Every once and a while it's fun to drink other peoples beer. Tonight this beer is from a brewery 2146 miles away. I've actually been to Green Flash, it's an amazing little brewery with lots of hoppy beers on tap. They do hops justice and if you get a chance to try one of their hoppy beers you should do it.
This beer pours a a dark black with a brown/tan head, The carbonation is evident as the head billows up from the beer. The glass reveals garnet edges so it's not all black, but close. As I sip the beer it leaves lacing and each sip refills the glass with hoppy aroma. The aromas are more floral than pine, and the roast fills out the aroma nicely. The taste is lots of floral hops, and minor amounts of roast. The mouth was dry and hid the colossal 12% ABV well. I had a buzz before I even realized how strong this beer was.
Upon further scientific research (read: google searching) the hop varieties used were Warrior, Citra, and Cascade. Which reinforces my perception about floral hops.
I liked this beer, it was a bit strong, but the lack of finishing gravity made it easy to drink. I'd get drunk before I got full.
In comparison to
my amateur home brews this had some things I liked and some I didn't. I liked the carbonation, low finishing gravity and high aromatics of what I can assumes is lots of late hop additions. I disliked the floral combinations with the roast in the flavor. I'll be sticking to piney hops. This was a good beer and I'm glad I bought it, I can't say enough good thing about Green Flash and would recommend this to a friend looking to try a black IPA.
They made a good Black IPA but I think I can make a better American Black Ale, look forward to a new ABA recipe coming after April 15th.
