BeerBorg

Ok, figured I'ld do a commercial beer review...

If we put REVIEW: at the start of the subject line, we should be able to use it as a Search Term down the road and find ALL the commercial beer reviews that any of us might put forth!

So today, I am reviewing Sierra Nevada's Belgian-Style Black IPA



This is #94 in their Beer Camp series. I have not tried numbers 1-93 so this series is new to my area apparently! I picked up a twelve pack that contains numbers 93-95. I will try to review the other two soon.

Aroma: My first whiff expressed 'Belgian' to me... Followed by a puzzled look on my face... Ending in Belgian what? A second whiff filled in the what with roast. A definite note of roast.

Appearance: It pours nice and dark, deep dark brown/black. Putting it up to the light I cannot see through it. The head was creamy but thin, receeding to a thinner profile within the first minute or two. It seems to be persisting beyond that and appears that it will remain throughout.

Flavor: First sip and... Wow... A surprising amount of roastiness for a Black IPA. My impression of a typical BIPA is that you should be able to close your eyes and taste IPA, then open your eyes and see Black. While there can be a slight amount of roast from the black malt(s), this one seemed to have a lot of it. So much so that I am having difficulty picking out the hops. Nelson Sauvin is used as well as Sorachi Ace which is used as a finishing hop. This beer has a good amount of bitterness which seems to come from the hops but it melds with the roast so much that I can't pick out either hops characteristics! Not picking up much Belgian character either... Maybe as it warms... Wait... There it is, a hop burp. Excuse me! I can taste the Nelson Sauvin now! Strange to have to find it here!

Mouthfeel: Rich and full-bodied but with an acrid character that lingers on the palete, stinging to the tongue and inner cheeks. Some alcohol heat is noticed.

Overall Impression: The more I sip it, the easier it gets to drink it. As it warms, I do get more of the Belgian character and some hop fruitiness, although nearly enough to overcome its bitter nature. I think I would have rather this be the last beer of the night instead of the first (I wanted to review it with a clean palete) as this one may leave me only able to drink IPA's for the remainder of the evening... Not necessarily a bad thing mind you! overall, I would drink this again... In fact I will as there are three more in the twelve pack! Next time though, I think I'm gonna pair it with some grilled red meat... Maybe a porterhouse or T-Bone... Something with a bit of fat to counter the roast.

I think the Beer Camp beers are a treat. A lot of different styles and stuff that doesn't always fit a style. But it can be hard to find. Only a couple of the places in my area were getting them in from the distributor and most stores would only get a couple. Luckily I had a store that would hold them for me so I got most of them unfortunately I no longer work near it so it puts it too far out of my way to be my normal store.

I haven't seen this one yet but I might have to try to track it down.

Great review. But it does make me hesitate to post my own reviews. They would read like: "Real good beer!" or "Yuck".

John Sand wrote:Great review. But it does make me hesitate to post my own reviews. They would read like: "Real good beer!" or "Yuck".

I like those kind of reviews too. Short, sweet, and to the point.

For some reason, I'm not crazy about Black IPAs. For me, the hops and yeast don't combine well. The best beer camp one I tasted from this year was the Imperial Red Ale.

I don't understand how the hops and yeast combinations have anything to do with it, they are typically the same hops and yeast used in any IPA?

If you mean how they combine with the malt, if the beer is roasty then I think I can follow. That said, those beers typically aren't supposed to be roasty, a lot of folks would consider that a defect to begin with.

Although personally, I've actually really enjoyed some roastier black IPAs that had Simcoe and Columbus hops in them. The resinous/piney/subdued citrus seems to blend well with those flavors to my tastes at least.

John Sand wrote:Great review. But it does make me hesitate to post my own reviews. They would read like: "Real good beer!" or "Yuck".

You must have not seen my reviews.