Radio Free I.B.A. - Lake Louie Brewery Company

merc7186

New York

3.35/5  rDev -2.3%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25

Thanks to KevinMc79 for this extra.

12oz bottle into pint glass.

A: Opaque Hue, Passes No Light, Off White Head Ring, Some Lacing

S: Chocolate Malts, Mild Coffee, Mild Cherry

T: Chocolate Malts, Mild Coffee

M: Mediocre Carbonation, Medium Bodied, Mildly Drying

Overall,, just a mild black ale with a mildly weird chocolate taste, not sure if its from the malts or a chocolate substitute.

Serving type: bottle

03-12-2013 02:46:13 | More by merc7186

ncketchum

Wisconsin

3.18/5  rDev -7.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Served chilled in a Sierra Nevada pint glass

A - pours a dark brown, 1/2 finger head

S - smell is sweet chocolate and dark cherry, followed by malt

T - roasted malt with some sweetness following, then a good amount of bitterness from the hops

M - fairly thin, not much carbonation, no alcohol to speak of

O - Not bad at all, but in my mind, this is closer to a stout than th black ales that I'm used to. I should do a side by side with Black Top...

Serving type: bottle

08-11-2012 03:18:10 | More by ncketchum

uwmgdman

Wisconsin

3.1/5  rDev -9.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

This ale pours jet black with a moderate light tan head than diminished to sticky, thin skim. The aroma is dominated by malty character--sweet, roasty, chocolate, some biscuit with just a bit of floral hop. I enjoy the aroma, but think it is off for the style, I would expect at least a moderate hop nose, but it is really quite subdued. The flavor is much like the nose, tasty malts, the flavors mimic the nose. There is moderate hop bitterness and low spicy/piney hop flavor. The finish is dry, aided by roasted malts and hop bitterness. Again, I enjoy the beer, but I just don't think it is appropriately hopped for the style. The carbonation is moderate and body is medium-full. Overall this is a tasty beer, delicious malts and moderately bitter, but the hop flavor and aroma really need to be upped. I like a lot of their brews, but I hope some constructive feedback takes this one to the next level.

Serving type: bottle

07-14-2012 02:30:10 | More by uwmgdman

BarrytheBear

Wisconsin

3.05/5  rDev -11.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

12 oz bottle from the newly released Limited Release four packs. As stated in a previous review, I really pull for this brewery. It's a cool story, a neat setup, and from everything I've read, Tommy is a really good guy.

Pours a rather attractive looking pitch black with a cappuccino ring. Rather suggestive and slightly menacing in my tulip. A solid introduction.

Smell is less bold than hoped for and is a meld of interesting characteristics. There's a pronounced dark fruit element of dates and figs that joins with an unsalted meat vibe. Hickory, Smarties candies, and sweet malts join with a substantial ashy note to seal the deal. Interesting.

The few few sips yield that odd turn-you-head-to-the-side-while-scrunching-your-brow-in-an-attempt-to-register-face. Huge ashy drapery lies a massive cloak across this beer. Dry unsweetened raw chocolate clashes with a big candy sweetness. Finishes sugary and leaves a shockingly long tingle on the tongue and along my tasting places. Bitterness is unrefined and earthy. Really lacking in hops though, which is a very disappointing.

Mouthfeel is light and drying.

Overall, this is an interesting beer. It's a bit salty, brash, and unrefined in the way that lacks the polish of some larger and more established breweries. Not sure I would reach for this on a regular basis, but I continue to want to love Lake Louie and support their adventurousness.

Serving type: bottle

07-03-2012 23:25:04 | More by BarrytheBear

WastingFreetime

Wisconsin

3.53/5  rDev +2.9%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Looks like Lake Louie has decided to throw their hat into the Black Ale market!

Pours out into a goblet a deep opaque nigh-black color with only a 2mm fizz ring around the edges for a head. Appears very undercarbonated but the color is perfect at least.

The aroma is a very appealing blend of dark chocolate, medium amounts of chicory, burnt brown sugar, very light garnish levels of cigarette ash, and a solid backbone of roasted malt. However, it seems to be seriously lacking in citrus and pith elements in the nose, which also happens again later on in the taste. Instead, I find myself picking up on a hearty floral and a more subtle earthen hopping aroma/flavor nuance.

The flavor contains a meaty initial slap of ashy char that backs away slowly from some lovely roasted malt flavors working in great balance with those floral and earthy hopping elements I mentioned before... I can't find as much of the chicory as I smelled, sadly, and I find myself wishing for just a touch of citric-hopping acidity to add the proverbial "frosting" to my delicious cake. The body is on the lighter side yet not watery, only severely undercarbonated.

With just a few tweaks this one could have been exceptional for my palate IMHO. As it is, it feels more like an Irish Stout to my mouth than a Black IPA. Give it a try if you happen to like medium-heavy char that fades out into semi-dry sweetness with floral and earthy elements framing it, because that is what I got out of this one.

Serving type: bottle

07-01-2012 20:49:20 | More by WastingFreetime