Speakeasy Midnight Run IBA

Brewed by Speakeasy Ales and Lagers
Style: American Strong Ale
San Francisco, California USA

Date: September 04, 2009
Mode: Draft
Source: Brouwer’s, Seattle
Appearance: dark brown. fine tan head, lots of sticky lace
Aroma: sweet chocolate and pine aroma
Flavor: sweet chocolate and caramel flavor, lots of piney hops, touch of citrus, light balancing bitterness
Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 14/20
Rating: 3.5/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: **4

Tasted on tap at the Bistro 12th Annual IPA Festival on 8/8/09. This IPA pours a medium brown black color from the tap. Medium sized white foamy head. The aroma is fruity, sweet, roasted malts with a touch of floral hops. A medium to full bodied IPA. The malts are roasty and fairly sweet. The hops are floral and earthy. Nice balance. Good carbonation. Very drinkable. Nice session beer. It might be a little high in alcohol for a session beer, but… Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly bitter.

Draft. Pours a dark bruin body with a tan head. Chewy caramel, raisins, and a grapefruit bitterness. Moderate warming with a full body and some light pine to finish. Good.

On tap at The Red in Santa Cruz. Pours a really dark ruby brown but not quite black. Not difficult to see through it with some backing light. Head is creamy and tan. Aroma is graham, bread crust, and a fat dose of piney hops. Flavor is similar but the emphasis is even more hop-focused. A touch of dark wheat bread crust gets steamrolled by big herbal resinous hop flavors, with piney and citric accents. Nice solid bitterness with no astringency. Pretty significant alcohol burn. Mouthfeel is nice with a medium body and great carbonation. The only flaw here is the booziness. This is the west coast version of a black IPA for sure: just enough malt to contribute to the complexity, but not so much that it turns into a cloying undrinkable mess.

Draft. Dark mahogony/black beer with a light tan head. Grapefruit and light roast aroma. Grapefruit and rich caramel flavor with light summer frutis. Medium bodied. Grapefruit and caramel linger with very light roast.

Draft at the Bistro IPA Fest. Nose is citrus and light pine hops mixed with roastiness. Clear dark cherry brown with a big glass lacing beige head. Flavor is light bitterness, rye bread, caramel, a very light chocolate. I love this stuff!

Tap at Rattle N Hum. The nose is loaded with intense fruity hops. Lots of grapefruit and some citrus with a lot of cocoa that I haven’t really seen much before in these dark IPAs. Fairly sweet and sticky with a nice chewy maltiness on the back. There is even a kiss of molasses through the middle, but the hops really do cut through all the dark malts showing loads of citrus and pine. I really like this.

Dark brown pour with a tan head and some sticky lacing. Some red hues are in there as well. Floral, dank, and some pine in the aroma, a little roast and black/dark malts as well. Dark malt up front - roast and some charred notes followed by balanced floral, dank, and earthy hop flavors. Some dank/pine burps. a little bread dough and perhaps a touch of dark chocolate is noticeable as well. Very nicely balanced with the slightest hint of alcohol. As it warms there is some metallic flavors that appear in the finish which detract a little bit from how good I thought this was initially.