Disappointed Doctor
Lost Grove Brewing

On-tap in Meridian and served in a pint nonic; more dark brown than opaque black, thin wispy off white lacing…hops and piney resin come through along with dark barley and some chocolate…this is light on roast/coffee character but the chocolate is nice. Hops are moderate and the alcohol seems to be in check at this abv. Decent stuff, not my favorite black IPA with the lack coffee and roasted malt, but still good.

i had way higher hopes for this, exactly what i felt like drinking on a chilly weekend evening, but its really lacking, not their best work in my opinion. for one, its light on the roast, presents almost more like a brown ale, as much of the chocolate character as the deeper barley layer i want in here, and the body isnt really there to support all the hops, so this is out of balance in terms of flavor and texture, thin but alcoholic, bitter and sweet at the same time but in weird proportion, and not as clean on the ferment as their best beers are, not sure what happened here. there is quite a lot of hop bite here, an almost burn on the finish, green and bitter, but there really isnt all that much hop flavor beyond generic pine pitch on the back end, its uninteresting and sort of lacking despite its intensity, if that makes sense. i do like the chocolate malt character this has, its just missing the low end. a hint of something a little burnt is here, but its not roasted barley to me. this is a style that isnt getting enough play anymore, so i was really excited to see it on their menu, but it does not deliver at the increasingly high level their other beers have been hitting on lately, a shame.