Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale - Stone Brewing Co.

LilMatrix

Washington

3.05/5  rDev -28.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

A - Poured a dark brown that lets little to no light through. A thin tannish head

S - Smells like it tastes: roasted malts, slight hops, toffee.

T - The malt is up front with caramel, toffee, and slight coffee notes. Transitions to a hoppy back end that's not too overpowering. Not overly complex, this beer is mostly malts.

M - Medium body beer with thin finish.

D - A decent beer from Stone; there is better out there, I'm not overly impressed with this one. I wouldn't want to drink more than one of these but this beer is definitely worth a try.

Serving type: bottle

01-02-2009 00:33:50 | More by LilMatrix

younger35

Minnesota

3.08/5  rDev -27.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

They finally got this stuff in Boise after weeks of waiting. Been excited to try this bad boy. Drank from my Rogue Kells Irish Style Lager pint glass while watching Green Bay vs. Chicago.

Appearance- Pours a dark brownish black with a crazy white head considering the color of the beer. The initial two finger head is pretty big and foamy and leaves an awesome collar the entire duration of the brew. Bits of lacing are strewn about the entire glass.
Smell- Holy deceptive. This is definitely an IPA in a Stouts body. Big citrus American hops dominate. Lot’s of piney grapefruit and pineapple smell really nice. Feint caramel undertone try’s to show but is pretty much dominated by the hops.
Taste- Starts super sweet with hints of caramel before it’s quickly taken over by super bitter hops. Huge grapefruit hops and lemon zest dominate. Gritty, piney and numbing. Feint taste of bubblegum/cotton candy in the aftertaste and lots of alcohol warming. I’d guess that this brew is much higher than 8.7%, the alcohol isn’t hidden well. As the beer warms it becomes a bit more balanced but the sweetness becomes a bit cloying.
Mouthfeel- Thick and full-bodied with a nice gentle carbonation and a thin finish (make sense?).
Drinkability- Well, this beer is interesting. I love the nose but that’s about it. I think it’s a little sweet and a bit unbalanced. It’s too sweet at times and too bitter at others. Maybe a little time would help this a bit but until then, this definitely isn’t my favorite offering from Stone.

Serving type: bottle

10-08-2007 03:41:07 | More by younger35

heysuz

Indiana

3.08/5  rDev -27.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Intro: 64 oz. growler poured into a tulip glass. Shared with a friend.

Appearance: Little to no head that dissipates quickly however when swirled some head remains, jet black color, opaque, little carbonation and no lacing and very oily.

Smell: Slight smell of dates, figs or raisins with an alcohol odor as well.

Taste: Strong and bitter with a subdued unsweetened chocolate with prominent aftertaste.

Mouthfeel: Leaves dryness in the back of the mouth but at the same time there is a motor oil consistency to the feel.

Drink: Seems to be a sipper and not a beer that improves with warming, better served cold. The taste is almost too bitter to be enjoyed.

Conclusion: I will be the first to admit that I am a card carrying full-fledged hop head and this beer may not be my cup of tea. The main objections to this beer are the bad mouth feel, the coating and aftertaste. After further contemplation, I think maybe my growler came from an old barrel that was nearly empty. My experience just doesn't come close to what I read about this beer.

Serving type: growler

03-06-2011 19:51:29 | More by heysuz

Jermbrew

Massachusetts

3.1/5  rDev -27.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

I've heard this billed as a Black Double I.P.A. .... I'd say that's accurate and the Stone 11th Anniversary is a special treat.

This black ale is a beautiful sight and pours a nice slightly tan head.

My favorite part of this brew is the aroma. Slight roastiness with piney hop notes and floral aroma shining through. The slight alcohol smell is due to the ABV of nearly 9% and it's the perfect complement to the pine/roast smells.

More piney taste with a strong bitterness lingering on the middle and back of tounge. Very strong bitterness, like chinese bitter melon....not what I want in a beer. I can taste the alcohol...no doubt it's strong.

Mouthfeel is pleasant. A sharp carbonation at fist creates a crisp tingle
and the liquid has a creaminess to it. I like.

The nearly black appearance and the over the top hops content make this unique. I appreciate both alcohol and hops, but I can't drink too much of this however, without the bitterness and alcohol becoming too overpowering( hence the lower drinkability score.)

