Stone / The Alchemist / Ninkasi More Brown than Black IPA
3.8
306 reviews
Escondido, United States
Community reviews
12oz bottle purchased for $3.99. Brown color, looks fine enough. The smell is a blast of hops, with just a bit of dark malt coming in at the end to remind us that it is a "black" IPA. The flavor is bitter, super hoppy, a bit of orange. Overall not bad and while it is a little pricey I did not regret buying it.
Serving type: bottle
Reviewed on: 01-16-2012 00:55:52
Pours dark brown with an aroma of pine, hops, and hint of citrus. Hop bite at the end with grapefruit, toffee, and caramel flavor. Very nice.
Sampled on 11/1/2012. This Black IPA pours a dark brown color from a 12oz bottle. Medium to large sized beige rocky foamy head. The aroma is roasty malt, caramel, chocolate and hoppy. A medium bodied Black IPA. The malts are chocolate and roasty. The hops are grapefruity, piney and citrusy. Decent carbonation. A big hoppy Black IPA. The grapefruity clashes a bit with the chocolate malts, but its kind of an interesting combination. And yet, another interesting collaboration beer from Stone. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and crisp. Aftertaste is slightly bitter.
Pine, spruce, grapefruit oil citrus IPA smell. As a unique and enjoyable nut roasted caramel malts. I have a feeling this bottle wasn’t as fresh as it could have been, but still enjoyable.
Bottle from Bruisn Ales. Pours brown with an inch of khaki head that leaves some lacing. Big pine on the nose. Lots of hop flavor till in the forest. Finish was not as big as I thought it would be. Solid but not spectacular.
Bottle. Not the biggest black ipa fan so take my rating with a grain of salt. pours not unexpectedly, more brown than black with a slight tan head. Roast mixed with a citrus/fruit like hop aroma, burnt rubber. Medium mouthfeel. Starts with a sweet roast like flavor that than has an awkward transition to a hoppy floral flavor. Lingering bitterness. Nope, not for me, but not terrible either.
Dark brown pour. Big hop aromas of pine, citrus, followed by toasted malt. Upfront flavors of hops, grassy, pines, grapefruit. The burnt toffee flavors are in the background. Strong bitterness with a dry spicey finish. I would enjoy a little more malt backbone.
Bottle from Cardinal in Niles. A Stone beer without an "enjoy by" date?? (it does have a 2011 collaboration) Pours brown with a tannish head and a lot of floaties. Really nice clingy lacing. Aroma has rum raisin, roasted malts, coffee and pine. Taste is of sweet caramel, dark fruit (figs, raisins, grapes), expresso, spruce, hints of chocolate nibs and some earthiness. Finishes sweet and medium long. A tasty brew. Thinking it would have been better 6 months ago.
An interesting take on the dark IPA, one of my personal favorite beer styles. Poured a dark brown with a full light brown head. The mixture of citrus hops with the roast from the dark malts doesn’t work very well. It certainly has a good bitterness and some astringency to it. Overall, a good beer, but there are definitely better black IPAs to choose from.
Poured a dark brown, definitely not black, really nice creamy head. Aroma was awesome, a shot of grapefruit and tangerine hops. Flavor is a match - loads of hops, but balanced nicely by a caramel and faint roast malt backbone. Good body. Very enjoyable, as usual, I love the hops coming from Stone.
Pours brown with a tan head and toasty aroma of hops and pine. The bitterness really comes at you, tastes is toasty, of pine, hops, and floral notes with a bitter, lingering finish.
Pours a dark mahogany brown color. Note is full of citrus, predominately grapefruit, and sharp bitterness. Taste is bitter and heavy with citrus again predominating. Finish is long and lasting and nicely bitter as well. Carbonation is soft. Very drinkable and considerably thirst quenching for an IPA. Quaff Score 8 / 10
A dark brown colored beer, with a white head. It disapears quickly. The roma of fruits, some hops and spices. The taste of fruits, some caramel, hops and spices. The aftertaste is sweet, a little spicy and some bitter.
Oh ya, this precurser to the tba, is fucking great. Dark, hoppy, sweet, malty...the best if them all!! This could easily be my nightly beverage for the rest of my life. Yall betta recognize. Betta ax sumbody.
pours a dark brown with a ruby tint, a medium size tan head, and very good lacing.
smell is of spice, hops, some caramel, malt, and a touch floral in the back.
taste is smooth, spice, hops, caramel, malt, and a slight roastiness. ends spicy and bitter. overall very good!
