Blackwater Uber Pale Ale
Catawba Brewing Co.

 

 

On tap at Barley's in Asheville. From notes.
An almost completely opaque dark brown/black pour with a small light tan head which left a great deal of lacing on the glass. Blackwater indeed.
The rich malty aromas gave little hint of what was around the corner.
The flavors consisted of a big up front blast of hops which were balanced by an underpinning of sweet malt. The finish was accented by bittersweet chocolate and some espresso notes.
CVBC has come up with some really interesting takes on IPA and Double IPA styles, and this one is really striking. It probably belongs in the Black IPA category that's now on the site instead of in the Double IPA category.

Dark, dark brown pour. 1/2 finger of deep cream head. Light retention and window pane lacing.

Sharp roast cocoa nose. Coffee and sweet chocolate round out the aroma.

Velvety smooth hit. Tons of roast malt here. Dry roast coffee combine with hops to give this beer a very tart finish. Between the hop additions and the roast malt, this is one very bitter beer.

Alcohol creeps in as the glass warms.

Heavy body balances the flavor profile well.

Great beer.

Forget the name and just focus on the beer in front of you. You will think you have been served the wrong beer if you are expecting a typical pale ale!

A-Deep, dark black brown and for all intensive purposes opaque. A large, frothy tan head caps the mysterious looking body. The head reduces to a thin cap and leaves thick, ringing lace.

S-Roasted malt and milk chocolate sweetness with backing notes of sweet caramel malt, Strong citrus and spicy pine hop bitterness balances the malt sweetness.

T-BAM! The Uberness takes hold! Blast of spicy, bitter citrus rind up front riding a wave of roasted malt, toffee and a touch of chocolate.

M-Medium bodied and rather soft feeling despite all of the aggressiveness in the flavour profile. Long lingering bitterness.

D-Well, Mr Pyatt certainly is making a funny with this beer. An Uber Pale Ale it certainly is! Regardless of what style it really is, this brew is a well made, robust and aggressive concoction!

On tap at Barley's in Asheville, NC on 11/27/09.

A - The color of this pale ale is bordering total darkness... this is extremely black for a "pale" ale. Sitting on top of the dark liquid is a foamy tan cap about half a finger high, which reduced to a patchy veil and spattering of elaborate, sticky lacing.

S - Initial aroma offers sweet chocolate malt paired with caramel and toffee notes. However, there is plenty of citrus hop bitterness and a hint of pine present, giving this pale ale a well-balanced nose with a fairly assertive hop character.

T - First impression is, "wow... this is really bitter for just a pale ale!" Flavor delivers an aggressive blast of citrus hops with a hint of earthiness in the backend. Hop character is balanced with plenty of dark roasted and sweet caramel malt, as well as a toasted grainy aspect. Finishes up quite hoppy with some sharp pine notes amidst the juicy citrus hops.

M - Medium bodied and pretty robust for the style, the mouthfeel is sticky yet creamy on the palate. Carbonation is right on for the stlye... not too prickly or too soft. Finish is fairly aggressive bitterness that lingers on the back of the tongue for a while.

D - Uber indeed! This was a great introduction to Catawba Valley Brewing Company. This is an aggressively hopped pale ale with an equally big, complex malt presence. Very nice.

Growler shared by Ding - thanks!

Pours one shade away from black with a half-finger tan head. The head recees into a wispy layer on top leaving decent lacing.

Smells of smooth roasted malts with hints of chocolate and citrus hops.

Tastes similar to how it smells. Roasted and chocolate malt flavors up front are joined midway through the sip by solid amounts of citrus hop flavors and milder hits of pine hop flavors. Ending is mildly bitter, leaving a dark chocolate aftertaste.

Mouthfeel is good. It has a solid thickness with moderate carbonation.

Drinkability is very good. I finished my glass quickly and could polish off a growler myself.

Overall I thought this was more of a Double Stout than a DIPA, but we don't need to get into semantics and either way it was good. Worth a shot.

Not as heavy or overbearing as the alcohol content may suggest but still nothing special

Appearance: Uber dark, minimal but thick tan head

Smell: Very faint, some hops

Taste: Comparable to a stout actually; light and smokey with a bit of a bite in the finish

Mouthfeel: Smooth with bitter finish

Drinkability: Not as sweet or heavy as you'd think; decent if you like porters or stouts

on-tap at barleys taproom in asheville

appearance: served in an 11oz chalice...given fair warning, this extremely dark "pale" arrives at my barstool - very dark mahogany, smooth chocolate cap

smell: great combo of dark roasty chocolate and bitter piney hops...smoke, citrus, light traces of booze

taste: fascinating nightcap from catawba - kind of defies any sort of style classification. very dark body and strongly roasted malts present - underlying bitter pine hops, tangy citrus, dark chocolate, smoke/char. drink this

mouthfeel: smooth but bitter, layers of complexity

drinkability: sipper

On tap at Barley's Taproom and Pizzeria, served in a traditional American pint glass. I was warned by the waitress that this "wasn't a pale ale - it's pretty dark." Bring it, I say.

Appearance: A dark, relatively thick looking beer, with no head when it arrives. As you sip, it does leave a few stretch marks of foam and some blobs of lace, however. All in all, not the best looking beer, but it's not bad.

Aroma: Pine and lighter citrus are the most prominent hop notes here, floating on top of an array of dark, toasted malts, faintly smelling of coffee and faintly of bready, well-done toast.

Taste: Stone 11th-like - that is, it's a dark, toasty, piney, west coast DIPA. Fairly heavily roasted coffee with a few stray bitter astringencies, slight milkyness, a moderate amount of bitterness, and lots of citrus zest and pine. Hops are slightly soapy, unfortunately, but overall it's really good.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied, though well on the road to thick, with plenty of carbonation, resulting in a slightly uneven brew. The crispness is sort of muted, as well.

