Back In Black - 21st Amendment Brewery

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BA SCORE
83
good
-
1,281 Ratings

rAvg: 3.68
pDev: 14.4%
Reviews: 597
Hads: 684

Ratings Help

Brewed by:
21st Amendment Brewery

California, United States

Style | ABV
American Black Ale | 6.80% ABV

Availability: Rotating. can (499), on-tap (64), bottle (24), growler (8), cask (1), nitro-tap (1).

Notes:
ABV varies around 7%.
65 IBU

View: Beers (46) | Reviews (98) | Events (0)

Reviews

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Reviews by StoneTSR:

StoneTSR

Colorado

4.05/5 rDev +10.1%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Thanks to Jrod1969 for this one. What a killer extra he threw in my end of the trade!

APPEARANCE: Looks like a porter or a stout, stark black with a generous and foamy white head. As it SLOWLY faded away, the head did change color a little bit and take on a more off-white hue. The head retention was a thing of beauty and there is some lacing forming on the top of the glass already where the head dropped from. UPDATE: As the beer goes down, the lacing does not. It is really clinging to the glass all the way around and from top to bottom. This is an exceptional looking beer.

SMELL: A nice, solid traditional IPA smell - very piney, but bitter as well. It smells like there will be an impressive hop flavor. We shall see. Upon the second sniff, before the first sip and after the head had subsided a bit, a fairly strong, smoky, coffee flavor was present in addition to the hops and pine.

TASTE: The first sip was dominated by coffee. The hops seemed to be there, but only to provide a bitter aftertaste and not to provide the pine from the nose. A brief jolt of grapefruit also hits the palate with each sip. This is certainly a complex and unusual beer - a nice break from the ordinary.

MOUTHFEEL: The feel of this beer is more like that of a porter and not so much like an IPA. Very smooth and oily, but it is also drying on the way down as well. A nice feel, but I would have preferred more carbonation.

OVERALL: A lot of times something as unusual and different as a black IPA is can be too difficult for your palate to understand at first, making it tough to drink. That is not the case with the Back in Black. It is a very drinkable beer that tastes like a nice, bitter IPA and a smooth and smoky porter had a baby.

Serving type: can

02-16-2011 02:38:51 | More by StoneTSR

More User Reviews:

Nayr

Hawaii

4/5 rDev +8.7%

06-19-2013 04:02:03 | More by Nayr

wonothesane42

New Jersey

4/5 rDev +8.7%

06-18-2013 23:51:51 | More by wonothesane42

Dasein11

Massachusetts

3.25/5 rDev -11.7%

06-18-2013 23:35:23 | More by Dasein11

jaxon53

Connecticut

3.5/5 rDev -4.9%

06-17-2013 08:46:02 | More by jaxon53

alaimoa

Connecticut

3.19/5 rDev -13.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25

Pours a nice black with lots if brown head that lingers with nice lacing. Smells a bit of burnt chocolate, burnt caramel and hop resin. Taste isn't bad but thin and not too compkex, slightly too malty with a bitterness that hangs around for too long.

Serving type: can

06-15-2013 23:08:08 | More by alaimoa

MattPfeifer

Ohio

3.25/5 rDev -11.7%

06-15-2013 11:27:11 | More by MattPfeifer

angrybabboon

Rhode Island

3.64/5 rDev -1.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Consumed 6/15/13

Cheers to magictacosinus for sending this as an extra. I've been sitting on this can for about two months, not out of disinterest, but because I've had so many other beers to drink! Plus, I've already had this in the past, and I know I like it, so...

Appearance: Dark brown, almost black - holding it up to direct light reveals that this beer is actually really clear, and has some serious garnet tones - pours with a big, creamy, beige head, retains a nice cap, leaves above-average lacing

Smell: Roasty chocolate malts and some hops - nicely roasty, without being particularly aggressive - some nice coffee-like notes - lightly burnt chocolate malts - lightly hoppy, with some citrus and some grassy tones - some pale and caramel grainy sweetness in the background

Taste: Subdued chocolate malts and some hops - a uniquely mellow take on the style - roasty coffee notes - lightly burnt, dry chocolate malts, and some dark chocolate flavors - a nice level of hoppiness with some fleshy grapefruit, and some vague citrus peel - some nice sweetness, from caramel malts - somewhat bready

Mouthfeel: Medium body, smooth, nice carbonation, clean finish

Overall: Won't rock you all night long, but will make other AC/DC references

This is a uniquely mellow, unexpectedly drinkable black IPA. Balancing the bitter, burnt flavors with bitter, fruity hop flavors is always a challenge. This beer isn't aggressive in either regard, which is not particularly exciting, but it is nicely charming.

Serving type: can

06-15-2013 04:19:42 | More by angrybabboon