Black Is Beautiful: Appreciation Thread

Sounds like the version I had from BrewDog USA, just a straight up imperial stout and they did a great job with it. Luckily they canned their version so I was able to get a couple 4-packs. I was able to get a crowler of Alematic's version too, they had some additions to their version but it was still pretty tasty. Missed out on a lot of the other local versions of it because they sold out pretty quick, which is a good thing!

 

Had Alvarado Street=4.5
Ghost town=4.25
Crown&Hops (brewed at henhouse) =3.75

 

I've tried Levante's and Helicon's versions thus far. Both were excellent but also standard. I dont recall any variation in either recipe. I have Cinderlands version in the fridge. This may have inspired me to try it tonight.

 

The only one I’ve had (and only I’ve encountered in stores) is the finback version which was very good, with the addition of Ecuadorian coffee. Would have liked to try more!

 

I’ve also had the Finback version. It’s fantastic. They are also doing a really cool related thing under @breathingconversations

 

Had two versions to date, both imperial stouts:
1. Ingenious Brewing in Houston
2. Oddwood Ales in Austin
Both excellent beers. I will continue to try versions of Black is Beautiful as I find them.

 

This is a really nice one. Straight ahead imperial stout.

Barncat Artisan Ales

 

So far:
Veil: sizzurp insanity, just thick
Smartmouth: very good
O'Connor: OK, bitter to me

Order of pref: Smartmouth, then a tie between OC and Veil

On deck:
Alewerks

 

The only version I've had so far is from locals Eleventh Hour Brewing. They made an imperial and used local coffee, cocoa nibs, vanilla, and added some of their own barrel-aged stout to total around 15% of the total yield. It was insanely delicious and very well balanced. They also announced that they barreled some of it and are planning 12 and 24 month aged versions down the road. I love the fact that not only are they raising money for a great cause now, but are also planning more donations down the road. Great project and great beer.

 

So happy to see the positive support for this movement here on BA.
I say this because there are various breweries I follow on FB who have put out and announced their version of Black is Beautiful. Although most responses on FB were positive, I was shocked to see so many people respond with statements like “why can’t beer just be beer” or “I’ll never buy your beer again” or just general anti BLM rants.
Granted there might be negative posts being deleted here by the moderators, but nevertheless, I’m happy to see the support.
You rock BA!

 

I just realized that I left a point out of my post above that I meant to include. There's a place about an hour from Pittsburgh called CNC Malt that supplies a lot of local breweries with their ingredients. CNC announced very shortly after Weathered Souls began the project that they would supply the malt for any brewery making Black Is Beautiful for free. It was, in m opinion, a great way that someone on the supply side could still get in on supporting the cause without actually making the product themselves.

 

I have had two versions (waited too long and FW sold out - bummer) - both from Hawaiian breweries: Inu and Broken Boundary. The Inu version was clearly a pastry stout and very enjoyable to drink, but was so sweet, I only drank one at a time. I preferred the Broken Boundary as it was a little less sweeter.

 

I posted more detailed notes in the GL thread, but I'll add a few thoughts here for greater exposure. I'm encouraged to see breweries taking this seriously and really trying to bring something to the table rather than treating this as a run of the mill stout. Here's a ranking of those I've had, followed by brief thoughts:

1. Kinslahger - 6% ABV Tropical Stout. This really opened my eyes to what a stout could be. It's in the realm of export stouts and "tropical" refers to the brewing style/climate rather than the flavor of the beer. So incredibly creamy, rich, and flavorful, despite the low ABV and lack of additives.
2. More Brewing Co - 11% ABV Imperial Stout with Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Natural & San Jeronimo Miramar Sarchimor Honey coffees. Wow, they really knocked it out of the park with a great balance between the smooth richness of the stout and the complexity added by the coffee. The Yirgacheffe in particular seems to adds a bright, fruity quality.
3. Pipeworks - 10% ABV Imperial Stout with Maple, Cinnamon, lactose, and Vanilla. I love pretty much all things PW. Probably my favorite brewery in Chicago and their flavored imperial stouts just hit everything I'm looking for. Black is Beautiful is no exception. It's like freaking French Toast in a bottle without going over-the-top on any particular quality. I don't know if this qualifies as a "pastry stout" but it's damn delicious for sure!
4. Revolution - 10% ABV Imperial Stout. This is a great straight-up imperial stout. No need for any additions or flavorings, this is just excellent. Does it still taste like cocoa and coffee? Hells yeah! Really tempted to rank this higher due to "degree of difficulty" points from relying on malts and technique.
5. Miskatonic - 12% ABV Imperial Stout blended with 2 kinds of barrel-aged stouts (Heaven Hill & Jim Beam). This was good, quite good, but not exactly on the level of the other beers I mentioned. The barrel aging doesn't add quite what I'd expected it to. Compared to other BBA stouts, there's not much memorable about this. It was enjoyable while I drank it, but didn't have the impact of the others.

 

I’m looking forward to getting my hands on some of these soon.

Is there a search feature in the database (other than by title alone) or a way to highlight and compare the Black is Beautiful beers as a category in Beers? I know it’s not necessarily a style category, but I’d love the ability to search and compare like that.

 

What have the prices been on these. The only place I saw any was online and was $22 for 4x16.

I want to get a few packs now that I know they are all variants. Thought they were all the same.

Enjoy

 

thanks, with a bit more online search I did find a toasted coconut version for $15 and was quite excited. Once I got to the web store it was no longer available. Think I will grab the Iron Hill version and the Sky Fox too.

Need to look at a few shops to see if they carry any others.

Enjoy