E9 Brewery Black Helmet – American IPA at 6.4% ABV (C$5.22 at Collective, 473 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 27-Feb-2020, reviewed 2-Mar-2020)
Appearance: hazy pale gold with a huge and growing rocky pale ivory head, good retention and moderate soapy lacing. (3/5) Aroma: tropical fruit, floral, bready caramel, pithy citrus. (7/10) Taste: moderate-high sweet, moderate-high bitter. (7/10) Palate: medium slightly creamy body, moderate carbonation, sweetish medium duration slightly sticky finish. (3/5)
Given the name, I was expecting a Black IPA, so now I’m vaguely disappointed. Actually, most of the metrics here leave me feeling vaguely disappointed: the uncontrolled head, the perfumey floral note in the aroma, the heavy-tending sweetness and bitterness on the tongue, and the slightly sticky sweetish finish. In every case, there’s nothing actually wrong, but taken as a whole, it’s just a bit… meh. A slightly pedestrian and plodding West Coast IPA. (13/20)
6.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
