Stargazer
Elder Pine Brewing & Blending Co.

10 oz draft pour on tap at Frisco Taphouse in Gambrills, MD. Pours a nearly pitch black with a medium tan head. Aroma and flavor feature resinous pine, bitter citrus peel, and dark roasty/earthy malt with a hint of licorice. There is a bit more alcohol present than I'd prefer but otherwise this is a really solid Black IPA. Good stuff.

16 oz can from State Line. Dark brown pour, small silky beige head. Aroma is light roast with a hint of sweet. Taste adds bittering hops and the roast malts stand out more. Smidge of brown sugar sweetness.

 

A black IPA! The first one I have seen in years. Wondered where this style went? Elder Pine Brewing, a small venture located in the rural part of Montgomery County, Maryland, has provided me one. It pours into a heavy froth and settles into a dark ruby red body topped by a wispy head. Subtle nose beckons you closer. Heavy malt with slabs of licorice taunts the tongue. There is a mild aftertaste of bitterness at the end of the quaff. Crispy body. Very light, however. This is a nice one for a slow and refreshing repast. One at a time is good enough for me. Four cans to package, with plenty of time to gaze at the stars.

This DelMarVa (+ DC) adventure of mine has morphed into my latest CANQuest (tm) focus! I really had no idea that MaryCANd, especially, was putting out so much beer. 8=O It seems as though every time I feel like I a close, some more beers from that area Pop! up from out of hiding to surprise me. Further, I am back to work so I CANnot keep up the pace that I set during the Christmas/Winter Break. 8=( On top of all of that, even New Beer Sunday is off-limits due to prior CANmitments. 8=( Inna meantime, a shout-out to my local, in-person trader, @tone77 who recently dropped this off for me.

From the CAN: "Black IPA"; "A Limited Offering".

The Crack! of the vent greeted me with a spritz across my fingertips due to its being a brimful craft CAN. I was further intrigued during my slow, gentle C-Line Glug when it evinced a pseudo-cascade. 8=O It finally settled into two-plus fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, deep-tan/light-brown head with very good retention, taking forever to fall away. Color was Very Dark Brown to Black/Opaque (SRM = > 34, < 44) with ruby highlights visible at the edges. Nose seemed more driven by the dark-roasted malts with notes of dark chocolate, charcoal and smoke at the forefront with an underlying citrusiness and mintiness from the hops. Hmm. Mouthfeel was medium-to-full, not quite creamy, but on the approach. The taste was a classic example of my problem with this style as a self-avowed, self-described hophead - the malts were getting in the way of the hops! They were calling it a "Black IPA", but when the hops are no longer the centerpiece, then it is an example of 21st Amendment's "Blah, blah, blah IPA" in which everything is an IPA for marketing purposes. This one tasted like a slightly burnt brownie with an indistinguishable hop bill. I was reminded of the GEICO commercial with the raccoons and the taste of "burnt hair & chutney". Ha! It was just too roasty & too overpowering for the hops to have a ChANce & it suffered as a result. Finish was dry and bitter, but I felt unfulfilled. YMMV.

 

Poured from a 16 oz. can. Has a black color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is mild, citrus, some roasted malts. Taste is of coffee, hints of citrus, it seems like the flavors are not playing well together. Feels medium bodied in the mouth and overall is not bad, but it's nothing special.

 

 

First black IPA I've seen around in a while.
Dark brown with reddish highlights and a dense, thick, tan head. Great retention and lace.
Weird combination of tropical fruit-type hops and coffee aromas.
Flavor follows aroma, but the coffee taste is even more prevalent.
Mouthfeel is about what you want in an IPA
Just a really weird beer. There's a reason you don't really see the tropical type hops in stouts and porters.