Black Toque Cascadian Brown Ale
Phillips Brewing & Malting Co.

 

 

 

 

The pours a nice brown with a inch thick tan head that laces the glass pretty well. The nose has some earthy notes but a nice mix of hops and malt are the most pronounced. The malt comes through on the tongue but is well balanced with hops and end slightly bitter. The mouth feel is probably what I'd call medium bodied. I do tend to like a lot of Black IPA's and Cascadian style beers because of what I perceive as the balance between hops and malt. It didn't disappoint.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Phillips "Hop Box" standard, pours a dark cola brown with correspondingly mocha colored foam. Aroma is complex, sweet, hoppy, and smoky all at once, I get coffee and chocolate along with some citrus, red berry, and tropical notes. The hops are subdued for a beer dubbed an "IPA" and this beer probably falls somewhere between an American brown ale (which can be aggressively hopped compared to English examples) and a Cascadian dark or black ale, the categorization given here. Tastes much like a chocolate covered coffee bean that includes some grapefruit and mango, some classic Phillips herbal/hemp oil notes, a little understated pine, and nice chewy malts that recall a porter. Maybe a hair too ashy. Well-executed example of a tricky style: Too much hops and you get unpleasant clashing of flavors, too little and you get another beer style.