James Black Ale - Hill Farmstead Brewery

northyorksammy

Ontario (Canada)

3.93/5  rDev -7.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Enjoyed on tap at the Black Back Pub. An IPA that happens to have a shwartzbier element,resiny,piney, chocolate stoutish and grapefruit. Dark body and some lace.Hops and some roast aroma. The roast was lightly done which was nice to drink. Average mouthfeel.

Serving type: on-tap

08-17-2012 23:19:24 | More by northyorksammy

Thorpe429

Illinois

4.25/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

On tap at Hill Farmstead on November 4, 2010. Served in a Hill Farmstead wine glass. Thanks to Shaun for his incredible generosity for spending a good deal of time with us.

Pours a deep, dark color that verges on black. A single-finger tan head and some nice lacing. The aroma hits the parameters of the newly-formed style head on with some really resinous piney hops as well as some roasted malt. The taste is pretty hoppy with some mild roast. The feel has a great combination of roasted malt and pine-based hops. This drinks quite well and is a really well done hoppy black ale.

Serving type: on-tap

11-14-2010 13:36:32 | More by Thorpe429

Phyl21ca

Quebec (Canada)

4.68/5  rDev +10.1%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Growler: Poured a clear deep black color ale with a large dirty brown foamy head with good retention and some good lacing. Aroma of piney hops is incredibly intense with great floral qualities. Taste is a mix between roasted malt notes with light bitter and dry notes submerged by a huge amount of piney hops with some citrus notes. Body is average with good carbonation. This a great demonstration on how dry-hopping should be done to limit the bitterness of hops but ensure floral piney notes are prevalent.

Serving type: bottle

10-11-2012 17:03:33 | More by Phyl21ca

MasterSki

Illinois

4.4/5  rDev +3.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Thanks to Sean for sharing this growler. Served in a Cigar City snifter.

A - A finger of tan foam settles to some wisps, a thin collar, and minimal lacing. Very dark brown body.

S - Aroma is great! If I were blindfolded I'd *almost* be fooled into thing this was a regular IPA (or at least a hoppy amber). There's a faint hint of chocolate and roast character in the periphery, but this is heavy on the citrus, tropical, and lightly herbal hop flavors.

T - The taste tends a bit more towards the balanced side of things, although there's still a ton of hop character. Juicy citrus, earthy hops and roasted grains, and a touch of tropical fruits. Pleasant moderate bitterness in the finish that stays at a manageable level.

M - Medium body, moderate carbonation, lightly chewy texture, with a dry finish. Some resinous hop oils linger on the palate.

D - This is exactly how I like my Black IPAs. Hopefully John Kimmich makes El Jefe again so that I can do a side-by-side showdown between these two beers. I'll probably trade for this one in the future, as I really enjoyed it.

Serving type: growler

01-24-2012 03:29:19 | More by MasterSki

Knapp85

Pennsylvania

4.11/5  rDev -3.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Poured out as a rich looking deep brown color what essentially looks black in the glass. There is a very nice creamy tan head on top that leaves a great lacing and a pretty strong retention also. The smell of the beer has a really nice balance of roasted malts and aromatic hops. Very nicely done. The taste of the beer is also quite good, the malts again balance out flawlessly with the hops being used in this one. Chocolate roasted flavors with the subtle bite of pine in the finish. The mouthfeel of the beer is pretty smooth, it's medium bodied with a healthy carbonation. Overall this beer is very good, Can't find much to really complain about here.

Serving type: growler

03-07-2013 15:36:16 | More by Knapp85

jlindros

Massachusetts

4.05/5  rDev -4.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Tap at the Hill farmstead tasting room.

Dark almost black color, hint of ruby light coming through, creamy head with lacing.

Nose great spicy earthy hops, light citrus, some pine, dark caramel malts and molasses, chewy malts and hops.

Taste chewy spicy earthy hops, bit of pine, creamy dark malts, caramel, light roast, fairly bitter. Dry very bitter finish, bit of darker creamy malts.

Mouth is creamy med bodied, good carb.

Overall pretty good, less of the darker malts and more of the big bitter hops, not quite what I was expecting but maybe what I should have expeccted from Hill Farmstead. A taste drinkable beer but less dark malts than I expected.

Serving type: on-tap

11-13-2011 23:10:06 | More by jlindros

Rifugium

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev -5.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

First had: on tap at Hill Farmstead

Dark brown-black pour, looked to lack most haze, but was still nearly opaque; a small beige head sank to a small ringlet leaving streaks of lacing on the glass. Piney hops dominant in the nose, mixed with some chocolaty malts, touches of citrus zest. Pretty typical of the style. Similar taste, plenty of hops, mostly pine, some citrus, roasted dark malts, cocoa, toasted grains. Medium body, decent balance. It's hard to get too much variety with this style, but that doesn't mean there aren't good ones and bad ones. This one was pretty good. It is HF after all.

