Boulevard Grainstorm

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

750 ml bottle in the Smokestack Series, from Vinmonopolet. ABV is 7.7%. Dark reddish brown colour, huge beige head. Lovely malty aroma, mild roasty notes, hints of dark berries, also fruity and piney hops. The flavour is slightly on the sweet side, with moderate roast malts and fruity and piney hops. Medium bitter finish.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

Aroma is extremely, I mean, EXTREMELY hoppy - woody and resiny evergreen components have about equal strength - with a nice rye underpinning. Comes out of the growler a clear Coca-Cola brown with a fairly thick light tan head. Hoppy flavor has hearty evergreen and woody tones that dominate your taste buds but don’t drown out the rye, malty and fruity notes. Smooth texture doesn’t have much in the way of body, but has a firm fizz and leaves a very hoppy and rye-laced finish. Brave the rainstorm, have a brainstorm, down the grainstorm!

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

750 ml bottle, best by 11/2014. Pours brown with a huge and growing creamy light tan head that retains well and laces the glass.

The aroma is roast, sweet chocolate malt, rye and piney hops.

The flavor is sweet chocolate malt, spicy rye with big roast piney bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied and a little watery.

Overall, a nice black IPA with lots of piney hops, roast and some rye.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

This is an excellent American Black Ale albeit a little too expensive to buy regularly. Black pour with a huge tan head and plenty of lacing. Earthy, piney, citrus hops dominate the aroma and taste. Roasted malt, wheat and spicy rye notes are all there as well but stay firmly in the background. Bitter (but not overly so) finish. Very well done.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

750ml cork and caged bottle served into a shaker pint - deep brown pour with a thick, sticky white head. Strong pungent hops on the nose cut with a nice roasty undertone, but the hops are the star of this show. Pine cone and slight citrus are prevalent up front but spicy rye and chocolate are also noted. This is easy drinking and the rye spice plays very well with the high hop astringency. Very well done - Boulevard really puts out a tremendous product.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 10

O.K. its the best black IPA that i have had yet. Aromas start with loads of fresh green, pungent pine hops, a touch of citrus to boot, also the dark malts are there but the hops star here. Black body, the head is thick and pillowy, plenty of thick chunky lace left behind. The flavor mirrors the aromas, plenty of hops with the toasted malts backing them up, as opposed to sharing the bill as almost all other black IPAs tend to do. The rye shows up a bit, and the finish is slightly bitter and drying.