Rocket Ship IPA
Blacks Kinsale Craft Brewery

look: two finger white head with great retention and some lacing, beer is a rich amber colour, slightly foggy, lots of lively carbonation, bubbles rushing through the beer.

smell: the aroma isn’t exactly potent, good bit of malt flavour coming through, fresh bread, grassy, earthy, a lot of biscuit, shortbread, grains, the hoppy fruity flavours of a beer of this strength really aren’t there, or at least aren’t big enough, there is some fruity flavour to it but it’s subtle, hopefully it tastes better.

taste: such a lacklustre beer, the hop flavours are so faint, it’s quite malty at first, bread, caramel, but that wave of fruity flavours and sweetness that should follow barely does, there’s a touch of orange and pineapple but not much, the finish is actually alright the bitterness is there and it’s pleasant, some pink grapefruit flavours, maybe even shows it’s alcohol a bit, but really this misses the mark.

feel: light bodied, medium carbonation, it’s drinkable and clean i suppose, bitterness is nice, some warming of the back of the throat from the alcohol.

overall: a disappointing beer, i really wish i could love everything this brewery makes but this just isn’t good enough, it’s not a terrible beer, it doesn’t taste bad, but it isn’t a flavoursome as it ought to be, oh well.

An other IPA from the Black of Kinsale. Slight hiss while opening the bottle, goooood.

Top: generous and thick head forms after pouring, slightly off white in colour and lasts over 5 minutes. So far, it looks excellent.

Colour: moderate hazyness (it looked clear in the bottle, however I noticed a thin layer of goodies at the bottom, so I've mixed it up gently. Dark amber in colour, damn, she's looking gooooood.

Smell: moderate hops, thin malts and fruity fresness. Nothing special.

Taste: being a 6.5% ABV beer, I suspected a stronger alcohol punch, but it turns out it's just fine, you can feel it's not weak, but hides its alcohol content quite well, that can be misleading. Taste of malts are a bit too much for me (more of a hop head here), gets a bit sweet-ish, therefore its bitterness is reduced. Too reduced for my taste. Earthy flavours are present, I can't detect fruitiness anymore. The mouthfeel starts with a bit of cold sourness wrapped in microbubbles, then malty, just a slight bitterness and alcohol and it's gone, leaving a herd of craving taste buds behind. The memory of a good sip slides away in just 2 seconds.

Summary: she's not the right one for me as I prefer bitter and hop-rich types. Although it's definitely far from bad and probably better than a lot of IPAs, it's just not enough to rise above the average. Sorry lads. Their Black IPA was much better, their Session IPA (despite being only 3.5 ABV) was significantly better, in my opinion.

Pours clear, amber in color with one third inch head. Taste is pine and grapefruit. Medium bodied and carbonation bitter. Makes for a really good ipa.

 

Look:pale gold generous head
Smell:strong smell of hops and a little malt, very pleasant
Taste: mellow , a little fruity cherry, peach, perhaps a touch over-sweet
Feel: powerful yet subtle
Overall: very enjoyable beer, a little sweet for me, not enough sour hoppy flavours for my taste but others will really savour the sweetness.

Poured a clear amber, single finger tan head with long lasting lacing into a tulip glass. 500ml bottle decent aroma but not as big as I expected having tried some of their other beers, decent hints of malt and hops. Tasted more alcohol than their other KPA or Black IPA beers which is to be expected with the increase in ABV. Taste is very nice, better than the smell, nice balance between the bitter and sweet, a very drinkable IPA!

 

 

 

Bottle 500ml. Was expecting a hop bomb but have to say very disappointed with this. No aroma of hops whatsoever. All malt and bitterness and no balance. Good feel and body. Oily enough but no head or lacing. This could have been so much better but for me not a good beer.

 

 

A new one from Black's in Kinsale Cork. 500 ml bottle from OBrien's off licence in Naas. Only just in. Sweeter and a little more bitter than their standard IPA. Alcohol well hidden. I really like it.