Serving type: on-tap

10-13-2012 20:10:02 | More by Rifugium

corby112

Pennsylvania

3.9/5  rDev -8.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Sampled on draft at Capone's.

Pours pitch black and almost complety opaque with only the slightest hint of deep, dark mahogany edges when held to a light source and a one finger beige foam head that settles into a lasting ring. Sporadic chunks of lacing left behind.

Interesting aroma with hints of roasted malt as well as some sweet citrus and earthy pine hop notes. Slightly roasted with hints of chocolate and caramel but not as malty as I expected.

Medium bodied with a nice bitter blast of earthy hops up frotthat is immediately coutered by sweet citrus and tropical frut notes. The roasty malt is minimal and is actually used to counterbalance the hops. Subtle toasty bread, chocolate and caramel but this beer is all about the sweet citrus and tropical hop flavor. Only slightly bitter with some earthy pine as well as some grapefuit, lemon, pineapple and orane peel. This was a really interstig beer and one of the better black IPAs ibe had.

Serving type: on-tap

01-07-2011 01:24:11 | More by corby112

Brad007

Vermont

4.25/5  rDev 0%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Pours a color blacker than night with a thin brown head.

Nose is greeted by grassy citrus hop aroma. Certainly a hallmark of the style. I would expect no less.

Visceral, hoppy and chock full of flavor. Hops have just a light touch of citrus. Lots of flavor from the malt. Do I detect a bit of toastiness?

Mouthfeel is kissed by lingering citrus and buttery malt. Mmmmm.

A toast to ingenuity of Vermont brewers is necessary. If not for folks like Greg Noonan and Glenn Walter, this style would have never come about. Cheers to a happy 2011!

Serving type: on-tap

01-01-2011 04:01:19 | More by Brad007

Huhzubendah

District of Columbia

4.05/5  rDev -4.7%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On draft at the Blind Tiger in NYC.

The beer appears black with a thick, tan head. Long lasting retention with copious lacing. Hill Farmstead beers are beautiful. The aroma brings roast, pine, a hint of chocolate. Nice flavor. Well balanced, with a healthy pine bitterness on top of a roasted malt bill. Medium bodied with lingering chocolate in the finish. A solid beer.

Serving type: on-tap

08-21-2012 03:13:25 | More by Huhzubendah

smakawhat

Maryland

4.13/5  rDev -2.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Poured on tap into a solo clear plastic cup, at the Celebrate Vermont Fair outside Stowe VT.

Black walnut brown body, no head given, barely a tan collar, with some light rising carbonation. Kind of boring and ordinary, but sometimes you get what you are given.

Great hop and malt nose on the brew. Charing coffee roast with some light carbon and simple profile. Hop action seems pine like on the nose but fairly mild on the nose.

Palate hits nicely with a great mouthfeel of mixing creamy character of playful carbonation. Coffee and chocolate, with a real lingering hop and bitter dark chocolate finish. Hop angle seems a little bit hard to pinpoint along all the roast flavor.

Overall a real fun beer, perhaps not my favorite but a really well made.

Serving type: on-tap

08-25-2012 02:14:35 | More by smakawhat

FosterJM

California

4.47/5  rDev +5.2%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

1073rd Review on BA
Growler to HF Pint
750 ml growler

Thanks to CliffBrake for this one!!

App- A very deep rich brown with lots of density leaning towards a black color. The tan head on this one is amazing. 1st it just fell as a giant clump of foam. On a repour it was huge lines of sticky cling. One of the best looking beers I have seen in a 1000+ reviews.

Smell- A pretty straight forward Black IPA. It starts off with a little bit of a citrus punch and then slowly moves to a little malt and even gets a touch of chocolate in there. Very smooth on the aromatics and for almost 7% no trace of the booze at all.

Taste- I think the reason I am rating this one so high is the balance between layers its showing. Most black ipa's try to come across as a assertive roasty kind of note and then counter with some bitter. This was very delicate and balanced. The malts are a bit smoother with a velvety note and a bit of a orange/lemon/pine taste behind them.

Mouth- A very creamy medium body with this beer feeling out of the growler like it was on nitro. Super smooth and very creamy. A low carbonation level with enough bubbles to last for days if that makes sense.

Drink- Overall, this beer really was amazing. The appearance was magical and the feel was the stuff of legend. A truly great black IPA. This is what brewers should strive for.

Serving type: growler

01-28-2012 04:24:39 | More by FosterJM

ffejherb

Pennsylvania

4.5/5  rDev +5.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Poured via growler procured at the Hill Farmstead brewery on 6/19/11. Thanks to FooFaa for sharing.

