Alaskan Pilot Series: Double Black IPA
Alaskan Double Black IPA is a combination of beer styles, with a flavor profile most similar to an Imperial IPA and the dark black color and rich flavors usually found in heartier stouts and porters.
The Black IPA, also called "Cascadian Dark Ale" or "American-style India Black Ale," is a relative newcomer to the craft beer world. We may not know what to call it yet, but we do know it’s dark and it’s hoppy and we can’t get enough of it.
The Black IPA, also called "Cascadian Dark Ale" or "American-style India Black Ale," is a relative newcomer to the craft beer world. We may not know what to call it yet, but we do know it’s dark and it’s hoppy and we can’t get enough of it.
3.7
165 reviews
Juneau, United States
Community reviews
On tap! Very nice hop aroma, well balanced malt profile. Everything a black ipa should be!
Hits the spt. Bottle from h-e-b. Above average mouthfeel. Jet black with ice cream lace. Very drinkable emphasising roast over the wonderful citrus.
On tap at the Forge. Appearance: finger sticky tan head, black color, opaque, good lacing. Aroma: pine, caramel, earthy malt, light floral. Palate: average carbonation, medium heavy body, bitter finish, creamy, light sticky texture. Taste: sweet chocolate malt, into a nice pine and growing floral hoppiness that complements malts very well. Overall, very good balance, very nice beer.
Best by April 5, 2015.
Glass: Duvel tulip.
Appearance: Deep clear garnet through edges and opaque through the center with a tall and dense tan head persistent over the body.
Aroma: The aroma is prominent of hops, grassy, grapefruit and piney with a dash of caramel backing.
Taste: Moderately bitter with spicy and piney hops, the bitterness is clean and lingering. Just a hint of malts, slightly roasty and slight caramel. If I had my eyes closed I’d be hard pressed to guess this was a black IPA.
Palate: Medium bodied, moderately carbonated.
Overall: Solid black IPA, though I feel it leans more towards a West-Coast IPA with a dash of roasted malt. Not bad at all, but not in the same tier as Wookey Jack.
Pours a dark, cola-black, with mid-sized, foamy, lasting head. Aroma of roasted grain, hops, citrus, coffee. Flavor is very appealing, a blend of hop bitterness, roasted coffee, chocolate, some citrus fruit, and a very smooth sweetness underlying things. This is slowly but surely becoming one of my favorite styles, and I think this is one of the best black IPAs I’ve tried.
It pours a black but not pitch black; holding the glass to the light proves it. Never the less, it’s a very appealing beer to look at with it’s small but stubborn head of foam and the decent amount of lacing.
The smell is a super amount of grapefruit, very bitter as you can imagine but it has a pleasant spicy bitterness to it that smells like a coffee thing going on. What roasted malt brings to the table?
The taste confirms my suspicions; this Black Ale is all aboot grapefruit from the hops and coffee from the malt.
Medium body and carbonation.
Well, my overall thoughts are that this Black Ale is one tasty son of a gun. Worthy of a go if you see it on a shelf near you.
Black pour from draft at uncle mikes. Graham cracker and coffee aroma. Tan head. Sweet and marshmallow yet dry finish. Weird. Don't love it or hate it
Shared bomber poured to snifters, showing a black/brown hue, a light tan layer of head froth, with a combination of foamy & leggy spots on the glass. The nose was roasted, with a hint of mint chocolate chip? Medium to full in body, the taste added some complementary alcohol presence, and a roasted, almost charred, and earthy bitterness that continued it’s astringency into the finish. Tasty balance of dark roast and hop.
Bomber from Ray’s in Tosa. Pours browner than root beer colored with a beige head leaving some streaks of lace. Aroma has choco/caramel, but light. Not much else. Taste is of chocolate, caramel, some lightly burnt malts, some pine. Medium bodied. Finishes lightly bitter with some sweet. Disappointing from this brewery who has had good stuff. 13.4
Aroma is hops, color is black bit does not appear thick, taste is hops a little smoke, finish is a little charcoal and bitter, over all a solid dark ipa
22 oz bottle. Black with a decent sized beige head. Aroma is of pine, sourdough bread, herbal tea. Taste is of roasted malts, pine, bitter florals, herbal notes.
Bottle. The look is dark, beige colored head, cola colored. The smell is malt, roast, coffee, fruit, bread, and raisan. The taste is really roasty, hops, biting, bitter, pine, and good.
Draf.t HArd to say anything good or bad about it. A more chcolate forward black dipa, decently bitter and balanced but not exciting.
The nose is subtle with malt sweetness being the most prominent aroma. Pours a thick brownish-black with a non-lasting tan head and minimal lacing. The tastes is roasted malts, chocolate, hints of lactos and pine. Pine and wood are noted in the finish. Medium body and medium carbonation. Overall, good and quite drinkable, but I liked 5 Stone Firefly better - more robust flavors.
Bottle pours a dark reddish brown brew with an off white top. Roasted malts in the nose with pine. Taste follows with pine up front. Nice bitter finish.
(tap) clear, very dark brown colour with a small, brown head; aroma of roast, stewed fruit; thick palate; rich, balanced flavour with a long, light bitter finish; very nice
Dark cola pour, tan foam head. It leaves excellent lacing. Aroma is bright citrus notes with undertones of roasted coffee and chocolate. very nice black IPA.
