Light Bender Black IPA
The BottleHouse Brewing Company
- From:
- The BottleHouse Brewing Company
- Ohio, United States
- Style:
- Black IPA
Ranked #39 - ABV:
- 7.5%
- Score:
- 90
Ranked #12,505 - Avg:
- 4.16 | pDev: 8.17%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 5
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Oct 24, 2025
- Added:
- Oct 19, 2014
- Wants:
- 0
- Gots:
- 3
SCORE
90
Outstanding
90
Outstanding
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Reviewed by KurtisCarman from Ohio
4.22/5 rDev +1.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
4.22/5 rDev +1.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
L: Beautifully dark with nice head
S: Aromas are surprisingly weak. I smell some roastiness hops but not as strongly as in other beers
T: Roasty malt flavors with a hint of pine and grapefruit with perfect bitterness
F: Excellent balance goes down really easy
O: Makes it hard to order other beers when this is on tap. Most certainly one of my favorite beers of all time.
Nov 30, 2016S: Aromas are surprisingly weak. I smell some roastiness hops but not as strongly as in other beers
T: Roasty malt flavors with a hint of pine and grapefruit with perfect bitterness
F: Excellent balance goes down really easy
O: Makes it hard to order other beers when this is on tap. Most certainly one of my favorite beers of all time.
Reviewed by Greg585 from Ohio
4.79/5 rDev +15.1%
look: 5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75
4.79/5 rDev +15.1%
look: 5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75
It is hard to make a good black ipa. This beer is a great example in a unique bottle. 22oz of lacey black gold. Citrus in the nose and in the flavor. Great body that compliments the bitterness fron the hops and the dark malts. Like all good Ipa's the aroma really shows itself as it warms up. Drink this beer slowly and you'll see what I mean.
Nov 25, 2015
Reviewed by maximum12 from Minnesota
3.58/5 rDev -13.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5
3.58/5 rDev -13.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5
Thanks to CaptCleveland for this 22 oz. bottle with quite a unique look: brown glass with an almost fluorescent green screen printing. Split with my wife.
The pour is indeed black (& it would be weird if this weren’t, eh, Spongebob?). There’s carbonation. The smell is chocolate, roast. Even with a swirl that threatens to land on the keyboard I can’t summon any hops in the olfactory.
Light Bender IPA warps right into porter territory. Malt sweetness is scaled up, as is the roast that’s the equivalent of a morning Caribou Coffee drive-by. The hops are an afterthought of milky citrus that sticks around in the aftertaste. Mild chocolate, almost no bitterness. Thin & gulpable, which is it’s strong suit, pretty sure I could take repeated facials of this if necessary.
There’s two modes of drinkable: the kind of beer that’s so good you wish it came in Home Depot pails, & the one that’s nondescript enough to drink mindlessly for hours. This is the latter. Good, solid brew.
Nov 03, 2015The pour is indeed black (& it would be weird if this weren’t, eh, Spongebob?). There’s carbonation. The smell is chocolate, roast. Even with a swirl that threatens to land on the keyboard I can’t summon any hops in the olfactory.
Light Bender IPA warps right into porter territory. Malt sweetness is scaled up, as is the roast that’s the equivalent of a morning Caribou Coffee drive-by. The hops are an afterthought of milky citrus that sticks around in the aftertaste. Mild chocolate, almost no bitterness. Thin & gulpable, which is it’s strong suit, pretty sure I could take repeated facials of this if necessary.
There’s two modes of drinkable: the kind of beer that’s so good you wish it came in Home Depot pails, & the one that’s nondescript enough to drink mindlessly for hours. This is the latter. Good, solid brew.
Reviewed by ONUMello from Ohio
4.36/5 rDev +4.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
4.36/5 rDev +4.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
22oz bottle poured into a pint glass
A: Dark brown with a one-finger head
S: Roasted malt, grapefruit, molasses - a great blend of both a black ale and IPA
T: Amazingly fresh, crisp and clean. Every kind of bread, malt, grain with every level of toast you can imagine is there. Add nice orange peel/grapefruit peel notes and a hint of pine from the hops, then a bit of brown sugar/caramel from the malt again on the finish. So layered and tasty
M: Medium-bodied, nice toast, just a touch on the sweet side
O: Fantastic beer. Released for 2014 Cleveland Beer Week though they hinted this may become year-round and I certainly hope so. This was just bottled though I'll hopefully be trying it on tap tomorrow and will update if needed. Complex and delicious
Oct 21, 2014A: Dark brown with a one-finger head
S: Roasted malt, grapefruit, molasses - a great blend of both a black ale and IPA
T: Amazingly fresh, crisp and clean. Every kind of bread, malt, grain with every level of toast you can imagine is there. Add nice orange peel/grapefruit peel notes and a hint of pine from the hops, then a bit of brown sugar/caramel from the malt again on the finish. So layered and tasty
M: Medium-bodied, nice toast, just a touch on the sweet side
O: Fantastic beer. Released for 2014 Cleveland Beer Week though they hinted this may become year-round and I certainly hope so. This was just bottled though I'll hopefully be trying it on tap tomorrow and will update if needed. Complex and delicious
Reviewed by schoolboy from Ohio
4.25/5 rDev +2.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.25/5 rDev +2.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Black is beautiful. This one really is.
I had a few sips of this on tap at the tasting room today and now a bomber. On tap seemed more fragrant. It is a very pretty deep dark brown, not black. The aroma is a hops orgy, beautifully orchestrated
The taste is of an extremely roasty IPA. The hops profile is high as it should be for the style, and it is very bitter. Malts present themselves as alcohol.
This very serious beverage is great as a taste treat after the sweet and tarts are done and its time for some nasty. Bottlehouse definitely makes high quality brews.
Oct 19, 2014I had a few sips of this on tap at the tasting room today and now a bomber. On tap seemed more fragrant. It is a very pretty deep dark brown, not black. The aroma is a hops orgy, beautifully orchestrated
The taste is of an extremely roasty IPA. The hops profile is high as it should be for the style, and it is very bitter. Malts present themselves as alcohol.
This very serious beverage is great as a taste treat after the sweet and tarts are done and its time for some nasty. Bottlehouse definitely makes high quality brews.
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