A - Milk chocolate brown with deep amber and burgundy hues around the bottom edges and a finger's worth of creamy beige foam that reduced, leaving thin, delicate lacing all over the sides of the glass.

S - Wonderful melange of dark chocolate and coffee malt at the forefront, although the hop character is equally as impressive, imparting notes of citrus rind, earthy dankness and leafy, green fresh hop cones.

T - Opens with plenty of coffee bitterness and a hint of dark chocolate malt paired with an abundance of earthy hop bitterness and some citrus attributes. Finish is extremely dry and bitter, giving the overall flavor an intensely earthy, leafy character.

M - Medium bodied with a creamy texture and modest carbonation, giving the mouthfeel an exceptionally smooth character overall. Finish is dry and bitter, though the bitterness doesn't linger on the palate for too long.

D - Awesome black IPA... or whatever they are calling these nowadays. Plenty of dark malt goodness without compromising the hop character. Delicious!

Serving type: growler

06-27-2011 05:56:01 | More by ffejherb

Jwale73

Rhode Island

3.99/5  rDev -6.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Served in a Hill Farmstead tulip at the Blackback. Pours an inky black with a half-inch light tan froth embedded with tiny ringlets. Delicate spots and sheets of lacing are revealed during the tasting. Nose is reminiscent of french roast coffee with some earthy bitterness also present in the mix. Taste follows nose; however, the flavor profile comes off a bit thin and watery. Mouthfeel is light-medium with an even carbonation, but it comes off a little on the thin side. Overall, a solid example of the style, but not as robust as it could be in my opinion.

Serving type: on-tap

03-05-2013 00:52:20 | More by Jwale73

Bierman9

New Hampshire

4.33/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

My nightcap at The Reservoir on 02SEP12. Got a 10+ oz snifter for $6.50.

Poured a verry dark, near-opaque brown. Topping was a thin, rim job of light tan foam, with a touch of lace. Nose was a combo of rindy, resiny, toasty notes, which was inviting. A solid, medium body and a smooth feel helped things along.

Had some roasty coffee and chocolate at the start. Soon after came some rindy citrus, with bitter, piney, pithy characteristics. Quite flavorful; a solid BIPA! Zum Wohl!

4.33/5 rDev +1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

1498

Serving type: on-tap

09-08-2012 19:02:50 | More by Bierman9

oline73

Maryland

4.24/5  rDev -0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Poured from a growler into a snifter.

Pours a dark brown color with a layer of off white head. The nose is full of citrus peel hops. There is just a touch of roast. The flavor has a nice balance to it. Just a touch of roast with a nice citrus peel hop note. The finish is bitter but smooth. The finish is quite dry.

Serving type: growler

03-28-2013 01:05:36 | More by oline73

Hojaminbag

Colorado

4.2/5  rDev -1.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

James has a body that borders on black, but I would still call a very dark brown. The tan head is solid looking, and showcases pretty good retention and lacing.

The aroma is straight hops, with all kinds of fruit and some resin. The malt barely makes an appearance, contributing perhaps a hint of both sweetness and roast.

The flavor certainly showcases a little bit more malt, but James is still one of the most hop-dominated American Black Ales that I have come across. Loads of hops, with some citrus and tropical fruit, but lots of earthy, grassy and resinous flavors as well. The bitterness is only moderate. The malt isn't completely shut-out, as it adds sizable flavors of caramel, chocolate and roasted malts.

This one feels creamy and smooth; both the body and carbonation as quite well-done.

Every hoppy beer that I have tried from Hill Farmstead has been phenomenal, and James proves that statement true regardless of what malt is used.

Serving type: on-tap

01-25-2012 15:51:11 | More by Hojaminbag

rfgetz

New Jersey

4.38/5  rDev +3.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Pours a dark charcoal color with nice cap of dense khaki brown froth, good retention and lacing. Scent is a perfect balance of roasted grain and piney and fruity hops, nose brings out more fruit towards the end with some tropical notes present. taste begins as scent did with bitter roast and light char with a resin and grapefruit profile, mellows into a fruity mix of tropical and citrus notes. medium bodied, a touch grainy and dry on the tongue. Fantastic bIPA that doesn't allow the malts to overshadow the hops or vice versa.

Serving type: growler

10-10-2011 21:34:33 | More by rfgetz

rudzud

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev -5.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Enjoyed on tap at the brewery in their tasting room.

A - Poured a rich dense black with a nice small creamy mocha head.

S - Mostly consists of dark roasted malts and some nice chocolate notes. Some light pine/citrus from the hops.

T - More of the same with nice roasty, dark malts that give way to good dark chocolate flavours. Its rounded out at the end by some light, but definately present pine and grapefruit rind bitterness.

M - Mouthfeel is good with some nice creamy carbonation.

