India Black Ale
Vault Brewing Company

I am now CANtinuing yet another brewery horizontal, this time with CANs from Vault B.C. in Yardley, PA. I met these guys fairly early in their existence & reviewed one of their first CANs for The CANQuest (tm). It's good to be coming back to them! That is my approved pic, BTW.

From the CAN: "Hopped with Citra & Amarillo"; "Drink Fresh, Drink Now".

I was curious to taste this one since I was not a big fan of what were originally referred to as "Cascadian/Black IPAs". I felt like the roasted malts got in the way of the hops, but with a new style comes new guidelines. I Crack!ed open the vent on this One Pint CAN & allowed the beer to run freely into the awaiting glass. It was not an inverted Glug, but it still caused a pseudo-cascade to occur, slowly settling into just over two fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, deep-tan/light-brown head with moderate retention, leaving decent lacing in its wake. Color was Black/Opaque (SRM = 44), allowing ZERO light penetration. Nose smelled of dark or baker's chocolate, light smoke and a cool mintiness that, in sum, put me in mind of a liquefied York Peppermint Patty. Mmm. Mouthfeel was big, full & creamy, like a dollop had been scooped onto my tongue! The taste was one of the better examples of the style that I have reviewed. It was both bitter & chocolaty, but it also had a cool mintiness that was a very pleasant addition. Finish was cool, dry, slightly bitter, kind of smoky & left me with no regrets.