Serving type: bottle

10-19-2007 00:53:28 | More by Jermbrew

deanhead

Vermont

3.1/5  rDev -27.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

Poured black with a toffee colored head. Nice lace, with a respectable head that stayed with the beer.

Citrusy aroma, pungent guava & some toasted flavor. Aroma of roasted coffee and

Taste is slightly acrid. Reminiscent of roating coffee beans. Many contrasting flavors here. Licorice notes Warming alcohol.

Medium bodied beer with a woody finish. Also finishes with a slightly bitter and vegetative clinginess
Really interesting beer. Not sure if I would seek this one out again, but none the less it had a very unique taste. Kudos to Stone for taking it out of the box yet again.

Serving type: bottle

07-26-2009 20:02:36 | More by deanhead

ThisWangsChung

Maryland

3.1/5  rDev -27.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

'Bout time I review this, I've been glossing it over for a few months now, and I hope this is as killer as the 15th anniversary ale Stone did. 22 oz. bottle poured into a tumbler pint glass.

A: Pours a very dark brown color with faint hints of light coming through the body. The head is a two finger light mocha color with a great creamy texture and excellent retention. Nice rings of lacing are left on the glass.

S: Grapefruity. I'm a little disappointed I'm not getting more roast/coffee/chocolate - in fact, it smells mostly like a generic IPA, not just from the citrus rind/pine/herbal hop tones, but honestly a bit from the malt backbone, as well. It smells more bright than roasted, although there's a faint hint of chocolate to remind me it's still a black IPA. Don't get me wrong, I really like how it smells, but I want a little more 'black' and a little less 'IPA'. Then again, I thought the exact same about Storm King, and I absolutely loved that one...

T: This is really drinking like a normal IPA to me, sadly...initial flavors are strong in grapefruit and orange rind, before giving way to a medium finishing bitterness. However, the hop profile is very well executed. Chocolate malt starts to make its appearance after several sips, helping smooth out the hops and providing a burnt, ashy (even vegetal, at times) edge to the finish. Still, it doesn't mesh together in the way Stone's 15th does, and it becomes slightly too boozy as it warms up - drink this one cold, in other words.

M: Rather thin, with a dryness coming more from the hops rather than the roast. There's a bit of malt stickiness throughout. Alcohol can be felt slightly on the tongue and stomach once it warms up, and it just feels weird all around. Drinkability is disappointingly low.

O: I'm really disappointed it's only 'okay' instead of 'mindblowing' like its (sorely missed) big brother. I'm thinking maybe oldish bottle, but the Stone 15th I had was 6 months old, and it still blew me away. To be fair, that was clearly more malt driven - so I'll try this again fresh, or maybe on tap.

Serving type: bottle

07-19-2012 00:52:19 | More by ThisWangsChung

ShanePB

Pennsylvania

3.13/5  rDev -26.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

Sampled last night, 22 oz bomber, shared with a friend. From memory...

A: Muddy black, supple tan head that left some great lacing and a moderate cap throughout the tasting.

S: Roasted grain malt, bitter hops, ash, black peppercorn. This smells great but I worry these roasted qualities may not play as well as I hope with the bitterness.

T: Bitter hops are up front followed by some charcoal and grass. The overall roasted qualities here are too weak for the bitterness of these hops. I was expecting the hops, obviously, but thought the definite dark malt profile would be a bit more present to balance this out. Disappointed.

M: Wild carbonation, medium-bodied, smooth.

D: For me, this is hard. I love IPAs and in general Black IPAs but something about this one is just hard for me to get down, let alone an entire 22 oz bottle. Luckily I shared.

I wouldn't go for this again unless it was on draft somewhere. Understandably so an IPA, though it still needs balance, something I feel the Sublimely is lacking.

Serving type: bottle

12-19-2010 13:07:37 | More by ShanePB

stevenseg

Michigan

3.13/5  rDev -26.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

I picked up this bottle of Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale from Stone Brewing out of Escondido, California at my newly-adopted corner beer store after a long Friday to arm myself for the weekend. Being a stout lover, I recently found myself fitting the hophead mold, so the recent black IPA trend is lending to both ends of the spectrum of my palate. Black IPAs have that hop character we all love paired with the roastiness of a light stout of porter. Usually complex given the dichotomy of the style, and I expect SSRA to live up to the Stone standard and really please my palate.