O - Overall this was a tasty black ale. I would have liked a bit more dark roasted malts though as opposed to the hops.

Serving type: on-tap

11-26-2011 23:53:45 | More by rudzud

cosmicevan

New York

4.33/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 3 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

huge thanks to baconsausage for an array of hill farmstead goodies in the Growler Plus BIF (round 2).

a - this 32 oz growler had some minor leakage in transit, probably lost about 4 oz or so, so figured the time is nigh to consume this. poured a pretty lifeless brown/black. some swirls of the glass drummed up some bubbling, but nothing much and nothing that hung out.

s - really unique. strong sweet citric hop with a roasted malt. nutty, grape, candy. very nice.

t - the nose is there but assaulted by bitterness at first. nutmeg. a bit burnt on the finish. as i drank more and more of this brew, it just became more and more tasty. the hop and malt are so nicely intermingled in the beer.

m - cooling and biscuity. bitter. a bit watery but also silky. easy drinker.

o - overall, very solid black ale. quite delicious.

Serving type: growler

10-19-2011 01:55:45 | More by cosmicevan

Sean9689

Illinois

4.25/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Thanks, Bob! 750ml growler split with the fiancé.

A - Pours black, light khaki-colored head, thin ring, some spotty lace, no cap.

S - An excellent balance of roast and hops. Citrus, pine, caramel, toasted bread. Again, the aroma on this is just outstanding. I don't really like my Black Ale's/IPA's with an overload of hops, but a balance of roast/malts in there really do it for me.

T - Not as roasty as the nose. Bitter hops, citrus notes, pine, light chocolate, caramel, roasted malts. Really nice and easy to drink. Finish is light chocolate and bitter hops.

M - Light, good carbonation, refreshing (for a black ale), oily finish.

O - Really enjoyed this one. I can't emphasize enough how I enjoyed the balance between hops and roast. It really makes this Black Ale easy to drink and that much more enjoyable. Recommend.

Serving type: growler

12-16-2011 13:53:58 | More by Sean9689

merc7186

New York

3.64/5  rDev -14.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

Growler into snifter.

A: Black Hue, Passes Almost No Light, Brown Hue, Some Lacing

S: Dark Malts, Mild Chocolate, Mild Coffee

T: Dark Malts, Mild Chocolate, Mild Floral

M: Decent Carbonation, Medium Bodied, Mildly Bitter

Overall, kind of a boring beer from a supposed great brewer. Was this a tap filler? I just don't get the whole Black IPA with weak hop notes.

Serving type: growler

03-06-2013 04:10:25 | More by merc7186

yourefragile

District of Columbia

4.13/5  rDev -2.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

750 mL growler.

Pours a clear dark brown, near black with a bubbly tan, ruby tinged head. Aroma is resin, pine, roast malt, and light citrus hops. Mouthfeel is suffering a little from sitting on this growler for too long. Light carbonation on a medium thick body with a slightly watery finish. Much less roast in the flavor than the nose, pine hops dominate, bitter and resiny with light citrus in the finish. Aftertaste lingers more malty than the body with soft roast and light chocolate. Having had this fresh, I won't ding the mouthfeel from this sample; one of my favorite Black IPAs.

Serving type: growler

01-14-2012 01:20:30 | More by yourefragile

kingcrowing

Vermont

4.1/5  rDev -3.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

64oz growler poured into a Hill Farmstead wine glass.

Pours dark, dark black with a small brown head that quickly fades, thin lacings starts to slowly form. Nose is awesome, it's hoppy and fruity, wild fruit and pine nots come through strongly. There's a bit of maltiness but it's not over the top which is good.

Right off the mouthfeel is really nice, it's light and sharp and quite creamy, very similar to a good American IPA, with a nice sharp finish. The taste is quite roasty and a bit grainy - I get this from all Black IPAs, and I'm not a big fan of it, but it seems to just be inherent in the style. There hop flavors are well balanced with the dark malts, and the citrus and mango flavors come through well. I think this is one of the best examples of a Black IPA that I've had to date.

Serving type: growler

11-20-2010 21:41:26 | More by kingcrowing

Alieniloquium

Florida

4.06/5  rDev -4.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

750 mL growler poured into a snifter.

Appearance - Big khaki head. Eternal retention. Great lacing. Very nice looking beer.

Smell - Really citrusy. Some of the roast comes through, but it's mostly citrus hop.

Taste - Bright citrus hop and roasted malt blended with the hops. Grapefruit hops. Roast is very strong, but the hops never let up. Lends a nice complexity. Slight bitter finish.

Mouthfeel - Medium body. Very carbonated.

Overall - Excellent. Love how hoppy it is. Really impressive.

Serving type: growler

03-12-2013 03:32:22 | More by Alieniloquium