Appearance: near black, short light tan head, minimal lacing. Aroma: light chocolate, coffee, and roast, light steamed vegetables, strong soy sauce, maybe a whisper of pine. Taste: ashy and chalk-like flavors, with bittersweet chocolate, a surprising minerality, and a bit of roast coffee. Finish: lasting mineral water mixed with cocoa powder, a bit of pine, lingering umami. Notes: Thought it was just a below average stout from the description on the bottle, the taste, appearance, and aroma. Now that I know it’s supposed to be a Black IPA I’m even more disappointed, and I’m not even a big fan of that style. Virtually no hops here. Bottle from Buddy’s (drive-thru!) Beer Barn in El Paso, Texas.

Bottle thanks to Gene! The man, the legend. Seriously, this guy is a damn legend in D.C. Pours a dark brown color with a medium white head. A bit of ash and chocolate in the nose, light fruit. The flavor is mildly hoppy, ash, some dark chocolate and something spicy. Pretty nice.

Bomber shared with douglas88 et al. Almost black, small. Rown head. Aroma of oily roast. Taste is herbal roast. A little odd, but not terrible.

Tried a sample at the Texan Mart/Market? This seems to have a lot of problems with infection, but this particular bottle was actually far and away the best of the 3 I tried. Nice roasty and hoppy smell and taste was similar. Pretty standard black IPA, and was pleasant, but unremarkable.

3/17/2014. 22 oz. bottle. Pours dark brown with a tan head. Aromas are dark roasted malt and some odd medicinal notes. Some strange metallic flavors with hints of chocolate and vegetables. Really weird and does not resemble a Black IPA apart from the color. Very hard to enjoy and may just end up in the drain.

Big bomber pour! Name matches the appearance, dark as night with a pillowy, tan head. Mild overall aroma. Picking up some mild smoke roasted malts, coffee, some hints of chocolate and crisp hops. Actually, very mild aromas. Tastes are very well balanced, not overpowering in any area, quite smooth and drinkable. Just a hint of hops on the finish. Washes down well, sticks around on the tongue for little time. The higher ABV is also already noticeable. Would definitely drink this again. A very enjoyable black ale.

22 ounce bottle. Pours dark brown with a small biege head. Aroma of roast, chocolate, and grass. Taste is roasted malt, chocolate, grass, coffee, and citrus. Odd take on a Black IPA.

Bottle. I have an inherent mistrust of this beer because of the last sentence in the description; if you have to convince me how cool you are by how uncool you are, you probably worry too much about how cool you are. That said...pours very dark brown with a frothy, pillowy brown head. Not a lot of nose to it, but what there is is chocolate, mint, and burnt coffee. On the tongue, frankly, it’s not good -- instant coffee, intense vegetal notes, and an unpleasant fake spice note like cheap generic baked goods. Finish is long, bitter, and unpleasant. Not good.

Not a fan of this one. Has the requisite black appearance, but that about all I can say that is positive about this. Tons of off flavors, from metal to tobacco and a strangely sticky aftertaste to boot.

Black as the midnight, huge uncontrolable head, extremely off flavors of soap and metal, very hard to distinguish any actual beer flavor from it if there is actually one. My very first beer down the drain. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone