28th Anniversary
Real Ale Brewing Company

 

A: Pours a dark black color, nearly opaque. A two finger beige head forms with excellent retention and rings of lace left behind. I call this a looker.
S: Big pine and resin in the nose. Grapefruit and darker malts are subtle, that are more dark bread crust. The hops are the show though.
T: Oh, that pine resin and grapefruit pops. That gives a substantial bitterness. Then the malts come into play, roast and bitter bakers chocolate.
M/O: A full body that has crisp carbonation at first. That levels out, and a sticky, resin, and malty heftiness lingers around. I can come back to this a lot. A big intense offering that is well made.

I have always been on the fence with so called Black IPA's. Sometimes I feel like the hops and malts clash. Maybe if I had this several years ago, I would have the same opinion. Though now, I think it all works really well together. I don't think it will ever be a favorite style of mine, but this is spot on and really enjoyable regardless. I can see myself getting lots more of this if it was a regular, distributed release.