Banjo Cat India Black Ale
One Barrel Brewing Company

 

 

 

Bottled six pack purchased at nearby Piggly Wiggly. Meh, ho hum average. Semi-sweet chocolate on the front end, hint of hops on the back end. Unacceptable numerical “gibberish” date code on bottom of bottle! C’mon One Barrel, you can do better!

 

Special thanks for Kelly and Caleb for bringing this brew for me.

A: Dark black in color with a nice tan head on top.

S: Hoppy with slight notes of pine and grapefruit, and a touch of chocolate.

T: Dark chocolate, licorice, and earthy bitterness.

M: Medium in feel with a moderate high carbonation. Somewhat dry finish.

O: Overall pretty tasty. Not a style that I love, but this brew is doing all right.

 

 

 

 

A: A strong dark brown.
S: Hops and brown sugar scents.
T: Medium hop flavor with notes of molasses and brown sugar.
M: Medium-bodied.
O: I really enjoyed this beer. My first Black IPA

P0ured 12oz bottle into a snifter. Very dark brown with a 2 finger khaki head. Retention is magnificent, with thin cap that remains. Leaves behind large swaths of lacing. Roasty malts, some grain, earthy and floral hops. Mild scents of light roasted coffee and tobacco. Flavor is roasted malt, some coffee and tobacco, with earthy hops. Carbonation is ideal, medium bodied, with a richer quality and a slight astringency. A really solid black ale with a pleasant hop finish.

Starts a pour of cocoa color, and forms into a nice shiny black body. Firm creamy head of 1 finger that's beige in color.

Very dank aroma, almost like a forest with some distant camp fire and weeds. Hints of grapefruit. Definite hop aroma here.

Initial flavor profile is a bit weak and offensive, but the more I drink it the better it gets. I'm getting notes of camp fire, coffee, cocoa, with an undercurrent of woody, herbal hop. A huge rush of hop resin and oil finishes out the profile. Like whoa oil. Pretty much a campfire-singed pine branch. It reminds me of camping in a forest. They must have changed their formula because the other reviews note a mild hop presence - there's nothing mild here. It's a tongue crusher.

Feel is carbonated and mostly roasted, with oil on the finish.

Overall, it's a fair beer with some interesting flavors. Tongue wrangling. Although not enough segregation between the two extremes initially, at the finish the hop comes off too resiny and strong, with just a TON of resin/oil. I don't think I'd revisit but i'm glad I could try it.

 

Taste: herbal, floral hop meets semi toasted malt, with a dry finish. Complex malt and hop nose. Black/brown in color, mostly clear, tall tan foamy head with ring lattice. Medium body and very drinkable. Love the simple and whimsical label art.

 

 

Wow, what a phenomenal beer. Much more hop-forward than the color implies, and more bitter than the IBU seems. Not for the faint of heart.
Madison continues to produce the best of the best.