.28 by mytu420 from Romania

Mar 28, 2016
 
Rated: 4.29 by dcmchew from Romania

Mar 13, 2016
Photo of Hallu
Reviewed by Hallu from France

3.76/5  rDev -3.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
Beautiful tan foam, like a porter. It smells piny and fresh, like an IPA, with a tiny backbone of roastiness. The taste confirms that. The roastiness is a bit weird, it really tastes like roasted chicken skin, or the caramel from a seared meat. The finish is a hoppy bitterness, not a coffee/roasted bitterness like porters. It says blackberry and spice on the label, but I can't find those anywhere, there is some grapefruit/pine from the hops, but no other fruit, it's the roasted malt that comes second and then the bitterness. On the burp, more of that bitterness and, again, that caramelized chicken skin taste. I'm not sold on the Black IPA concept (this is my first one), more dark fruits may have balanced this out.
Mar 06, 2016
 
Rated: 3.71 by Tdenham from England

Feb 16, 2016
 
Rated: 4.16 by hdtrice from England

Feb 15, 2016
In The Dark We Live from Tempest Brewing Company
Beer rating: 88 out of 100 with 31 ratings