SSRA pours a deep red hue...almost black. The head pours to a healthy presence, dissipating to a thin film of lacing to greet the nose. I am a fan of thick stout beers...the darker and less viscous the better. This beer doesn't have too heavy a body and isn't too dark as too much of either would kill the IPA character.

The nose hits with a blast of hops, but only because I'm trying to pick out the "black" and the "IPA" in beers of this style. However, the roastiness and fruitiness of the of each element settle in to a faint grape-like smell...like burying my nose in a glass of Welch's.

The bitter back end of the IPA is the most dominant characteristic of this beer. There is a bit of roastiness up front that shares space with the short-boil hops, but the bitterness of the Chinook, Simcoe & Amarillo hops used in the long boil really takes over this beer. The "black" character really only lingers in the aftertaste. No solvent taste protrudes despite the rather high 8.7% ABV. At least 89 of the 90 IBU's are used up in the bitter back of the palate. More black, less bitter? I'm trying to taste fruity character or other taste elements, malt, but all I get is bitterness. There might as well be no "black" at all.

The texture of the beer is pretty typical Stone. A little more thickness, ala Arrogant Bastard, would have been appreciated. Adjuncts were used to increase the ABV without increasing body, and that's never a good thing. Skimping on malt is never a good thing, especially with the intended audience of Stone beers.

Do I like SSRA? Absolutely! But a style that has so much complexity is cheated by imbalance with this ale. The complexity, which is nonexistent in SSRA, typically is a focal point of black IPA's, but the hop bitterness is by far the dominant characteristic. I like to review beers according to the intent of the brewmaster, but even after doing some research on the Stone sight I can't tell what the intent actually is. The marketers have spent so many words pushing the "arrogant" mantra there is no attention paid to what the beer is actually supposed to be.

I can sit down with a bomber of SSRA, but if I'm in a mood for a black IPA, I'll do some scouting for a bit of a better representation.

Serving type: bottle

04-16-2011 01:32:22 | More by stevenseg

jwolfie70

California

3.15/5  rDev -25.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

I have had several bottles of this beer. It is definitely changing with age, and is getting mellower. When first released the beer was very raw, with hops overdominating and destroying. The beer is mellowing nicely and the roasted malt qualities are starting to poke through. Definitely still a hop bomb. I am interested to see where this beer will go.

Serving type: bottle

02-04-2008 19:45:51 | More by jwolfie70

BeerTruth

Connecticut

3.18/5  rDev -25.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

22 oz. bomber poured into a nonic. I had this beer back in the summer and I didn't get a chance to review it but remember it being pretty hoppy. Now it's "Spring" here in Syracuse, let's see how a few months treated this brew.

Clarkson lost tonight to Michigan 2-0, so I'm avoiding beer from that state tonight (unfortunately).

Pours a dark sludge brown with a big two finger tan head that dies down to a layer of big bubbles. Stickiness is pretty solid, no complaints there. Smell is interesting; pine hops, bitter cocoa, light citrus, and creamy caramel. A coffee aroma is present in the nose as well. Flavor is earthy hops from start to finish with some molasses and brown sugar. Pretty bitter as well, too bitter actually, sounds just weird associating that witch such a dark beer. The coffee grind flavor is there which adds more to the bitter effect. Very dry in the mouth with a full medium body. Strong carbonation on the tongue. I guess being classified as a Strong Ale is a pretty good fit seeing it beat the shit out of my mouth. I just wasn't feeling this beer. Maybe I'm crazy or just pissed off about Clarkson losing.

Serving type: bottle

03-30-2008 03:21:06 | More by BeerTruth

Anthony1

Colorado

3.2/5  rDev -24.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

poured into a snifter

pours a black with a tan head, not much lace.

smells a bit like chocolate with a dark mix of fruit, but not anything special.

taste was a bit upsetting, bit piny with chocolate/coffee medium feel, but not great after taste,

was kinda of upset with this beer, not going to repurchase.

Serving type: bottle

06-22-2009 01:30:28 | More by Anthony1

mactrail

California

3.2/5  rDev -24.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

Dark bitter ale with no hint of fruitiness.

Very dark brown, looks inviting. Doesn't taste dark, however. Very austere, no hint of sweetness in the malt. more like a hint of soy sauce. Hops jump right on without much aromatic foreplay and keep at it. Seems surprisingly light-bodied for a strong, dark ale. Has a very odd taste of metal at the end, an edge on the teeth.

