Bludgeon Yer Eye PA - Short's Brewing Company

zoso1967

Michigan

4.13/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Bludgeon Yer Eye pours your classic “black IPA” deep dark brown. It has a bit of a walnut hue to it and a nice light tan head that fades to a stubborn ring. Lacing is quite nice.

The aroma is equal parts hoppy and roasty. It reminds me a lot of a hoppy porter with notes of pine and slightly burnt toffee, as well as a bit of coffee.

The flavor has a bit more roastyness present, as well as a surprising and pleasant caramel sweetness. piney hops are also there, but more in reserve. Cocoa, coffee, toffee some caramel and a bit of floral character also make themselves known. This is definitely roastier than your run of the mill India black ale.

The mouthfeel is medium with a subdued carbonation. It finishes fairly dry and leaves some charred notes on the palate after swallowing.

Overall I think that, while quite different from a lot of other examples of this style, this beer is a very good and very interesting version of a dark and hoppy ale. I tend to like the renditions of this style that lead more toward the hops, but this one really hits the spot, and with a lower ABV than most it is quite sessionable.

Serving type: bottle

08-12-2011 02:07:33 | More by zoso1967

jmich24

Michigan

4.55/5  rDev +15.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Sniffer:

ABV is a sessionable 5%!

A: very near black in color. One finger light tan head that never completely goes away, sticky lacing.
S: Delish! Super hoppy with a nice bit of roasted malts. I want to smell this all night. Hop>Malts
T: Again Hops are outstanding, great dark roasty flavor to go with the huge hop aroma. Lingering bitterness is also a plus.
M: Medium mouthfeel seems appropriate.
O: This was far and away the best Black IPA example i have had to date. Great aroma and flavor as well a nice lingering bitterness. The low ABV (per website) is only 5% makes this brew that much more amazing! The dark malts are what puts this over the top! I am clearly in a love/hate relationship with Shorts, If they ever get the sour/infected notes out the their lineup it would all be world class!

Serving type: bottle

08-10-2011 01:00:58 | More by jmich24

clint1019

Michigan

4.58/5  rDev +16.2%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Appearance-Black in color with a bubbly/frothy carmel colored head that leaves some nice lacing on the glass.

Smell-Has a great piney hop aroma combined with a roasty malt aroma.

Taste-Has a strong hop presence up front, followed by a roasty malt flavor, and finally it finishes with a big hop bitterness.

Mouthfeel-light bodied with not much carbonation.

Overall-This is a great example of a Black IPA. Has a nice roasty malt aroma and flavor backed by a big piney hop presence. Well done Shorts.

Serving type: bottle

08-09-2011 22:42:59 | More by clint1019

SpdKilz

Illinois

4.13/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance – Pours into a tulip with about a finger of tan head that quickly dissipates. Held up to the fading sunlight, not a hint of light can penetrate this dark beer.

Smell – Earthy, charred malts, massive hops, malty backbone, pine, and some caramel.

Taste – More hop forward than the nose would lend. A smack of hops up front, which is then followed by charred, smoky malt flavors. Slight pine, bittersweet chocolate, and the slight caramel at the end.

Mouthfeel – Lighter bodied, decent carbonation.

Overall – Honestly, a solid beer from shorts that isn’t a “crazy” beer. This is a well done beer that should be in Short’s everyday lineup. It’s nice to see that Short’s can do both “everyday” beers and crazy one’s too. Would buy again for sure.

Serving type: bottle

08-05-2011 01:26:36 | More by SpdKilz

webmanspidey

Michigan

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

Bottle in a pint glass. This is a brownish black color with around half an inch of head. Smell is a mix of sweet honey, molasses, hops, and pine. Taste is a well balanced mix between caramelized malts and hops. This is easy to drink and tasty. Well done.

Serving type: bottle

07-29-2011 22:14:10 | More by webmanspidey

Thorpe429

Illinois

3.78/5  rDev -4.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On tap at HopCat - December 29, 2010. Served in an imperial pint glass.

Pours close to black with a single-finger tan head and some nice lacing. The nose brings forward a good dose of roasted malt as well as some nice pine character from the hops. A bit of an earthiness to it as well. The taste is more toward the roasted end of the Black IPA scale with some mild bitter chocolate there as well. Pine hops linger throughout, providing more bitterness than flavor. Good body and carbonation. A nice and drinkable version of the style.

Serving type: on-tap

01-02-2011 03:55:09 | More by Thorpe429

WeisGuy

New York

4.13/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On-tap during Short's night at Ashley's in Ann Arbor. Excited to see Short's take on the relatively new Black IPA style.

Pours a shade or two short of black with a one-inch light tan head. Nice head retention and great lacing. Huge, fresh-cut piney hop aroma leaps out of the glass with milder roasted malt and dark chocolate notes providing a little depth. As with the nose, the flavor is dominated by bitter, piney hop flavors. There are light notes of roasty malt and dark chocolate, but the hops play center stage here. Enjoyable, but perhaps a little too one-dimensional for the style. The finish is quite bitter, dry and a little hot. Slightly light-bodied with moderate carbonation and alcohol warming. Quite bitter but still pretty drinkable as the flavors are clean and fresh tasting. Overall, very good stuff though I'd like to see a slight bit more chocolate and roast malt to complement the piney hops. Here's to hoping they bottle this stuff at some point.

Serving type: on-tap

11-02-2010 01:21:34 | More by WeisGuy

dudecandle

New York

4.55/5  rDev +15.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

On tap at Ashley's, Ann Arbor, MI:

A: Black body with a small off-white-to-coffee colored head, some lacing, holds well.

S/T: This black IPA brings together two wonderful sides of beer which rarely work together: a nice fresh herbal and grassy hop, plus a nice dose of coffee, smoke, and caramel. While up front, you get the bitterness of the hops, the coffee takes over on the back end with its own bitterness. The slight touch of caramel and smoke add a third level of complexity which is just not common enough in this world.

M: Medium body, somewhat creamy.

D: Great IPA with essentially a touch of stout. Not a huge hop bomb, but still a very respectable amount of hops. The flavors don't crowd each other out or create some unpleasant cacophony, but rather blend together quite nicely, with each new level of flavor developing further along the palate. I don't know how wide this is going to spread, but it should.

Serving type: on-tap

10-19-2010 21:47:33 | More by dudecandle