Nickel Brook Malevolent Imperial Black IPA

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

Enjoyed at Brothers Beer. Pours a dark brown colour with a creamy mocha head, nice creamy lacing and great retention. Quite a different nose with some sourness, fruitiness, grass and hints of chocolate. The taste starts off hoppy, but the roasted malts show up in the finish. Burnt malt, coffee lingers with hints of chocolate. Dry mouthfeel. Quite a different black IPA, with the balance and charred finish.

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

On tap at Brothers Beer Bistro. Pours a nice thick creamy head and has a very dark appearance, pitch black. Lacing is decent, but more sticky as you go down. Aromas are light chocolate and coffee, piney and grassy hops.. Flavours are quite overwhelming at first, lots going on. We got chocolate, coffee, herbal and grassy hops, the palate finishes sort of with some vegetable notes. Also some earthy hops and mild sweet malts. Alcohol is nicely hidden and pretty much stays that way till the end. Lively carbonation. Interesting.

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

14oz draught
9.5% ABV
Bar Hop (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
April 9, 2014
The beer pours a solid black colour with a long lasting light tan coloured head. The aroma is roasted malt, coffee, pine, and citrusy hops. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with average carbonation. The flavour is a well balanced between the roast and coffee malt notes and the citrusy hop notes. Alcohol is not noticeable. One of the best American Black Ales I've tried.

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

Sampled this on draught at the brewery, great stuff. Now reviewing the bottle and it's almost as good. Pours a very dark brown with a dark tan head that lasts and coats the glass. Roasted malt and pine aroma. This beer has loads of flavour. Strong burnt roasted malt, pine, smoke and alcohol. Full mouthfeel. Long lasting and dry finish. A must try for all beer pals. Plus I think this beer will cure the common cold.

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

On tap @ Imbibe – this is a dark brown-black ale with a 3 finger puffy off white cap that has a viscous mouth feel. Aroma is very roasty with a healthy pine-citrus hop tone and, yes, there is a minty note created from the hop-yeast ester combo. The flavour has big roasty-toasty malts assault the palate, hops balance with a resinous piney flare – complexity mid palate with some Spearmint, smoke, citrus peel, tobacco, roast walnut – then it goes to a rich viscous roasty-piney finish. Every once in a while a local crafter produces a unique twist on a style that just lights up your palate – Malevolent is that type of brew. I like the cascade style (so called “black IPA”) and this take on it had everything just click right. Great brew, I hope it becomes available all year round.