I think this is one of my least favorite Stone ales. For the hard core IPA drinker, for sure.

Serving type: bottle

07-12-2010 04:46:35 | More by mactrail

davexisxrabid

California

3.23/5  rDev -24%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Waited about a year to drink this brew...

Poured a nice dark brown color in the light, almost black when it sat there in my glass. Tiny head fizzled out almost immediately. The slick brew did leave lots of lacing on my glass during the drinking period.

Aroma was of floral hops and a scent that was reminiscent of soy sauce.

Interesting dark malty flavor like unsweetened dark chocolate and hoppy bitterness. The hop bitterness was not too prevalent but noticeable.

The lingering bitterness was a bit excessive, maybe due to roasted malts providing a dry flavor and the hops. Not much alcohol present in the aftertaste or lingering on the taste buds.

Good drinkability for a bold, full bodied brew but the rich flavors would keep it from being a session beer for me.

A good beer but falling short of what I would expect from Stone.

Serving type: bottle

12-29-2008 17:58:47 | More by davexisxrabid

donmonkey1

Tennessee

3.23/5  rDev -24%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Appearance: Dark brown,almost black. Nice frothy tan head with excellent retention and lacing.

Smell: Citrusy pine hops.

Taste: Blended pine needles

Mouthfeel: Medium body, lack of carbonation.

All I can taste is the hops, and I'm not a fan of these particular hops. That doesn't take away from the fact that this is a quality beer, but I don't care for it much. As a side note, this was first brewed in 2007 as the Stone 11th Anniversary Ale.

Serving type: bottle

02-21-2012 22:46:43 | More by donmonkey1

DavoleBomb

Ohio

3.23/5  rDev -24%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Poured into a snifter. I admit I'm not a fan of Black IPAs, but I figured I'd give this one a go anyway.

3.5 A: Black color. Two fingers of frothy tan head. Retention is average for style and plenty of lacing is left.

4.0 S: Pleasant marriage of citrusy hops and roastiness. The two seem to get along better in this than in morst BIPAs. Lots of orange with pine and grapefruit in the background. Roastiness without muc chocolate or caramel.

3.0 T: The taste doesn't work too well though. Citrus with roasty burntness simply isn't a tasty combination. At least this isn't overly bitter like a lot of the style. Roasty foremost, orange and grapefruit second, and pine and char last.

3.0 M: Lighter medium body. Good moderate carbonation. Lacking the creaminess that most BIPAs seem to have.

3.0 D: Average for a below average style.

Serving type: bottle

03-03-2012 07:04:20 | More by DavoleBomb

mdwalsh

Iowa

3.23/5  rDev -24%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Large head of tan on a black body. Maybe the head is a little too big? But it does have retention!

Aroma is great, a nice balanced hoppyness

Taste, not so much. There's an astringentness and background chemical blech kind of taste. The hop malt balance here is just terrible in my opinion.

The mouthfeel is fine. This beer is in what always think of as a kind of awkward alcohol range. Not low enough to be a quaffable, session beer with bright carbonation, not high enough to be a real thinker with a mild, low carbonation. But I think this sits in a pretty good balance.

However, I just can't get over that taste. Probably my biggest disappointment from Stone ever.

Serving type: bottle

12-31-2012 16:33:53 | More by mdwalsh

AlexanderSelby

North Carolina

3.25/5  rDev -23.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 2.5

Black, but bloody mahogany around the edges when held to the light. Nice head, but the bubbles are actually real large, which always makes me think of soap, but it's no biggie. Smells like I just opened a bag of hops. Straight up. These guys are particularly earthy and piney. Definitely heavy handed hopping going on here, and from the start I was weary for the hop-bomb to come. And it came. I get no roasted or sweet malts at all, so I wonder why even bother with the more expensive, less fermentable black malts...unless you are just being self-righteous and showing off. Which I guess is the point of this beer.

All in all, ditch the black and just go for the IPA. There's hardly any difference in this case, and all you are doing is getting my hopes up for some sweet or roasted malt backbone, which in this case, doesn't exist. As the name suggests, I think this one is just a pissing contest with the black IPA trend. With that said, if I was blind and didn't know it was black, I would just think of it as an other west-coast hop bomb ipa which, depending on my mood, I could take or leave.

