Alpine Peak
Guanella Pass Brewing Company

 

this is far less hoppy than i was expecting, perhaps not even intended to be a black ipa, but they seem to present it as such, at least thats what i think of with black ale these days. there are some hops to this, but the whole thing seems a little light, not quite thin, but perhaps overly conservative in terms of roasted malt bitterness, body, and hop intensity, and it ends up feeling a little less than fully satisfying, and probably not substantial enough to stand up to the winters they get up here. some chocolate to this, a light ale yeast flavor, mild char, and a pine note from the hops that are here. its a very drinkable beer being on the lighter side, but the flavor comes up a little short. the beer isnt amateur tasting or anything, and is a well enough made beer, but i just cant imagine this (or several of the other beers in here) wouldnt be improved by making them a little bit bolder. this was one of my least favorite of the beers they had flowing when we were in, not bad, just too safe to be exciting to me...