Blackout IPA #3

Blackout IPA #3

The History:

This beer started when I was sitting at Obriens Pub in San Diego.   As a special release they had Alpine' s Black IPA.  Honestly I forget the real name, but knowing Alpines line-up well, I can tell you it is not a normal brew for them.  Unlink most other Black IPA's I've had this one was really good.  I feel that most Black IPA brewers are brewing a Imperial IPA with black coloring.  Any brewer could do that with a bag of Roasted Barley steeped in the mash.  When I got home I started learn and more about this upcoming style.  I focused on Glacier hops partly because I have 2 pounds of them in the freezer and partly due to the fact that I have never brewed with them before.  The plan was to do a single hop Black IPA and have it on my Hop Rocket from Blichmann.  

The 1st attempt was outstanding.  The flavors mingled like a gay strip club.   The recipe and the notes are HERE.

This is now my third attempt of the beer.  The second attempt was a little to roasted chocolate for my tastes.  So I just had to do the recipe again. 

Aroma:

Roasty somewhat smoked hints of chocolate.  Not much hop aroma I need to work on that.

Appearance:

Deep dark body with a nice thick tan head.  Robust bubbles.  Jet black in color with hints of dark brown around the edge of the glass.  Great lacing.

Flavor:

Roasted nuts with bitter chocolate, good malt balance. Kind of muddled with a unexplainable hop bitterness that kind of clashes with the Roast.  Medium hop flavor on the earthy side. 

Mouthfeel:

Higher than expected carbonation

Overall Impression:

Not as good as the original batch.  The older hops with the lack of a HopRocket defiantly take away some of the necessary attributes required in this style.  This is a good beer, but lacking compared to the original batch brewed.  I have a new bag of Glacier hops and my HopBack will be reinstalled for #4.