21st Amendment Back in Black

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

On tap. Presented as a "Dark IPA". Clear dark brown with a warm orange hue and a beige head. Delicious aroma of burned caramel, a little nuts and aroma hops. Medium body, sweet notes of burned caramel, roasted malt while a distinct piney hopping sets in and leaves the finish rather hoppy. Really delicious. 100709

From tap at the brewpub. Pours almost clear and deep hazzlenut brown with a small tan head. Roasted malt and hoppy aroma. Roasted malty and smooth hoppy flavoured. Solid bitterness and nice roasted breadish malt flavour into the finish.

Date: July 09, 2009
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewpub
Appearance: black, wispy beige head
Aroma: light roasted aroma with lots of sweet citrus and pine
Flavor: rich roasted flavor, lots of citrus, nice bitterness
Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 15/20
Rating: 3.6/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **4

(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.

A Sim rate (on tap at Nat’s local - Marshall Stack): Aroma is slightly sweet with an obvious hoppiness. I wish it had some chocolate in that sweetness. It seems bizarre that an IPA would be dark. That’s why I asked the bartender if I could try it. Hmmm, but it did pour a lovely dark brown. I’m not a big hops fan but knew to expect hops in an IPA after all. Nice bitter at the first taste with a chocolatey finish. It’s good. I’m impressed.

On tap at Churchkey in DC: Pours a nearly opaque with a frothy well lacing beige head. Aroma of fresh grapefruity hops and some lightly sweet toasty caramel maltiness. Starts with pretty good fullness and some dark malty sweetness well balanced with a fresh resiny hoppiness before a drier bittersweet finish. A pretty good dark IPA.

Deep brown pour with a ruby tint topped by a tight head of fluffy lace. The nose is really great. Very fresh and hopy with a nice citrus/pine character. Lots and lots of tropical hop aroma with just a touch of light toast on the back. Very fresh smelling and it really does come across as an IPA. Lightly resiny toward the finish. Warming brings up a touch of pale malt and a bit of caramel, but no roast at all. This is quite pleasant.

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.