Stamped in white at bottom right corner, says "040515", it’s a best by stamp, no worries.
This was poured into a snifter because it’s considered an imperial black ale.
The appearance was a pure black color with a soft off white to tan filmy head that dissipated within about a minute. Light lacing clung and slid adequately. The smell started off extremely piney and sharp in a bitter citrus department. As it warmed, a light sweet bitter and somewhat dark chocolate malt entered in lightly.
The taste was bittersweet - tried and true - all the way, nice sweet to bitter dark chocolate over top of a combined pine/citrus. Nice sweet and bitter chocolate to citrus aftertaste leading to a semi-dry finish.
On the palate, this one sat about a medium on the body with a fairly decent sessionability about it. The carbonation was actually somewhat subdued, somewhat smooth.
Overall, honestly, this was a pretty good black ipa. I’d definitely have it again.
Nice black pour with a small brown head. Nice citrus and chocolate on the nose. Flavor matches, roasted malt, chocolate, citrus, and some bitterness. Very nice.
"eh. this one had promise, though at $8-9 bucks a pop, it’s overpriced. nice smell and look. smooth too. but the combo of spicy floral hops and dark fruit malts just doesn’t quite work for me in this one. an ok beer at a premium. "
22oz bottle $9. Damn beer has gotten really expensive these days. Dark black,wow. smells like orange rind and malts, porter. It tastes like a very hoppy porter to me, dark malts, a little fruit from the hops but no pine and just doesn’t make me think IPA at all. I’m still not sold on the style but this was alright.
Serving type: bottle
Reviewed on: 09-16-2010 06:12:08
22 oz. bottle. Pours very dark brown with a medium sized beige head. The aroma is roasted malt, herbal, citrus and some resiny character. The flavor blends the roasted malts and the hops nicely. Resin and citrus hops are the most noticeable. Additional hints of dark chocolate and herbal hops are there. Medium bodied and overall a pretty nice beer.
Deep copper to brown, clear, tan head. Flavor: toffee, burnt sugar, piney hops are subsiding on this 2009 bottle consumed in 2008. Flavor: toffee, leather, nutty notes and toast, balancing bitterness, hop flavor has diminished on this 3 year old bottle.
Bottle, shared with Parksy. Very dark brown with a persistent light brown head. Aroma is equally roasty and hoppy, leaning more toward the roasty side actually, which appeals to me greatly. Sweet dark malt base, roast and chocolate, some molasses too. Piney slightly resinous hop profile, not too aggressive, but allowing the luscious malts to have their say. I like this interpretation of the style, where there is an equal (if not greater) emphasis on the dark malts as there is on the hops. Loving this Pilot Series so far!
Bottle shared by alexsdad06. Poured black with an average frothy brown head that mostly lasted with good lacing. Moderate to heavy toasted earthy hop with a small alcohol aroma. Medium body with a dry slick texture and soft carbonation. Medium to heavy dark bittersweet flavor with a medium to heavy bittersweet finish of moderate duration. This is a good complex beer.
Name: Double Black IPA
Date: November 19, 2010
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting
Appearance: black, wispy beige head
Aroma: sweet fruity aroma, citrus hops
Flavor: sweet chocolate flavor, balancing roastedness, nice citrus, light bitterness
Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 12/20
Rating: 3/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: ** /4
Bottle: Deep deep brown, ruby highlights, moderate to large frothy beige head, fairly nice lacing.
Hoppy nose, slight roasted malts, carob, campfire, charred wood, and miniscule cow pasture. Semi-sweet citrusy
hopiness, a little citrus rind, some astringency, touch of roasted malts. For its color its not as roasty/burnt
as I would have thought. Remains with the citrus rind towards the backside. Body and mouthfeel are
moderate. The 8.5% ABV is well hidden. As this warms I get more lactose like cow pasture. Body and
mouthfeel are fairly moderate. Remains citrusy, with a mild sweetness towards the finish. Certainly more
towards a regular IPA than a Double IPA, and certainly not as "Black" as others. Otherwise, not bad, clean, but
perhaps a simple Black IPA would be more appropriate.
Bomber pours nice and dark supporting a mocha head. The aroma offers up a mix of dark roasted malts to burnt malts as well as a blending of pine hops and chocolate malts. Nice. The taste is similar dark roasted malts, some burnt malts and a dash of dark roasted coffee. These notes are mixing with lesser amounts of chocolate, toffee candy and spicy black licorice. Behind those sweeter and roastier flavors are moderately strong notes of various hoppiness consisting of mostly pine hops. It comes together nicely. Yum.
On tap at OBriens, backlogged rating. Sweet malt throughout, with much more roasted coffee overtaking the bitterness, unlike most other black IPAs. Subdued bitterness on the back end; mild hops bite.
22oz bottle thanks to Sparky
Appearance: Dark brown with a big foamy beige head and lots of sticky lacing
Aroma: Roasted malts, chocolate, coffee and pine resin
Taste: Full mouthfeel of dark roasted malts, coffee with a bitter finish
A very nice Black IPA, enjoyable and easy drinking