Pours a dark brown color with frosty tan head. The immense hop taste mixed with natural roast flavor make this a brew for a hop head who loves massive flavor
Nice brown coloured body with a touch of a coffee and cola glow at the bottom with a thinnish, one centimetre tall light brown head. Aroma of pungent grassy, herbal and citrusey hops with a lot of roasted malt noticeable as well. Medium-bodied; Chewy malt flavour at first with a nice caramel and toffee flavour, then showing some piney and grapefruity hops notes that show very well and finish with a robust, earthy maltiness with a lot of toffee and burnt sugars. Afftertaste shows some malt depth, a decent alcohol flavour after a few seconds and some nice, but not overpowering hops at the tail end. Overall, a nice Black IPA, but not one of the better ones I’ve had - still nice to try this one. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle purchased from BevMo (Geary Blvd) in San Francisco, California on 14-January-2012 for US$2.99 sampled at home in Washington on 11-August-2012.
Bottle. Pours clear black with a large, creamy and frothy tan head, long retention with good lacing. Aroma is pine, earthy, minty, and woody hops, toast and chocolate malt with dates, plums, and raisin notes. Flavor is medium-high hops and bitterness, dark malt backbone, dark fruity esters and a dry finish. Medium body and carbonation.
Bottle. Pours a dark brown almost black color with a small tan head. Has a slightly roasted malty hoppy piney aroma. Fruity malty peachy hoppy bitter piney flavor. Has a fruity malty peachy hoppy bitter finish.
bottle. pours murky brown with medium tan head. aroma of hop and sugar. taste is sweet and hoppy with some toffe.
Pours a deep brown color with a finger of mocha colored foam. Aromas are rich chocolate, caramel and toasted malts with touches of citrus and grass. On the palate it follows the nose nicely but the hop presence seemed a bit subdued compared to other raters.... A bit too sweet for my liking but maybe the lack of bright hop flavors made the balance a bit off... it was an extra thrown in on a recent trade so Im not complaining !
Rated Feb 11, 2012.
Bottle. Pours a solid dark brown with a small off white head. Aroma of citrus hops, pineapple, orange peel, and some grassy notes. Flavour as above with roasted malts. Very bitter. Fresh, bitter, beautiful flavours.
Phoenix: The balance was great in this beer. It is like Stone’s Black IPA with a little less toasted black malt. Doesn’t seem like a 7.4% beer. Good roasted malt, hops, and carbonation. I am enjoying these dark IPA’s even more now.
In short: A not-so-malty and very hoppy-bitter dark ale with an innapropriate acrid/tart character. Overall just ok.
How: Bottle 12oz. Consumed approximately 3 months after the beer release
The look: Dark mahogany body topped by a long-lasting small beige head leaving lots of lacings on the glass
In long: Nose is very bright, an explosion of piney and grapefruity hops, so bright and hoppy that with my eyes closed I’m not sure I would have guessed this is a Black IPA. Taste proposes a somewhat low-profile maltiness, far from a thick full body, some cake malts with a nougat flavor and some caramel. Hops dominate this beer. Lots of pine, grapefruity and lemony hops, high alpha acid, razor sharp and very assertive bitterness. The aggressive carbonation adds an extra dose of acidity to the citric hops and it makes this beer overall a bit too acrid. I’m rating this collaboration beer between three fine American breweries today July 4th when the USA are celebrating over 200 years of independence(*).
does not include foreign oil
Bottle. Pours deep brown with a cream light tan head. Aroma is very nice fresh herbal and lightly piney hops, some citrus as well. Slight toasty character but otherwise not much on the malt side. Flavor starts with some sweet citris piney getting more and more so, floral and herbal, a touch of tea and some woodiness, grapefruit rind. Medium body and a crisp carbonation.
Bottle. A hazy amber/light mahogany pour with tons of little floaties and a smallish light khaki head. The nose is very piney and features lots of caramel maltiness, biscuitiness, grapefruits, and some hints of berries. Relatively thin to medium-bodied. A dark caramel maltiness upfront taste-wise. A tad biscuity in the middle. Drying grapefruits and citrus rinds at the end. Piney. Some alcohol warmth is present throughout. Fairly standard for the style.
Bottle. Strong hops on the nose! Pours black brown, tan head with good lacing. The taste is overwhelmed by hops & pine, some maltiness. The palate lingers. Not my favorite black ipa, but good.
Brown, auburn pour with thin tan head. Nose is piney hops. Resiny + tropical fruits. Very active carbonation. Hint of root beer. Bitter dry finish. Surprisingly not roasted malts until the end.
Total Wine, Fairfax bottle ($4): Pours a bubbly brown with a brown head. Aroma is citrus and pine hops with a nice amount of dark malts. Taste is slightly sweet. There is a nice amount of hoppy bitterness throughout. Some nuttiness. Very little sweetness. Nice bubbly mouthfeel for sure. Good aftertaste that develops for a minute or so after the sip has been taken.
Draught.
Very dark brown, beige head.
Very hoppy aroma, spruce, roasted malt, mint, grapefruit, resin.
Off-dry, full bodied, high bitterness, creamy CO2.
Hoppy, resiny taste, roasted malts, grapefruit, Sorachi (?), blackcurrant yeast.
(2012-05-01)