let’s have a beer: Magic Hat Demo, A Black I.P.A.

Magic Hat Demo, A Black I.P.A.

BREWERY WEBSITE: magichat.net
ALC./VOL: 6%
IBUs: 45
COLOR: a mix between black and caramel with a floaty mocha head
AROMA: chocolate, grass, roasted malts, an inkling of hops, coffee, hints of citrus, and oak
THOUGHTS: It is a fact that black IPAs are the greatest hybrid beer ever concocted. When you breed the cozy feeling of a stout (heavy on the malts) with the in-your-face bitterness of an IPA the results can be magical. Which brings us to Magic Hat, one of the best East Coast breweries (and American breweries) there is.

They institute a diabolical I.P.A. scheme throughout the year with four rotating recipes, all different from each other. Diabolical for someone like me who likes their beer to just kick them in the face and leave them wanting more (hey, what can I say, I’m a bit of a sadist with my alcohol). The scheme is called I.P.A. On Tour and it kicks off 2012 with this Black I.P.A. installment that I’ve already bought three 6-packs of in the last two weeks—it’s only available until March!

Their I.P.A. Tour is a tribute to hops, as they say, “specially formulated to entertain the palates of hop lovers world-wide.” And hell, that’s me, I love hops! Demo is damn smooth and goes down way more like a porter or light stout and less like an IPA—shit, I’ve been drinking this stuff like water. Not to say that they messed up this hybrid, because that would be entirely false, but I really would’ve liked more hops involved with Demo to add that bitterness of an IPA to it. Demo posses slight IPA qualities in the smell and initial taste, but if it possessed more (say leaving a little tang on the tongue) I probably would’ve bought six 6-packs just today…