Founders Dark Penance

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

355 ml bottle, will soon be available at Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. ABV is 8.9%. Black colour, dark brown in the highlights. Moderate to low creamy beige head. Aroma of piney American hops, the roasty notes are fairly subdued. Distinctly hoppy flavour, piney and grapefruity hops galore, dry roasty notes and bittering hops in the finish.

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

One of the better black IPAs out there. Not too thick and malty, with some heavy hops...especially the bitter on the finish. There’s some citrus in there. Balanced well. Super dark brown-near black appearance. This style is hit or miss, but I’ll add this one to the list.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Dark ruby-brown with a faint tan head. Aroma is pine, citrus, caramel, dark chocolate and roasted malt; intrigueing. Aroma transitions to flavor with pine and citrus up front androasted malt and a hint of chocolate at the back. Not typically a fan of the type, but this one is well executed.

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

Pours a rich, warm coffee brown with a thick and fluffy, though not persistent, tan head. Aroma has strong notes of roast malt, woody hops, and molasses. Hoppy flavor is mainly woody but has a touch of pine, as well as roast malt, molasses and coffee tones. Texture is quite fizzy and lively, leaving a smoky hop finish. Do some dark penance!

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 6

Surprisingly mild nose, fig, burnt sugar, touch of malt, and some floral notes .Dark black body with a hint of ruby, 2 finger head that subsides rapidly, good lace. Mouth is medium and clean. Flavor is a bit timid. VEry nice bitter towards the finish which pivots to a bit of sweet at the very end. Aftertaste of cherry pit, almost like faint cough syrup. Some surprising raw grain flavors, alcohol pretty well masked. Its OK but really is making a beer black and an alcohol bomb a decent target to aim for? If so well done, but I think not.

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

I picked this beer up from the Wine Gourmet in Roanoke, VA as part of the New Years line-up. This was a nice dark IPA. Good hop presence, nice color, malt balance. Founders does it right ... every time, regardless of style.

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

Dark brown pour with a thin beige head, leaves dots of lacing. You would never guess this is 100 ibu's. It's such a well balanced beer. Aroma is a mixture of roasted malt and hops. The flavour goes from roasted malt to citrus hops, from dark chocolate to pine, earthy and slightly floral. Super slick and sticky mouth feel. The only problem with this beer is I only have one.

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

Bottled on 10/10/2014. Pours dark brown/mahogany with a small tan head. An interesting mix of smells including pine, citrus, caramel, dark chocolate and roasted malt. The pine and citrus lead the flavor parade, followed by roasted malt and a hint of chocolate. The hops show up again on finish of the journey leaving a drying, bitter finish. Mouthfeel is full and robust. I know that many beer "purists" don't like when brewers mix hops with dark malt, but personally, when it is done right, as in this case, it makes for an intriguing and delicious beer.

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

A black colored beer with a big frothy textured tan head rising above. There's good hang time on the head. A well formed thickish ringlet is left. Strong malty sweetness in the nose. The piney bitterness if hops more dominate in the tasting but sweeten by the malt. Resiny on the tongue