Powerline Double Black IPA
Periodic Brewing Company

this one was a real pleasant surprise, a big strong piney black ipa with plenty of depth to the malt base, roasty even ashy and charred grain, really well done, especially for a brewery i didnt know existed before i encountered this beer. eggshell black with a short light brown head with fine retention and a little lace as it sips. aroma and flavor of fresh cut pine, sappy and herbaceous and bitter, wintery even, but very fresh. the black malt and roasted unmalted barley give a lot of bite to the low end here, not quite smoked, but earthy and rustic and bold, almost more of a stout or robust porter complexion. the balance between that and the hops is amazing, and they go together super well, not sure what the hops here are, likely some northwestern high alpha C types, but it perfectly selected and dosed for this base. looks like these guys make plenty of interesting beers that i would love to try, but this really is something quite excellent here that they have going. not enough good examples of black ipa here in colorado, this is one of them however. crazy its so strong too, drinks more like 7% abv...