Drinkability: Well-hidden alcohol, if nothing else. The flavors are pleasant, and if the hop schedule and carbonation were to be altered slightly, this would be a really solid beer.

A - Dark coffee brown in color with a think light brown head. Decent retention of the thin foam layer and leaves a nice web of lacing.

S - Piney hops dominate the nose but there is a nice mix of a roasted maltiness as well. Very strong from both sides providing a very interesting mix.

T - Roasted malty sweetness initially. Hints of bitter chocolate. Hoppy bitterness quickly comes pouring in with tastes of pine and grapefruit. Not a hige DIPA blast, but still very strong. An excellent and very interesting mix of tastes.

M/D - Medium to full bodied. Almost creamy in the feel. A very interesting mix of flavors makes for a very drinkable brew.

iPhone review so it will be short

On tap at Barley's in Asheville, NC

A: Deep black, small head but good lacing

S: Rich malts with piney hop scents.

T: Rich bitter chocolate forms the base of the flavor with piney hop oils on the finish, most excellent. Finishes very bitter then fades to nice roasted malt flavors.

M: Very smooth, slightly tingly after a few seconds on the tongue though.

D: A bit heavy, but goes down well.

Overall: Very impressed, if you get a chance to try it, go for it.

On tap at Barley's in Asheville.

Appearance: Arrives at the bar with a coffee brown color and a modest tan head that leaves a nice web of lace

Smell: Bittersweet chocolate and pink grapefruit

Taste: Bitter chocolate and pink grapefruit flavors jump out and battle one another immediately and continue their duel after the swallow and into the finish; some licorice subtlety in there, too

Mouthfeel: Medium to full body; moderate carbonation

Drinkability: An extraordinary combination that is boldly flavored and satisfying; Stone comes out with its XI, which is essentially the same style and, with 400+ reviews, merits an A, yet many of the reviewers of this beer want to judge this by everyday DIPA standards; that's not what this beer is about - enjoy it for what it is

Appearance: Dark brown body topped by a small, beige head.

Smell: Mixture of dark malts and pine needles with a touch of booze.

Taste: Dark malts, a bit of roastiness meets a strong pine hop flavor and moderate bitterness. Small hint of unsweetened chocolate present, but it gets lost amidst the bitterness. Dry, lingering finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium carbonation.

Drinkability: There sure are alot of hoppy black beers running loose these days.

Had this on tap at Barley's in Asheville. WTF is up with the color. Black like a stout. Definitely not what I expected with a pale ale. Not much aroma. A little coffee and great big hops. If you drink it with your eyes open you would expect something very different than what you get.

On tap at Barley's. Had this when I couldn't find the King Coconut. Oh well, I certainly wasn't displeased. Poured exceptionally dark for the style, a very dark brown. Not a bad head for the abv. Smelled roasty and even a tad smokey, with sweet malt and some earthy hops also prevalant. The taste is dark- very bitter grapefruit and licorice as well as Gentian and bitter orange. Very powerful stuff, but surprisingly smooth in the mouthfeeel. A very interesting brew.

a: Comes in a small snifterish glass with an awesome, fluffy beige head. Great retention of a chunky layer of carbonation, with heavy lacing left on the glass. The beer itself is a near opaque deep brown in color.

s: Similar to the aroma. A blend of deep roasted and pale malts with heavy pine hop aromas.

m: The body is on the full side of medium, with low-medium carbonation. Very smooth.

t: Nice mix of clean malt background with a complex roasted malt foreground. Bitter chocolate and woody/earthy notes. Dark piney hop flavors. Long lasting finish with a high bitterness. Very interesting.

d: very enjoyable, easy drinkability

on-tap at Barley's

Growler purchased at brewery & consumed late July

Poured mahogany with 3+ fingers of mocha colored head. Above average head retention & lacing

S: Roasted grain & iron

T: Roasted malt, molasses, earthy hops up front. Some boozeyness, coffee, as this warms. Finishes dry with chocolatey notes & iron

MF: Chewy, medium-bodied with medium carbonation

Drinkable for the ABV, but not a good example of the style, where the hell are the hops? This would work better as a winter warmer or old ale

Interesting...Very interesting.
I thought the waitress brought me the wrong beer. I ordered Catawba Valley's new super hoppy DIPA. This looks like a porter. She assured me this was the right beer and after smelling it, I realized she was right. Dark brown in color with some red/orange glow when held up to the light. Thin head but nice lasting heavy lacing.
Smells like a DIPA. Pine and citrus hops on steroids. Very good and complex hop aroma.
It's as hoppy as any DIPA I've had. But better balanced than most. Almost sweet in a bitter sort of way. Where this stands out from any other DIPA I've ever had is the roasty character. It is done perfectly imo. Just enough roast to add to the flavor with out being over kill. I'm suprised I have not seen a beer like this before.
Mouthfeel is more on the smooth side instead of the usual hoppy stickiness for the style.
Dangerously drinkable. No hint at all of the 9.2% abv. If you are not carefull you may find yourself drinking way too many of these.

Silly Catawba brewers -- they'll brew anything won't they? In fact, I'm surprised that I have never seen this specialty beer before. A solid (perhaps high gravity) IPA, but with a solid dark roasted grain character. Very stong hop flavors and aromas stand above a hearty, malty pale base malt. But then add a bold dose of roasted malt / black patent grains to give a very dark brown color, great head retention and a roasted, powdery, softness. Very complex, giving a new character with every sip. The bitterness of the dark grains work well with the spicy citrus hops. A tremendously good beer.