Garrison Black IPA

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

Bottle. Colour - solid black colour, thin creamy brown coloured head, no lacing. Aroma - roasted malt, weak grapefruit and pines notes, some definite caramel notes. Mouthfeel - medium bodied, over carbonated. Flavour - there is a definite mix of roasted malt and piney hops in play here, and it is quite delicious.

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

½ liter bottle. Having sampled this beer on tap a few times on my last trip to Halifax, I made no crib notes so this is an impression of an LCBO imported bottled product which by my memory is not quite as good as the fresh draft version. Pours a hazed dark brown with amber highlights and a 1 finger cap. 2 points for being unfiltered. Has most of the Cascadian dark style bearing - a prominent “Northwest” hoppy aroma – citrusy, piney and resinous – with sweet malt, hints of roastiness and toasted malt. Rocky mouth feel - the body is reminiscent of an India Pale Ale, not heavy like a porter or stout. This is not an easy balance to strike, but Garrison hi the mark here. The flavors strike a beautiful balance between citrusy-resinous Northwest hops and, to a lesser degree English goldings -, roasted, chocolate malt or caramel notes come on strong until the finish where the bittering of the over boiled goldings bitter the drink too much to let the roasty flavors play out. Long bitter metallic after taste. It takes a very deft hand to make these flavors play well with each other together so they don’t fight one another, Garrison did well until the over boiled hopping showed up in the finish; A decent Cascadian dark except for that one minor flaw. Personally I’ll take FMB Netherworld over this for price and flavor.

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

500ml bottle
6.2% ABV
Queen's Quay LCBO Outlet (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
February 1, 2012
2012 Garrison LCBO Feature
The beer poured a very dark brown, semi-translucent when heald to light, with a this rocky tan head. The aroma is citrusy hops, a little roasted malt, and some caramel. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with medium carbonation. The flavour is citrus hops, not quite grapefruity, some sweet malt, and some spiciness.