21st Amendment Back in Black

Brewed by 21st Amendment Brewery
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
San Francisco, California USA

Draft at Ron’s in Lionville, PA. Poured black in color with a medium sized tan head that left nice lacing on the glass. Aroma of grapefruit hops, roasted malts, chocolate, coffee. Tastes of grapefruit, pine, chocolate, roasted coffee, and caramel. A pretty nice black IPA.

Draft at Churchkey. This is my first black IPA for what it’s worth. Pours opaque black. Overwhelming grapefruit in the aroma. So much so that I can’t get anything else. Thin creamy head, disappears quickly but leaves lots of lacing. Taste: lots of grapefruit but some pine. Thick mouthfeel, almost like a Russian imperial. Bizarre (and has some palette dissonance) to have this palette with the hop profile. Back end has a peculiar combo of hop bitterness and stout bitterness. I love this beer. Well balanced. I would drink this any time. Awesome.

Pours a beautiful black color with a thick creamy layer of brown foam. The aroma is full of toffee, grapefruit, and chocolate. Flavor is caramel, toffee, citrusy and roasted bitter at the end with notes of coffee, cocoa, and licorice. A bit soapy too. Not bad.

On tap at Bukowskis Tavern, Cambridge MA, September 2009. Dark brown, with a loose tan head. Good mix of floral hop and dark malt. The hops were a bit more mellow than I expected. Some similarities to the Southern Tier Iniquity that I tried shortly before. But the 21st Amendment seemed a little more restrained than the Southern Tier - it just seemed to have a bit less in every department. That made for a nicely balanced and easily drinkable beer but I preferred the bigger impact of the Southern Tier.

Growler and on draft. Black pour with some white head. Roasted malty balances the heavy hop presence. Coffee and some chocolate, and finishes strong with hop characteristics. Slight decline in taste with growler.

Best of the night at Pizzeria Paradiso in Dupont Circle. Drught. Jet black with large, thick brown head. Aroma of caramel and citrus, flavor of smoke and roasted coffee with a light background of chocolate. Late bitterness and bitter finish. Balanced and complex.

Growler, thanks Victor for the share. Pours a black body with a tan head. Roast malt character with a ton of hop character. Grassy body with some lighter pine notes, a bit roast y and almost metallic. Sharp hop resins, ash, and a herbal hop finish. Decent.

(draft) Creamy tan head atop dark brown body. Aroma is medium sweet, roast, some grapefruit. Taste is medium sweet, grapefruit, roast, some pine, light chocolate. Light-medium body, light acidity.