IPA Lot 71
Dorset Piddle Brewery

Coming in a large 1L brown bottle fitted with a swing-top, bottle-conditioned; BB 09/2013, served cool in a straight imperial pint glass. Notes: the back label gives a long account of the name for this beer, in relation to Black Cow the ship which allegedly shipped potent IPAs to Calcutta in the 1700s. The original gravity was set as 1071, resulting in the end product at 7.1%abv. as well.

A: pours a fairly clear, dark orangey amber colour, coming with a thick beige frothy head settling slowly to a thin blanket to last, on top of rather mild and constant carbonation.
S: overripe apply-ly, orange-citric and sweet floral comes the aroma, while yeastiness adds a little acidic touch as of oxidised pear slices on top of the moderate bedrock of biscuity pale malts; given a good swirl, certain earthy hop aroma and very interesting, Belgian-yeast-like spicy esters and coriander seeds come to the fore, along
T: sour-sweet, phenolic and oxidised-fruity upfront, followed by a rather assertive wave of yeasty-smoky phenols, girsty pale malts, moderate tannins from dried leafy hops… leaving an increasingly warming feel down the throat, where the exotic spicy yeastiness as of Belgian blond ales (which I’d normally refer to as undertones of Taiwanese mung bean paste) and tea-stem-ish bitterness linger.
M&O: bitterness is quite restrained, as far as many British and American IPA products are concerned, and yet the maltiness does not come too thick or sugary and the alc. hides generally well for a 7.1%abv. IPA. All in all, this softly carbonated, medium-plus bodied IPA seems to have been slightly too old (expiry date being 09/2013) upon consumption and the yeasts’ work in the bottle seems to have rendered considerable impact on the flavour and nose alike.