Ilkley Black
Ilkley Brewery Co.

 

March 2014: Sample from bottle at hotel room tasting. ABV is 3.7%. Dark brown colour, moderate off-white head. Mild roasty notes in the aroma. Smooth and pleasant flavour, mild roasty notes, hints of mild coffee and chocolate, but not sweet. I could easily drink a few pnts of this one. Will buy again.

 

 

500ml bottle poured into a pint glass

Look: Deep brown/black with ruby highlights when held up to the light - at first glance you'd be forgiven for thinking that this was a porter rather than a straight-up dark ale. Off-white head with good retention, diminishes to a foam cap with some lacing.

Smell: Malt-forward, without a doubt - there are some faint chocolate and/or coffee notes but really it's more caramel, toasted grains and a slighty smokiness. Let it stand a while and you'll get a few hints of dark fruit but really, it's malt front and centre.

Taste: The coffee and chocolate flavours are a wee bit more apparent, along with more smokiness than the smell would initially suggest. There's a bit of a medicinal tang, too, along with some bitterness from the hops.

Feel: Medium body and smooth finish, a winning combination for a low ABV beer and proof, if any were needed, that sub-4% beers don't have to feel like drinking fizzy dishwater.

Overall: I've only had a couple of Ilkley's other beers recently, but at present I'd say that this is probably my favourite. Although it isn't one, this has several of the characteristics of a good porter without having an ABV that causes wallpaper to curl. The bottle blurb describes it as a 'dark session beer', and I'd say that it excels on that score. I'd certainly not be averse to trying this on tap.

 

500ml bottle bought from Lighthouse Wines, Jordanstown

Poured a deep dark ruby red... Creamy tan head poured fairly thickly then faded to thin layer.... no real lacing

Aroma - Nice strong chocolate maltiness, coffee notes, toasted bread, molasses, smoky / dusty notes, some dark fruits (plums, figs, some blackcurrents), faint liquorice notes, spicy, nice peppery hop bitterness...

Taste – Definite chocolate maltiness, toastiness, watery black coffee, nutty sweetness, milky notes, fruity (blackcurrents, plums), peppery, strong eartiness, dark brown sugar, nice hop bitterness, light smoky notes...

Feel - Pretty smooth.. Medium bodied. At 3.7 % an extremely quaffable ale...

Overall - A very good and nicely balanced mild... well worth a try...

Bottled and bottle conditioned Bottled and part of a big order from beers of Europe to celebrate my 40th birthday
Pour is black with a thin head, aroma is toffee, sweet. Taste is toffee, malty, light liquorice sweetness. Very tasty, especially for the ABV

 

 

On cask at the 2011 Belfast Beer Festival.

Oxblood leather with loose foam. Molasses, ash and stale coffee on the nose.
Bit of red berry, shortbread sweetness, brown sugar syrup, weak latte, and leaf and spice hops to end.
Slight bit on the finish. Soft, round, some cling.

Sweet but light. Easy drinker. Decent mild.

Pours cola-like--deep brown with a rusty tinge to it. A thin layer of foam persists for a while before giving way to a slight ring. No lacing.

The aroma is nuts and earthy yeast with hints of chocolate and caramel and a fruitiness that's hard to pin down but reminds me of marmalade.

There's a very nice balance between the roast and bitterness with a nice clean, dry toastiness in the finish. Fishes quite dry. A chalky, minerality lingers in the aftertaste, which I wouldn't have expected with the list of ingredients under water being "Soft from Ilkley." It has a very cold weak coffee thing going on.

Mouthfeel is light with good carbonation.

It's a good drinker, but I would prefer something with a bit more sweetness to tone down or meld with the roastiness. But as low ABV beers go you could do a lot worse.