Marks & Spencer Greenwich Black IPA
Meantime Brewing Company Limited

 

L- Effectively black until held in front of a lightbulb, where you notice a red hue through the bottom corner of the glass. Pours with 1Cm fine pale tan head that is holding well.
S- Roasty-toasty and coffee.
T- Initially a mirror of the smell, and then is develops the major deep roasted coffee aspect.
F- It's hoppy-dry, but the 5.7% brings some richness with it.
O- A black IPA, well that's likely a first for me. I wish now that I'd had been handed this in a blind tasting as I think the roastiness would have lead me to guess a stout. Plus the hops aspect is not perhaps as heavy as you might expect for a modern IPA. Very interesting trying it, but perhaps a little away from 'my thing' to make a regular.
BBE: 06/2019

Big coffee, molasses , burn toast malt flavour which tends to swamp the hops. Stout like but less mouthfeel. Bit odd but I suppose it is a bit different. Not sure if I would have it again.

Bottle. Almost black with a thick and lasting frothy head.
Hops and coffee aroma which persists into the flavour. Burnt toast bitterness.
Low carbonation. Smooth.
A decent amalgamation of malt and hops.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bottled
Pours a jet black body with decent enough tan head
black grape bubblegum aroma
charcoal edged toast with dark plum jam flavour
decent bodied

 

Purchased at the M&S supermarket, non-bottle conditioned ; BB 09/2014, served cool in a straight imperial pint glass. Notes: The back label says 7 different malts are used in addition to American and English hops (varieties unspecified).

A: pours an almost black colour, coming with a dark khaki creamy head and rather moderate carbonation.
S: the aroma is exquisite… wonderfully caramely, sweet coffee-ish and roast nutty on the first level, while the grapey, grapefruit peel-ish and really exotic fruity hoppiness and dark fruits rein on the second level. The aroma is really complex and soul-lifting, unlike the more typical mixture I’ve come across in most other Black IPAs I’ve had.
T: on the entry the flavour is both grapefruit-peel zesty, coffee-ish, bitter caramel, and earthy hoppy (Fuggles-like) at the same time; turning bitter-sweet with a lovely touch of black-prune acidity, as the subtle fruits tread lightly on top of a decent and robust malt backbone, leaving lots of clean hop bitterness and dry-ish, burned-nutty bitterness as of roast malts to follow towards a dry, herbal & earthy aromatic bitter finish. Unlike many Black IPAs that could deliver a really rich resinous and aromatic profile, the hoppiness here provides just enough aromatic flavours with a limited level of resins.
M&O: the mouthfeel is lightly carbonated, against a robust and rich body of flavours; this interpretation of “Black IPA” is surprisingly distinctive and getting the best of both worlds, in that the complex maltiness really lends a proper weight to buttress the zesty and earthy hop flavours and rich bitterness, all in all rendering a super pleasant and not at all heavy or OTT drinking experience. Highly recommended for anyone into this “beer style” BUT looking for something “unconventional”.