Illusion
Moor Beer Company

Really nice black IPA. Perfect balance. Moor definitely knows how to craft a beer. No sweetness remaining in that roasted, piney and citrusy sessionable black ale. Very nice

 

 

 

 

 

Keg, Moor Brewery, Bristol - Pours dark with tan head. Lovely lacing. Smell - Citrus, hops with a hint of caramel and malts. Taste - Citrus and pine with a hint of roastiness with as bitter finish. Very well balanced black IPA.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Appearance: black, clear with a medium sized and rather quickly dropping light tan head that leaves great lacing on the glass.

Aroma: very hoppy, resinous, citrus, with a little bit of roastiness. Notes of caramel and coffee are in the back, very subtle.

Taste: tastes almost like a regular IPA at first. It's pretty hoppy, citrusy, there's pine, resin, some sweet notes and then comes the roastiness. So this is basically how a beer in this style shoud taste. In many Black IPAs the roastiness is too big, here it's on almost perfect level. Medium to high, long lasting bitterness.

Mouthfeel: medium bodied, medium to soft carbonation.

Overall: I really enjoyed this one. It's a light, highly drinkable beer with great hoppy aroma, nice, almost pure IPA-ish taste with just a hint of roastiness. This one is one of the best beers in this style that I've ever had. Highly recommended!

 

Now entering the dark side of the Moor, Illusion attempts to embody the tricky and temperamental "black IPA" style. Moor has already caught and kept my attention and this one proved to be well worth the build-up. Poured into a pint glass, a deep twinkling brownish black with the typical Moor massive billowing head, this one tan in hue. One is greeted by a fragrant and inviting mixed citrus jam (grapefruit, lime) and gummy candy aroma, quite sweet but with some bright floral notes and roasted malt to offset this and thereby retain the sometimes elusive quality "balance". Although neither burnt nor super piney, there is plenty of hop flavor that somehow avoids intersecting unpleasantly with dark malts that provide a toasty aromatic vibe. Baker's chocolate, light roast coffee, breakfast granola, fresh orange juice, weedy plant stems and ditch flowers, potent but not coarse hop resins, a whiff of wood char, and a hint of strawberry all somehow manage to co-exist and in fact produce a decent synergy that remains sweet and bitter in equal measure. The bitterness is aggressive and satisfying if you are into that sort of thing but does not ravage the palate. Semi-chewy, a bit slick and oily, and with just enough fizz to help the brew remain bright and vibrant for such a dark beer. This is how a black IPA should be executed. Bravo.

 

A 660ml bottle with a BB of Aug 2013. ABV is stated as 4.7%. Picked up a little while back from Trembling Madness in York. The label describes it as a session strength black IPA.

Poured into a Duvel tulip. Bottle conditioned. A very dark reddish-brown hue that appears pitch black in the glass. Yields a large head of beige foam that lasts for a few minutes before subsiding to a patchy surface layer. Nice lacing. Aroma of bitter roasted malt with hints of burnt grain, coffee, pine resin, mild citrus, a hint of molasses and stewed hops. Flavoursome.

Tastes of intense roasted malt with a hoppy character and a powerful bitter finish. Notes of burnt grain, dark malt, coffee, pine resin, grapefruit, citrus, molasses, a hint of baker's chocolate, stewed hops and earthy yeast. Well-attenuated, with a touch of smokiness in the background. A strident bitterness upon swallowing. Mouthfeel is smooth, tingly and dry - the hop oils stimulate the taste buds. Pleasant carbonation and decent body; not overly thick but this isn't surprising for the strength. Somewhat astringent, with an aftertaste of bitter roasted malt, stewed hops and pine.

Impressive - another excellent brew from Moor. Looks the part, while the aroma and flavour are dominated by roasted malt with an aromatic hop sideshow. The bitterness demands your attention. Smooth, balanced body. Very nice - a great example of a black IPA that tones down the alcohol and hops without sacrificing flavour. Delicious and drinkable; well worth sampling if you come across it.

Poured from a 660ml bottle into a straight pint glass.

Pours an inky black colour, thick looking with an off-white head.

Smells fruity and piney, nice and hoppy.

Tastes balanced edging on hoppy, with that burnt malt flavour making an appearance too. Full bodied but not enough to get creamy and thick.

Overall a pretty nice one, good abv too, for the flavour.

660ml bottle, 4.7% ABV. Neat to see this Western NA style making it over to the old countries. And I rather prefer this brewer's designation of 'Black Ale'. Simple.

This beer pours a solid black, with low cola highlights, and three fingers of rising, broadly puffy, foamy tan head, which leaves some random swaths of thin cloudburst lace around the glass as it fizzles out.

It smells of roasted caramel malt, chalky medium cocoa, a bit of sour milk, subtle bitter black fruit, and musty, ashy grassy hops. The taste is a whole league more bitter and sassy from the onset - toasted, slightly charred bready malt, a touch of caramel/toffee, tangy orchard fruit - nectarines and orange pith, mostly - gritty dark chocolate, a hint of day-old coffee, and further piney, slightly spicy hops.

The carbonation is fairly active and even frothy at times, the body an adequate medium weight, and generally smooth, a tiny fruity pithiness sort of wriggling its way in. It finishes off-dry, the roasted malt still giving off a somewhat balanced sweetness in the face of the fruity, ashy hops.

A perfectly pleasant black ale, with a nod to, as opposed to a rubber necking towards, the big hoppy charred spectacles from the Pacific NW. Assertive, yes, but in a genuinely moderated sense, so much so that this British bomber just seemed to disappear into the approaching night - poof!