Black Immaculate IPA
West Flanders Brewing Co.

2013 brought back and just now tapped with brewing mates. Very smooth with surprising head. No off notes in or in finish. Coffee and well balanced!

its neat the bottled this one, the packaging looks fantastic, and while i admittedly did not drink this one as fresh as i could have, its held up mighty well, owing i think to its strong flavorful roasty malt base and the fact that the hops may fade in flavor, but the bitterness they contribute remains. this is a cool beer, because it brings all the flavor of a stout or a porter on the grain side of things, and is mighty strong in alcohol, but has a surprising lightness to it, decidedly different than those other styles, black ale here really means something. a hint of campfire smoke to it, some residual pine notes from the hops, an almost wooded earthy neutrality of feel, and a nice black coffee note running all the way though, from the grain no doubt. super tasty and kind of rich, but also easy down for what it is, and not much heat showing up. almost feels creamy to me, and is drier despite the pine sappy hop vibe. a better beer than it seems like its getting credit for being, and one of my favorites i have had from these guys so far. not at all belgian like so many of theirs are, but a really cool and certainly unique black ipa. yum! thanks to drlovemd87 for sharing.