Imperial Black IPA
Wachusett Brewing Company

 

 

This beer poured very dark with a faint brown hue around the edges. The 1" tan/brown cap was composed of both large and small bubbles, showed great head retention, and produced lots of sticky lacing. The aroma had a citrus bite, lots of grapefruit flesh and pith, with chocolate, cocoa, and caramel in the background. Moderate bitterness with malts (mostly chocolate and cocoa) more dominant over the citrusy grapefruit character. A bit of alcohol was present too. Medium bodied, but it felt a bit light or thin for the malt character, some warmth, moderate carbonation, a bit dry. Decent overall, but less hoppy than I would have liked.

 

 

Pours hazy and nearly black in color from a 12 oz. bottle into a pint glass. An inch of creamy mocha foam sits atop the pour, showing average retention and nice sticky lace.

Piney hop aroma dominates initially with some malt notes playing a secondary role. Warming enhances the resinous pine and adds a bit of garlic/shallot to the mix.

The darkness reveals its roots more so in the taste department than the aroma. Spritzy chocolate malt on the initial sip, and cocoa and some hop spice soon to follow. Shows increasing depth and coarseness with warming.

Finish is creamy with a bit of dark cherry and chocolate notes. Rather light and subtle in that regard however, making for an easy drinking beer of this style. Finish is a bit lacking in bitterness and bite however and the alcohol is well masked. But then, at 7.3% this is likely the smallest 'Imperial' anything that I've stumbled upon and was unaware of the ABV at tasting time.

Overall I like the idea of not going too large on the bittering end of things while offering up a good hop aroma as it works fairly well for this style.

 

 

 

 

I poured thsi one into a perfect pint glass. It has a dark as night body with a nice 1"tan head that is holding its own for a while now. The smell is very mellow of piney hops with just a hint of roasted malt. The taste is a very nice but not strong, up front assult of pine flavor, then towards the end i get some nice roasted characters going on.. The mouth feel is very nice, leaves a nice pine aftertate on the back of the tonuge. Overall i think this is a above average black ipa.

Shared by cmrillo during BRoss242’s send-off party before he moves! Will miss you man! Served from bottle into a Mikkeller taster flute. Poured black with a half finger off-white head that subsided to a minimal amount quickly. Maintained excellent lacing throughout the glass. The aroma was comprised of sweet malt, dark fruit, fruit hop, and floral. The flavor was of sweet malt, dark fruit, bread, dark chocolate, and fruit hop. It had a light feel on the palate with medium-high carbonation. Overall this was a decent brew. The Black IPA is starting to become a more and more common thing among brewers out there. There have been a few good ones, but this one fell a little short of some of those. The fruit aspect going on here were quite nice, but I was wondering where some of the roastiness that one would expect from the style was. If it was there the fruitiness would definitely need to be upped as well. Worth trying at least once if you get the opportunity, but that is about it.

 

 

22 oz bottle into a tulip glass.

Pours black with 2 fingers of rich light mocha head. This retains with a thick near finger of foam which slathers the sides of the glass with sticky swathes of lacing. The aroma smells leafy and green with a touch of herbal spiciness. This gives way to a push of coco and coffee underneath but overall I’d say that the hops still sit at the forefront of this.

The taste is roasted coffee and green bitter citrus up front, with some thick notes of chocolate and tangier toffee coming in behind that. The finish is dry and bitter on the tongue, with hops, roast and alcohol lingering behind with some bite. The mouthfeel is fuller bodied; with a nice oily creaminess to the carbonation upon first sip that then blows up and becomes crisper as it bounces off the roof of the mouth. This has a little alcohol going on with it but it overall adds to the experience here.

This was a good stab at a Black IPA from Wachusett that nicely showcased some more aggressive flavors while still staying pretty approachable as well. I would have liked to have gotten to this one a little fresher but this was still a pretty solid take on the style.

12oz. bottle served in my Wachusett nonic. Best by 08.12.12 indicated on the bottle. Pours slightly darker than cola with a fizzy, khaki-colored head that sizzles and pops as it gradually recedes into a soapy slick. Only a few stray strands of lacing present during the tasting. Nose reveals chocolate and earthy hops. Taste consistent with nose; however, earthy/herbal hops characters is a bit more dominant and there is also slight acidic tang, co-mingled with a medicinal bitterness at the finish. Mouthfeel is light-medium in body with a coarse, prickly carbonation and some acidity that excites the salivary glands. There is also a slight, residual burn at the back of the throat between quaffs. Overall, this isn't really a go to style for me. However, I've had some very good ones and think this is a fairly solid offering.

 

Poured from a 22 oz bottle into a tulip- pours a charcoal black color with three fingers of tan/cola head, decent retention and nice lacing.

Smells like resiny pine hops, though not really in your face, and roasted malts. Standard fare.

The way it tastes is much the same malt sweetness up front, followed by the roasted malt notes (bitter-sweet chocolate), then the piney hops (maybe galaxy), with mild to moderate bitterness. Finishes slightly dry.

Mouthfeel is pretty good- medium body, light soft carbonation. Just fine- nothing mind blowing but for 3 bucks it's a pretty good deal.

Imperial Black India Pale Ale. A bit too much to say at once. Still, this slight variation on the IPA is here, like it or not.

Pours a pitch black with a thick brown head into my glass. It's certainly not a stout because it's not as thick.

Grassy/piney hops greet the nose with a touch of mint. Perhaps a bit of chocolate malt somewhere?

Ditto on the taste except that there's some grapefruit too from the hops. This is definitely hops-ville and not much else.

Lingering hops and malt at the back of the throat. Not much else to note.

Solid example of the style. Not quite an imperial but that's the least of its' problems.

Had this one at the Grill Next Door in Haverhill, MA, and this stuff is mud brown-black with a decent light tan head that breaks up a bit and leaves a similarly decent lace behind. I can smell perfumey pine hops and deep earthy mulch-like peat. Very nice. The flavor includes grassy pine hops with a brown bread malt that is not too sweet so as to go down smoothly with a medium plus body but fairly crisp feel. Not a home run but a good black IPA.