Flossmoor Station Black Magic IPA

Brewed by Flossmoor Station Restaurant & Brewery
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Flossmoor, Illinois USA

Sample courtesy of nbuttler. An ipa with a black body new to me. Had a good IPA aroma and some grapefruit in the flavor. Thanks Nick

On tap at the brewpub in Flossmoor. I instantly loved the idea behind this beer with the experimentation of a dark ipa. The results turned out pretty good as well. This beer looks like a creamy oatmeal with a fluffy beige cream head, that maintained nicely with thick lacing, medium appearing body, and dark cola brown-black in color. Smelling, on the other hand, takes you completely off-gaurd as I’ve never smelled a beer that dark that was as hop dominated as this one. There are roasted malts in the background, the leafy/flowery hop airiness dominates along with mango, citrus fruits, oat and grainy cereal. As far as the taste/palate goes, the mouthfeel here could have been slightly fuller and slightly more balanced (which is crazy that a beer so dark would need a stronger malt profile), but the finish was very nice with roasted nutty oats that combine with nice bitter that is maintained throughout. Most of the flavor notes coincide with the aroma, so they do play off one another well. Overall, I loved the idea, and definitely enjoyed this is ipa.

On tap at Flossmoor Station. Pours a deep and dark brown, almost black body with a finger-width, tannish brown, creamy head that dissipates at a moderate pace and leaves a clinging lace. Aroma has lots of bright, citrusy lemon and orange pines with a light resin. Some roast comes in slightly, but this aroma seems to lean more towards the hops. A thin caramel sweetness makes its way in there too. The flavor is quite nice. The roasts really come out more at the end, but stay relatively subtle. Lots of pines up front and into the finish where the roasts join up nicely for a dry, moderately bitter, resiny aftertaste that lingers for a long duration. Smooth and medium body with a great balance. Nothing seems over-the-top in the least bit. Overall, a very tasty black IPA. This is really a style I hope to see more of. Lots of pines and blending roasts made this highly enjoyable.

On tap at FS. Pours black with a tan head. Lots of citrus, grapefruit, and floral hops in the nose with some of the roasted malts coming through. The hops really pop in the flavor, medium bitterness fresh citrus and grapefruit. The roast has a slight bitterness that isn’t lost or overdone. Solid IPA, its hard to drink this one slow.

Draft at the brewpub. Pours very hazy dark brown with a small off-white head. Aroma of citrus hops, roasted malt, chocolate, caramel, and floral and earthy notes. Flavor matches up pretty well, with some grapefruit present. Medium bodied, with an earthy mouthfeel and lingering dry, bitter finish. Really impressive beer.

Tap at the pub. Black with some light escaping from the edges. Nice citrus nose with plrenty of black malt roast. Very bitter and way dry. Tasty for sure.

On tap at brewpub. Pours a dark brown with decent off-white to tan head. Aroma is heavy with west coast hops and beautiful citrus punch with grapefruit, orange and lemon, nice amount of roasted malt coming through as well. Flavor is roasted malt, bitter hops, nice citrus punch and some light chocolate coming through. Towards the end of glass I was picking up a bit of a metallic note. Could be epic if there were more of a hoppy flavor. Has a good body and mouthfeel. Aroma was awesome. Solid black IPA overall and best of the 3 beers I had from the station tonight.

I had a couple of mugs of this at the brewpub in lieu of lunch. (Hell. When one can afford either good beer or food, where’s the choice?) Brewmaster Bryan told me that in a literally blind taste test, only 60% of the tasters could tell which IPA had the dark malts. I believe him. The nose has a sturdy dosage of PNW hops. What gives it away to me is that instead of the typical caramel/toffee/pale malt scents oozing out from beneath, you get a slight whiff of roasty and chocolatey sweetness. In the flavor, the hops carry the load, but the malt backbone is smoother than usual, providing a counterpoint to the hoppy tastes and bitterness rather than the boost that one usually gets from the lighter sweetness. The bottom line, though, is that this tastes damned good, finishing on a bitter citric note with light chocolate undertones. Very nice.