*Okay. This beer needs to open up! As my beer warms, the malts are starting to show. There is a burnt brown sugar quality to it now that was not there before. There is also a touch of it in the nose. Still, this quality is virtually hidden behind the hops. Everything above still stands, but I just thought I needed to add that in.

Serving type: bottle

02-17-2011 01:30:52 | More by AlexanderSelby

MONKandTUCK

Pennsylvania

3.25/5  rDev -23.5%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

OK, so I bought into the hype. I had to make a selection, so why not get on my way and take the bottle OT Stone that everyone has been talking about...

Visuals: poured freely into a La Trapped goblet... a rich two inch tan head forms like cream over pitch black ale. Not as viscous as the Sam Smith RIS enjoyed the other night, but my taste buds are already preparing for a luxuriously silky ale with dark fruit and roasted flavors. Head subsides, w/o long, into a hair-thin head.

Aroma: Father, I have a confession. I know this beer is supposed to LOOK one way and ACT another, but that luscious looking beer I just poured has me hankering for big roasted and dark fruit aroma!

Talk about identity crisis!!! it might look like Guinness, but it smells like a glass of fresh-squeezed Grapefruit juice.

"Cha'lie Murphy, what did the glass of Stone day to the nose?

SMACK, Bitch!"

Flavor: It's marginally more complex than your standard IPA. In truth, any extra complexity is lost to the gritty hops... juicy hops are in turn overwhelmed by booziness. It finishes dry, but is actually chew deeper in. The coarseness isn't so much in the finish, so I'm not struggling to finish the bottle, but it becomes nondescript.
Ok, it is dark. Then either make OT a classic lean IPA or gimme something interesting to work with: premium base malt, toasted malt, dark fruits, roast/smoked/astringent character.

I like my IPA to be West Coast. Malt character belongs elsewhere. This beer is so big it has to be malty. There's such a thing as too much. I found it here.
Plenty of alcoholic burn that just doesn't work in a hop-centric beer.

Mothfeel: chewy - not just because of caramel malts... It's nor THAT sweet.... dry finish, but not lean or crisp enough.

I get it, the discrepancy between the appearance and taste are meant to make your head spin... in reality the conflict comes between the attempt to make an IPA and something too boozey and one-dimensional.

Measuring this on it's style, I'm ok giving a beer that drinks like an IPA while looking like a Stout high marks for... well, looking like a Stout and not an IPA. That's not the same as tasting like an IPA and drinking like something fat and sloppy!!
Schwarzbiers and many exceptional Porters pull off being dark AND crisp/light-bodied. So why shouldn't an IPA? :-/

Overall: ranking it on its style I guess you can say Sublimely hits all the marks, but in reality this is a style that doesn't do much more than market American IPA's. So it plays a Mindfu**k, I'm not finding a palatable reason to get this beer again, or sponsor this style.

Serving type: bottle

06-10-2011 18:54:00 | More by MONKandTUCK

djaeon

California

3.28/5  rDev -22.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

I couldn't find this at my local liquor store, so I bought a bottle on my latest trip up to Stone. I read that this is a repackaging of their 11th Anniversary dark IPA, so I knew what to expect when drinking this one.

Appearance: Poured into a pint glass with a one finger, light tan head. Looks like a very dark, opaque brown color. You can't see through it.

Smell: All I really smell here is hopps with a citrus undertone.

Taste: Lots and lots of hopps. I feel the bite in the back/sides of my tongue, and bitter hopps and citrus are really all I taste.

Mouthfeel: Except for the bite mentioned above, It feels pretty smooth in the mouth. Perfectly carbonated out of the bottle.

Drinkability: I started drinking it right out of the fridge, and it was a little tough. As it starts to get closer to room temperature, it gets a little easier to drink.

Serving type: Bomber

Serving type: bottle

03-11-2009 00:13:30 | More by djaeon

ibbjamin

California

3.28/5  rDev -22.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

Paid $6.99 for a bomber from Healthy Spirits in San Francisco, CA. After reading, I find this is the 'reincarnation' of their 11th Anniversary Ale. I pour into a large snifter to review.

Dark brown to black in color. Half inch dense and frothy tan-colored head. Excellent lacing. A very thin layer of frothy retention.

