Mortal Sin
The Alchemist

This beautiful black beast checks all the boxes, and is an true exemplar of the style.
Pours black with a huge rich, frothy tan head.
Aroma is a pure olfactory delight. Dark roasty malts dance with dank hops, with more subtle notes of ripe citrus and NW forests.
Taste is pure pleasure as the aroma explodes with more complexity- and excellent bitterness on the finish.
A delight to drink with superbly smooth mouthfeel and med /light body.
Some indescribable factor in aroma and taste in true CDAs and black IPAs.
It's like synesthesia, in what I can only describe as echo or reverb...
Devilishly dark, dank and delicious.

 

 

 

 

 

 

16 ounce can packaged 11/08/23.

Vigorous pour yields a two inch tan head over a red highlighted black body with sticky lacing.

Very interesting nose of tropical fruit, roasted malt, and a bit of pine and a slight earthiness.

Taste is where some hoppy bitterness comes through while a bit of caramel flavor tries to keep the hops in check.
In the end the malt and caramel can't quite keep the bitterness from taking over at the finish.

Mouthfeel is quite full, as always from The Alchemist, with more than medium carbonation.

Overall, (ahem) this offering needs to be put in semi-regular rotation along with its brother El Jefe!
Find it, buy it, enjoy it!!
Cheers!!!

 

Appearance: deep dark brown in color. I can't see through it. Head is tan and rocky. Lacing leave some nice rings through out.

Smell. Sweet maltiness. Hops with a meaty malt aroma right behind. Toasted coffee notes also.

Taste: sweet bitters a combo of bitterness from hops and malt. Finish is slighty warming and coating...
Fruity resiny opens up throughout.

Overall/mouthfeel: mouthfeel is chewy. Hops and malt linger. Alright driinkabilty but a bit clowing. I don't drink many dark beers so my tongue felt coated others may feel different.

Enjoyed a couple glasses of this while enjoying a late lunch at The Alchemist. Of the two beers I tried at this location, this was by far the better IPA. Very different than most Black IPA’s and really just a wonderful treat.

Was served in a glass that was almost the shape of a rocks glass. Actually looked like the new Red Wine glasses without the stems. Each glass can with an insane creamy biege head that was basically whipped cream. (whipped beer in this case) Now I need to make clear that I would have guessed this was a cask/nitro pour from the look and feel, but it wasn’t. In fact, their cask of the same beer kicked moments before I arrived. Too bad. The retention was crazy and the lacing was beyond insane. The color was a dark brown that was dull in finish and did remind me of a chocolate bar. (probably due to a flavor or two from later)

Aroma was hoppy and citrus with mostly Lemon notes. Just below this was a slight chocolate note.

Flavor was an interesting mix of cocoa powder with a burst of fresh hops. Several sips in this became my favorite Black IPA. Just a great after taste.. Mix of roasted malt/ assertive but rounded hop bitterness.

The mouth feel was also fantastic. Extremely creamy!!

Just an awesome beer and one that grew on me as I continued to enjoy the glass. There was no chance I wasn’t having a second. Don’t miss this one.

a dark american ale that is as consistent as the brewpub coined porter but bright and dry and equally so toffee. Pour is like a rustic porter. Nice lace. Nose pine, cherrywood and toffee. Palate is a coffee and malt with a hint of caramel and floral note. Pretty simple but standard and touches all the bases.

Off tap this beer was a dark brown color with one finger of tan head. The retention was very good and the lacing consistent. The aroma was a pleasant blend of crystal malt and aromatic hops, floral and a little spicy. The flavors were similar, a well balanced IPA. Though I clearly tasted the hops, especially at first, I felt the malt backbone was solid and sweet enough to keep the citric and floral hops from being too in-your face. The alcohol was also well concealed. The mouthfeel was good ,the body medium/full and the carbonation perfect. Yet another success from this location and a very approachable example of a black IPA.

The beer pours a dark amber color, much darker than your average IPA (I thought it was a brown ale). It smells of nice citrusy and piney hops. While drinking, it leaves a nice thick lacing down the side of the glass. The taste is perfectly balanced with lots of up front hop character, grapefruit rind, and some piney flavors. There's just enough malt flavor to give it enough balance, but this one is about the hops. It's a nice medium-full bodied beer with a slightly oily quality to it. It's very drinkable and well worth a taste. In addition to the 6.66% ABV, they say it's 66.6 IBU.