Skywatcher
Upper Hand Brewery

 

Pours a chestnut hued mahogany with 2 fingers of tan head. Nice head retention & lacing

S: Some brown bread notes, a touch of woody hops, some anise notes once warm

T: Dryness, woody hops, a little brown bread & brown sugar up front. A little roastyness comes through as this beer warms up, along with woody hops, dryness, a kiss of molasses as well, slight smokiness. Finishes dry with woody hops, a touch of brown sugar, pine & a little cola

MF: Medium body, soft carbonation, decent balance

Probably the first Black IPL I've had, drinks very easy. To me cross between a Schwartz & an IPA

 

Sampling a 12 oz can poured slightly chilled into a small sampling cup....IM in a hotel, so its what Ive got. Date stamp is drink by Jun1 2024.
The beer pours a rich cola brown with a fluffy and creamy khaki colored head of almost 2 cm.
Aroma is some roasted malts and a good bit of earthy and some citrusy hop note. Never any hint of the booze. Nose seems spot on for what I expected.
First sip reveals a medium body with fine and fairly tingly carbonation. Texture is smooth and the beer drinks very easy.
Flavor is some roasted malt and then earthy and citrus rind hops, but actually pretty well balanced flavor profile.
Im enjoying this beer and my cup is emptying pretty quickly, which tells me Im enjoying this brew. A clean well balanced beer from Michigan. glad to have tried this one.

As a replacement to Lumen, this IPL falls a little short but is still a very good IPL, a very underappreciated style. It took a few tastings to fully appreciate the flavors held within. Though a little maltier than Lumen, it still had a great finish

 

Not sure if I have ever seen a “Black IPL” before, I see very few IPLs in general. So of course I wanted to try it.
Poured the color of iced tea and never actually looked black, more like a brown ale. The lacing from the beige head was regular and consistent.
The aroma, what little I could get with my messed up nose, was that of a very mild IPA.
The taste started curiously, like a farm beer that was trying to be a WC IPA. Little pine, little vegetable taste, and a little spice, white pepper maybe? But that was just the first couple of sips, it settled down to a fairly good IPA flavor with a solid base of biscuit like malts.
The feel was curiously absent of carbonation, though the lacing begged to differ. It was pleasant and very quaffable, I could see pounding a 6 pack with few problems.
OA, interesting and tasty. Good combination.