Revelation IPA
Chatty Monks Brewing

 

I tried this on tap at Chatty Monks -served chilled in a Nonic.

The color is practically black with opaque clarity and pale tan head with fine bead and spotty lace sticks with good head retention. The smell is strong pine from hops with a fruity almost citrus accent and subtle roasted malt in the aroma with light fruity yeast ester. The feel is good with moderate hop bitterness and low sweetness with medium roast and medium light body with semi-dry finish.

The taste is very good though very dark and made me question the English IPA label yet the bartender assured me that was the brewer's intent. This comes off more like a black ale with very light fruity and citrus from the hops with moderately roasted malt quality with low alcohol in the finish with slight astringent accent. Overall a good beer, not overly bitter with nice balance of malt and hops with roast in the flavor not over the top -sort of a frankenstein beer based on the brewer's description -
"OUR FLAGSHIP BREW, BORN OUT OF A COMEDY OF ERRORS. FIRST, ROB ADDED HOMEGROWN CASCADE, SIMCOE & CITRA HOPS AT PRECISELY THE WRONG TIME. THEN NORM WENT ROGUE AND THREW IN A LITTLE UNINTENDED CHOCOLATE MALT. DARK & RICH, YET SURPRISING LIGHT ON YOUR PALATE, THIS ENGLISH-STYLE IPA STARTS WITH THE GOODNESS OF MARIS OTTER ENGLISH BARLEY AND FINISHES CITRUSY WITH AROMAS OF GRAPEFRUIT. WHAT YOU TASTE IS NOT WHAT YOU EXPECT, AND THAT’S WHAT MAKES IT SUCH A GREAT REVELATION."
I would drink this again because it works and is quaffable regardless of style.

 

 

 

 

 

On draft, 4oz sample, Aug 22nd, at the brewpub.

Appearance - Dark hues that are closer to a brown ale than a pale ale. Not dark enough for be a black IPA. Overhead one of the owners say that they accidentally added choc malt instead of 2-row and that's why the color is so dark. Slightly cloudy; looks like they rushed it out of the fermentor.

Aroma - Very little hop aroma. What hop aroma was there was vegital and grassy. Notable off aromas of plastic and vinyl.

Taste - Off flavors of plastic and astringency. Bitterness was sharp and not rounded. Hop flavor was muddy and contributed little.

Overall Impression - There are problems with the brewing process here. My first guess would be general fermentation issues from not pitching enough yeast to not maintaining proper fermentation temps. Astringency is almost certainly water chemistry. Perhaps untreated city water being used or pH is not being monitored throughout the brewing process. Brewery is new, so hopefully they are taking some MAJOR steps to correct these problems, as there are some serious quality issues here - this beer should not have been served.