Kidd Black IPA
Ryogoku Lab & Brewery

After forty years in the light, Ryoguku brewers are finally testing out the dark. Taking their hops to the seldom seen black IPA, they seem quite content brewing the shadows.

Very dark, bark-brown and casting a billowing tan froth, Kidd Black IPA settles in with a toasty, roasty and sprucy scent laced with burnt citrus and brushfire. Carbonized sweetness carries impressions of cocoa, nougat and burnt toast, early impressions are stout-like with a followup of moderate piney, peppery and citrusy bitterness, a smoky and coffee-like finish is filled with chicory and campfire.

Medium bodied, arid in finish but lacking the meaningful bitterness that's needed for the style, the interplay of roast and hop bite is clacking, leaving the taste seeming like a bygone American standard stout.

Pours a deep, dark black with a thin tan head. Very nice lacing. Nose is slightly char and malty. Taste has the char that comes out and then a slightly pine flavor. Then the bitterness takes over in a great way.