Sweet and lightly roasted caramel malts nicely balanced with aromas of wet hops. Some hints of raisin, wood and cocoa. Robust, earthy and fresh.

Taste is very well balanced and as equally complex as the nose. Alcohol well hidden.

Medium bodied and surprisingly quite dry. Wish it was a bit more carbonated to add life to the mouthfeel. Short and sweet finish.

Serving type: bottle

02-17-2010 03:58:09 | More by ibbjamin

scruffwhor

Illinois

3.28/5  rDev -22.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Maybe, couldbe be black, but is more of a blackish brown color with garnet highlights. Two finger, sandstone head that recedes to a nice film of foam througout all 22 ounces.

Pretty aggressive hop aroma. Grapefruit zest to the point of atringency in the nostrils. Gives me the same feeling as spicey Chinese mustard in the sinuses. I like that in my mustard, but not in my beer. I can barely smell a dark roasted malt at all.

The same aggressive, biting grapefruit and lime zest bitterness up front and the middle. Whatever roasted malts are detected towards the finish of the flavor profile, seem to exacerbate the hop bitterness of this brew. I don't detect the abv. but I wonder if that adds to the increases the effect of the hops bitterness.

Astringent and bitter is all I can come up with for the palate. I was expecting a little more fr this beers palate and flavor.

Still a sipper for me. I like bitter beers, but this just didn't sit so well for me.

Serving type: bottle

05-04-2010 05:22:55 | More by scruffwhor

LarryV

Massachusetts

3.28/5  rDev -22.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Pours a dark stout like black with a generous head. Aroma is slightly malty and wort like. Taste is very similar, a bit raw tasting with a bit of grapefruit like hoppiness. I really wanted to like this beer but in the end, one is enough for me and I won't be revisiting it. It was a bit of a chore to finish the entire bottle.

Serving type: bottle

05-29-2010 02:52:09 | More by LarryV

ncvbc

North Carolina

3.3/5  rDev -22.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Well, I must say that this one was an upset in my book. Initially what seemed to be promising left me wondering why.

This poured a nice dark color, near black with ruby brown highlights. Nice carbonation and an off-white near tan head with some lacing.

Smell was great! It was like a Ruination on crack. Powerful sugary citrus hops. Very strong and filled the air when I popped the cap. Again, not much of a piney hop presence, but sweet grapefruit, orange, and other citrus scents dominate. I feel like I'm in for something lovely...

Taste tells me otherwise immediately. Very bitter hop presence. Seems like it packs way more punch than it holds. The hops are more piney here than citrus as suggested before and almost puckering to me. A slight caramel malt but it doesn't do much for balance. I'd much rather go with a Ruination, Arrogant, or the plain IPA for that matter.

Mouthfeel is bitter and drying. It make me feel like I have cotton mouth, if you know what I mean. Almost numbing to the tongue and the lips. Not so impressive.

I split two bombers, each with a different friend of mine, and the perspective seemed to be the same...this beer doesn't live up to the expectations. A pint would be alright but I get the point quickly here. While I'm sorry to say it, thanks, but no thanks.

Younger35, you're still the man. Looking forward to the next exchange, sir.

Serving type: bottle

10-19-2007 01:32:28 | More by ncvbc

sweethome

Illinois

3.3/5  rDev -22.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Pours a dark brown to black - porter darkness. Off white creamy head.

Piney hops in nose with malty sweetness and lsight nuttiness.

First taste is hops, the malts are medium, not as big as color. Malts fail to develop a unique or complex flavor. The hops are piney with medium bittering - why add the dark malts if they aren't going to add complexity? Why have the significant hop load if it's just dressing up a meiocre dark beer?

For an IPA, hard to drink much, for a porter, not enough satisfying malts.

I'm disappointed in this offering.

Serving type: bottle

10-26-2007 01:49:04 | More by sweethome

HiAIPA

Maine

3.3/5  rDev -22.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

From a 22oz. bomber, this unique black IPA was a bitter bomb from start to finish. The cooked roasted profile hits you on the nose, with chocolate malts and broasted grains. With good head and a nice quaff, an IPA porter hybrid comes to mind. The flavors tilt to the bitter side of IPA-land, with roasted dark nuts and barleycorn leading the pack. Overall a good, distinctive IPA, but a little bitter for my bulls-eye.

Serving type: bottle

10-13-2009 17:42:37 | More by HiAIPA