622. Greenbush Brewing – Anger Black IPA

Posted By kkozlen on Nov 8, 2013 | 0 comments

It’s Friday night and my wife suggested we go out for dinner to Medici in Normal, IL. I like their food, and the fact that they have 25 or so craft beers on tap. I looked through their beer list and this beer was one that I hadn’t had yet. The last time I was at Medici , I had a beer from Greenbush – Dunegras, and I thought I’d give the brewery another try.

Location: On tap and served in a tumbler pint glass at Medici in Normal, IL.

Numbers: 7.6% ABV, 85 IBUs, 28.3º Lovibond SRM, ~230 Calories

Ingredients: Grain: Maris Otter, Munich, Crystal 10L, Crystal 60L, British Chocolate, Carafa III, Wheat Malt; Hops: Columbus, Amarillo, Simcoe, Cascade; Yeast: House yeast

Appearance & Aroma: It was dark black in color, and I couldn’t see any highlights when held up to the light.  There’s a thin, creamy, tan head that fell to just a thin layer of bubbles across the top of the glass. However, it left some great lacing as I drank it. There’s a roasty-earthy and piney hop aroma.

Taste & Feel: The body is medium and the mouthfeel was fairly crisp from the carbonation in it. The flavors up front were roasty malts. The coffee and dark cocoa roastiness comes through a bit more in the middle, but quickly transitions with hop bitterness. The finish is a mix of coffee-like roasty bitterness and a piney-citrus hop bitterness. Both flavors last for a minute or so in the aftertaste.

Food Pairing: This beer had both roasty and hoppy bitterness, and would need a hearty meal to stand up to these bold flavors. I had a burger with my meal and it did a decent job of standing up to it, but I’d probably go with something a little bigger and darker, like a seasoned steak or something like that.

Overall Impression: The contrast of roasty flavors, coffee-like bittereness and bold citrusy hop flavors is something I’m still trying to get used to. This beer has a good amount of bitterness, which is a mix of roasty coffee-like bitterness and citrusy hops. The roasted malts were a bit strong, giving it a bit of a bitter roasty astringency. For me, the citrusy hops contrast a bit too much with it. Overall, it’s a black IPA that brings both strong roasty malts and big citrusy hop flavors. I prefer this style with a bit less roastiness.

My Rating: Reader

Ratings[five-star-rating]