Hoppin' Frog Hop Heathen Imperial Black Ale

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

22oz bomber courtesy of BMMillsy. It pours nearly pitch black with an impressive lasting light mocha colored head of foam. The aroma is interesting and seems odd with earthy hops, some anise and then mild chocolate and dark roasted malts mingling together a bit less than harmoniously. Smells a bit odd but it’s growing on me. The taste comes across rich and viscous and delivers dark roasted malts, some chocolate, spicy black licorice and then getting into a modest degree of resiny bitter hops. This is nice but it doesn’t hit a home run for me.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 9

22oz bottle thanks to Summer Secret Santa 2013
Pours near black with a medium sized beige head and good lacing. Aroma of dark roasted malts, pine, chocolate and spicy. Flavors of dark malts, chocolate, pine with a sweet caramel finish
Very nicely done! A lot like a toned down Dubhe.

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

Lightly roasted malt with a nutty kick along with toast and some caramel. Hops were not very pronounced, but did have an earthy fruity presence. Brown body, thin head and good lacing. Medium bodied with a weak bitterness. Not what I've come to expect from the Frog.

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

Aroma is both smoky and hoppy - got me doing a Pavlov’s dog - with hints of mocha and molasses. Pours a rich, deep sable a whisker above black with a fairly thick and fine-bubbled tan head that leaves some good lacing. Flavor - ooh, what flavor, crossing the best features of an IPA with the best features of a stout/porter. Hoppy, a little grassy, minimal bitterness, with notes of molasses, chocolate and quality coffee. Absolutely lip-smacking! Firm texture has a good amount of fizz. I love black ales, and I love hoppy beers, so the black IPA (an oxymoron, if you think about it) or Cascadian Black Ale is my fave.

Aroma: 5 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 6

Bomber from Belmont Party Supply, Dayton, OH. Cloudy brownie-charcoal pour, with way too many floaties for my liking, decent tannish head, little lacing. Roasted malt aromas with a hint of dark chocolate, pine, very light molasses, more earthy hoppiness. Flavor is, well, meh... very typical piney-earthy-toasted malty-cocoa that is Black IPAs. Very underwhelming effort, maybe a tad older bottle, still expected more from these guys. Would like to try a fresher batch but I'm still not sold on Black IPAs << Hope they go away.