Boulder Beer Company - Flashback India-style Brown Ale

Boulder Beer Company - Flashback India-style Brown Ale

Purchased From: Harvest Fine Wines & Spirits

Serving Type: 12 oz. bottle, poured into a pint glass

Dubbed an India-style Brown Ale, this beer is somewhere in between a dark IPA and a Cascadian Dark Ale. Either way, the hops are prominent. The beer pours a crystal clear almost coppery, amber-brown. The thick craterous head of light foam begins lacing immediate and and is endowed with great staying power. The nose is hoppy, but not overly. Clearly bringing in the ‘India-style.’ Also on the nose are sweet hints of caramel and a sugary rum-like component.

Up front the toasted malts define the beer. They work with a mildly woody flavor, a bit like oak-aged beer or wine. There’s light biscuit flavor in the middle, but the hops come in a bit late to drown them out. Boulder Beer Company adds hops in five stages during the brewing process, but they seem a bit late to the game in this beer.

Final Verdict: B-

Dogzilla - Black IPA

Dogzilla - Black IPA

Purchased From: Harvest Fine Wines & Spirits

Serving Type: 22 oz. bottle, poured into a Becker pint glass

The Dogzilla Black IPA from Laughing Dog Brewery made it all the way from Idaho is an interesting, and fairly rare, style referred to either as a Black IPA or a Cascadian Dark Ale. It’s a fairly new and innovative style that blends dark roasted malts with characteristic hopping in IPAs.

The beer pours very dark, but quite clear. It’s light enough to get some serious glow from ambient light. The light tan head is massive with a slightly milky appearance. It also sits easily above the top of the glass, packs serious retention, and produces crazy lacing patterns on the glass.

The nose is remarkably sweet and citrusy. It’s common for an IPA but somewhat surprising because of the color. The mouthfeel is pleasant and silky. There’s a slight caramel sweetness and a mild smokey finish. The hoppy foam produces a bitter bite on the front, but mellows nicely and produces a clean finish.

Final Verdict: B+