Sublimely Self-Righteous
Stone Brewing

Copenhagen 7/8 2021. 35,5 cl bottle from Meny, Borups Allé, Frb. F. Black and white drawing of a devil with huge wings and a matching tail on the label.

Pours clear, dark mahogany with a red hue and a midsized off-white head. Settles as a 0,3 cm thick layer of foam covering the surface of the beer. Substantial lacing.

Aroma is fairly intense with a light sweet, roasted, dark odor mingling with a more aggressive citric scent. Dark roasted malts, caramel and a bit og toffee. Grapefruit and lime.

Light carbonation. Thin, oily, soft, lightly tingling texture.

Flavor is intense with a strong sweetness matched by a strong citric bitterness. Aftertaste is bitter. Lingers for a while. Finish is dry.

Intense Black IPA balancing the roasted sweetness with the citric bitterness with an overweight to the latter.

Look: Black with a thick mocca colored head

Aroma: roasted malts, grapefruit, floral

Flavor: The flavor is dark roasted malts, grapefruit, and a pine resin like bitterness. My daughter also tasted coffee. It is full flavored and delicious.

Body/Overall: medium to full body. I think it is very good.

From the bottom of the can: "PKG 03/01/24 03:57E EJB 06/29/24"
This was purchased in cold storage.

Appearance: It has a black body with a rocky tan head. It has excellent head retention and it leaves nice wisps of lacing on the glass.

Aroma: It has a pleasant pine aroma which is pretty strong. A light non-descript malt aroma comes through a bit but it is mostly just pine. There is a fresh hop aroma which is very pleasant and is strongest from the can. The strength of the overall hop aroma is pretty strong and it fills the room up when pouring the beer.

Taste: There is a strong pine hop flavor up front which is followed by notes of char and cocoa. It has a strong and bitter character towards the middle of the mouth which is full of both pine and roasted grains. The flavor profile is very strong and rewarding. There is a lingering flavor of pine and some carbon char.

Mouthfeel: It has a strong bitterness which fits the beer very nicely. It has a body that sits between the upper edge of medium and the lower edge of full. It transitions a bit from feeling full at first and then thinning out a touch as it crosses the palate. It feels great but the highlight here is the rewarding bitterness.

Overall: The can states that this is a "BLACK IPA" without any other info. As a Black IPA it is awesome and it definitely scratches the itch. It has a lot of pine and roasted bitterness with a pleasant char and it even has some light notes of cocoa in the background which gives it just a hint of what seems like baker's chocolate. Overall it's just a pleasant beer and I would buy it again in a heartbeat. I strongly recommend it and I will buy it whenever I see it.

 

 

Burnt matchstick and hoppy licorice. Earthy pine straw and primitive moxie. Novel and fun but not something I would kill a man for.

 

An easy pour released a finger of creamy, khaki foam with very long retention and wide swatches of lacing. Clear dark cola color with reddish-brown highlights, deep red in front of flame.

A broad smell of hops; citrus (orange, lemon), floral, herbal, grassy with balancing pine/resin. Mild smell of toast and fresh baked bread. Roasted character is faint on the smell. Alcohol is noticeable, acceptable for 8.7% ABV.

Semi sweet with below average bitterness at first, roasted barley leads the taste but is quickly replaced by toasted malt. Hop flavor begins low then builds to average and is matched by the roasted flavor. A porter-like chocolate/coffee taste arrives late. The finish is quick and dry, the malt flavor drops off leaving the hop and roasted barley lingering on a while.

Medium+ bodied with plentiful carbonation (not as effervescent as some), the typical astringency is mild for the style. The feel is rich and bit oily, the balance of hop/roasted barley bitterness and malt sweetness results in a flavorful yet not-so-bitter Black IPA. It warms very well, the chocolate taste builds and softens the feel.

 

 

12oz can poured into a snifter.

A: Opal black with great clarity. Three fingers of beige head retain super well. Thick collar of lacing has some great stickage.

S: Lemony and piney with a hefty dose of underlying soot. Lemon zest, spruce tips, tangerine, orange gummy wedges, perhaps even some pineapple. Pine and bark. Malt backbone smells dry and sooty, but not too heavily roasty. It's not unlike a bit of burnt crust.

T: Sooty, burnt crust, bit of dark bakers chocolate. Hops come on strong with a quick hint of mint and some piney earthiness. Bark. Clamping bitterness. Ruby red grapefruit. More playful notes of tangerine and lemon zest peek through for a fleeting moment. Brush of alcohol. Bone dry finish of soot, pine, earth and oil with a good dose of trailing bitterness.

M: Medium-full body. Well-structured with a well-fermented dryness and a creamy yet airy and whipped texture. Gently pressing weight. Plenty of raspy hop astringency.

O: The black IPA fad was rather short-lived, but this beer was one of the few true standouts of the "movement." It's a classic west coast IPA hopping on top of a dark malt bill that stops just short of being stout/porter levels of roasty. The nose in particular is a delight, with a lot of the token pine and citrus we expect, along with a little playful tropical nuance. Take it or leave it, I could easily leave the black IPA style back in the early 2010s. That said, I'm glad this beer is still kicking around as a living fossil. It's one of a relative few that I always thought was a perfect representation of what the style should have been, and just a damn good beer in its own right.

Was searching for a robust IPA or DIPA and saw the last box of this on the shelf at the better bottle shop, and it’s Stone + I’ve never tried this one = Let’s buy it.
What a pour. To the top of the beer glass and pops and barely avoids spillover. Super foam, and as it subsides the lacing is rampant. Black/ ruby color as seen through light.
Nose is lemon/ citrus with bread/ dark malt notes, maybe some orange, sone pine is there.
Flavor has orange up front, then hop bitterness, some of the lemon citrus notes, maybe a hint of floral. Seems complex early-on. Apparently I’ve tried the style a few times before. For me it’s like a barleywine, some of the flavors in general, not necessarily this beer.
But this is the creamiest-feeling beer I’ve had in a very long while, if not ever.
Another reviewer I saw repeated “CDA” while touting this beer. I had to search that term. It makes sense. A Cascadian Dark Ale. That seems the proper name for this wonderful style.

Black with some mahogany highlights at the edges, dense tan head, excellent retention with thick bands of lace
Orange and pine resin over a bit of cocoa aroma
Big piney flavor with a bit of orange and dark chocolate, long resiny finish
Medium bodied with appropriate carbonation
This is what I think of when I think of a black IPA

 

CDA for the win. CDA for the win. CDA for the win. CDA for the win. CDA for the win. CDA for the win. CDA for the win. CDA for the win. CDA for the win.

This is worth trying. Poured like a stout but not an overly crazy hoppiness about it. Great beer, I need to get more.

Coppery coffee, tan head recedes to thin cap; an unusual flavor for an IPA, interesting but not particularly appealing to me. Good mouthfeel. I don't particularly care for this beer. I'm glad I only had a single bottle.

Look: It pours black with a tan head. Head retention is very good.

Smell: It has strong citrus aromas with some pine. It has some roasted elements. There are some faint dark fruit notes in the background.

Taste: It has strong citrus and pine flavors with plenty of roast. There are some grapefruit notes with hints of dark fruits. There are hints of licorice as well.

Feel: It has a medium full body with a nice bitter finish. It also has a creamy texture.

Overall, this beer is pack with flavor and complex combinations of hops and malts that work well together. I love black IPA's and this is the best I've had.

Poured from bottle into tulip, good 2+ finger light tan head, excellent retention and great lacing. Jet black in the glass, no light passes thru. Smells of pine, and roasted malt, haven't had these 2 together in a while. Taste is , well to hell with it, taste is great, rocking pine on the front end and then a light roasted malt comes slamming into it, each offsetting the other to where it just smooths out thru the end where there is a good firm bitterness to bring it to an end. Slight residual pine on the palate, roast has left the party. They really did a nice job with this beer, hops and roast do a great job of playing nice together

Advent 2023-06