Washed In Black
Mikerphone Brewing

Really dark brown color with tan head. Aroma has milk chocolate, hazelnut, roasted malts and some generic hop notes. Taste starts with resiny hops and continues with roasted malt, dark bread crust, caramel and bitter finish. Medium body and carbonation. Really nice one, nutty, roasty and hoppy.

Poured typically oily black with a small khaki head. The smell was pretty hop forward for a black ale, with fruity and flowery hops filling the nose, with hints at roasted malt in the background. Wish that was how it tasted, because in taste we had a chewy chocolate syrup and roasted malt base with the citrus, pine, and flowery hops sitting on top, not combining, in fact clashing. Too sweet, not bitter enough. Feel was simultaneously sludgy and perfume-like, with the black base elements dropping out of the bottom by finish.

750 ml bottle into tulip glass, bottled in 9/2018. Pours opaque dark brown/black color with a 1 finger fairly dense and rocky tan head with great retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a light amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big red grapefruit, tangerine, lemon, peach, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, melon, guava, berries, citrus peel/rind, peppercorn, pine, dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, roasted nuts, toasted dark/brown bread, light smoke/char, herbal, floral, grass, and roast/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and dark/roast/bready malt notes; with great strength. Taste of big red grapefruit, tangerine, lemon, peach, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, melon, guava, berries, citrus peel/rind, peppercorn, pine, dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, roasted nuts, toasted dark/brown bread, light smoke/char, herbal, floral, grass, and roast/toasted earthiness. Light-moderate pine, citrus peel/rind, herbal, floral, grassy, peppery hops; and roast/char bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of grapefruit, tangerine, lemon, peach, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, melon, guava, berries, citrus peel/rind, peppercorn, pine, dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, roasted nuts, toasted dark/brown bread, light smoke/char, herbal, floral, grass, and roast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and dark/roast/bready malt flavors; with an awesome roast/hop bitter/sweet balance; and no cloying, acrid, astringent flavors after the finish. Light-moderate increasing dryness from lingering hop/char bitterness. Medium carbonation and medium-plus body; with a very smooth, moderately creamy/bready/grainy, sticky/resinous/rindy, and fairly chalky balanced mouthfeel that is great. Minimal warming alcohol for 8%. Overall this is an awesome imperial black IPA. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and dark/roast/bready malt flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to drink for the ABV, with the modestly bitter/drying finish. Not aggressively bitter, or overly charred on malts. Amazing Citra, Simcoe, Centennial profile. Very juicy, vibrant, and fairly dank/earthy hop complexity; great clean midnight wheat, and oat/malt balance. Not overly sweet/heavy from lingering resin dryness. A really enjoyable offering, and outstanding style example. One of the better black IPAs I've had in a while, wish more breweries still made them.

11/12/18 (Chicago): 750 ml $12.19 bottle purchased at Mikerphone multiple pours into pint glass. Dark brown pour, nice puffy cloudy tan head. Pine and roast chocolate aroma, interesting mix that works well. Heavy roast chocolate taste,pine hops taste dry bitter, odd blend. Carbonation holds, creamy mouth feel. Overall interesting offering.

 

On tap at the brewery - Elk Grove Village, IL.
Near black body with a thinner tan head. Roasted barley, coffee, dank piney hops for aroma. Bold and complex flavors with notes of roasted barley, heavy char and ash, coffee grounds, pungent pine resin, zesty citrus. Thick and resinous body, sticky hop oils, long piney finish. Really good Black Ale, my only complaint is that its got a weird ashy taste that is a bit off-putting - that was the only difference between this being really good and this being great.

Tasted in a Rastal Teku from a 750 ml bottle on September 26, 2018. Collaboration with Outer Range Brewing Co. out of Frisco, Colorado. Brewed with Citra, Simcoe and Centennial hops. Midnight Wheat gives it some roast, chocolate and a nearly black color.