the Gasworks-Thornbridge Wild Raven

Well, back at the Gasworks, but with an impressive tap selection like theirs, it's hard not to. This time I decided to go with one of the guest taps and this Black IPA from England didn't disappoint.

It pours a deep brown almost black color with garnet edges and a 1.5 finger tan head. The aroma is licorice and lots of berries with a hint of grapefruity citrus and a little bit of spice. The flavor comes across quite differently than the aroma. It has a piney resiny hop flavor with just a hint of dark malts, but not roasty at all. This was a delicious Black IPA. What makes it so good is that it was dark and had some darker flavors, but lacked any roast astringency that when mixed with the high amounts of hops can become very overwhelming. This beer avoids all that, maintaining drinkability and lots of delicious hop flavor.