Uinta Dubhe Imperial Black IPA.

Picked up a 4-pack of this black IPA from Uinta, mostly off a recommendation from a WF beer tasting I happened to encounter tonight. Of note, this is form Uinta. Also, of note, it's a black IPA (that doesn't even make sense). I didn't notice until I went to open one that there's fuzzy spots on the bottles that look suspiciously like mold. And this beer is brewed with hemp seed. And there's lots of Mormons in Utah. I'm tripping balls.

This is an off-hand, first-taste review because I'm already deep one DHF 90, it's 11:20PM and I'm not sleepy. I'm not going to lie, this has a some serious herbal taste to it. Impulsively, I must say that I kind of like this beer. First, this is the first imperial black IPA/dark Cascadian I've seen. I'm going to say the gravity boost (gravitic boosters, obs upgrade, #broodwar) up to imperial really helps fill out the profile on this. I got to talk shop with some folk at the tasting and was enlightened.

Tangent: So what's in a black IPA/dark Cascadian? And why would you ever want to drink something with a self-contradictory name? So the intent was to have a beer, hoppy like an IPA, but full and rich like...a black ale or a bock. So instead of hop bouquet, you get a toastier, maltier, more seasoned beer that still retains a hop core. Sometimes you want the hops but you want the darker malts too. Interesting.

So with that in mind, I will see if I can dissect this and still enjoy it. It is certainly malty, profile is along the lines of a dark toast, grilled in the pan with butter. The hop bitter is certainly there, much more so than any other black IPA I've had. This could actually be an IPA except for the fact that it's black (no racist). The hemp seed brings a very unique finish that is bitter in both a different and complementary way to the hopping. There is a strong herbal character that kind of reminds me of this box of hemp gummy candies I ate once in high school.

I have to say, my initial impressions are rather positive. It's both an adventurous and interesting tasting beer; maybe slightly gimmicky but it pays off. I don't think I would want to sit down and drink too many of these those, especially at 9.2%ABV, but it's certainly worth trying. I do wonder how often I might say that I have a hankering for this one, as it's very much a standalone beer.

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