Black’s Of Kinsale have three new IPAs hitting the shelves just in time for the Summer. Dubbed the ‘Discovery IPA Series’ these are squarely aimed at all of you Hop Heads out there. Black’s very kindly sent me some samples to review.
I started with the Exp431 Session IPA. This one was brewed with a new experimental hop, the catchily named Exp431. It’s also, appropriately enough, 4.3%. It’s almost like they planned it. Now I wasn’t blown away by hoppy aroma but this was a pretty mellow easy to drink Ale and perfect for a session.
Mosaic is a 6.5% West Coast style IPA. I like Mosaic Hops anyway so I was looking forward to this one. I wasn’t disappointed. It’s a properly juicy, hoppy beauty. It has citrus and pine aromas that carry through nicely to the taste. I love this one.
Overkill Imperial Black IPA is the DADDY of the bunch at a rather large 9.5%. I do like Black’s regular Black IPA so this was going to be an interesting comparison. It looks great…as they all do, smashing labels too. And it smells full on, yeah, there are Hops, but there’s also a rich, nutty, roasted quality. It doesn’t taste anywhere near 9.5%, it’s nicely balanced with enough maltiness to give it a pleasant chewy character. A whopper of a beer. Check out Wayne and Janice Irish Beer Snob’s thoughts on the second two of these, as they were sent samples as well.
http://www.irishbeersnob.com/2016/05/podcast-episode-22-overkill-mosaic-by.html?m=1
Thank you for reading and thanks to Black’s for the samples. Sláinte!
Mmmm those sounds delectable. But i am an IPA hound.
Oh, aren’t we all!
I have friends that don’t like IPA’s. I know they are wrong but how can you change their minds lol.
Build them up slowly…like you would boil a frog…
Oh I keep trying!
Try ’em with a sour instead…they’ll be begging to go back to the IPAs!