Otter Creek Alpine Black IPA

Was fortunate enough to stop by the Spirits Unlimited in Pt Pleasant and discover their amazing growler filling counter with 10-12 different craft beers on tap. They let you taste the beers before you decide which ones to fill your growler with and also sell growlers if you don't have your own. If you're in the area you have to check it out, its right on 35 South before you get into Bay Head.

After trying 4 or 5 beers, I settled on the most intriguing one, Otter Creek's Black IPA. Most IPAs are an orangy amber color so for this one to look basically black made for an interesting brew. It poured with a huge head that grew for the first few seconds and tricked me into overflowing my pint glass. A sad rookie mistake, but one that really caught me offguard. After the head settled to form a creamy brown thumb sized top I gave it a smell and enjoyed the citrusy hops and roasted malt that dominated the aroma. It was weird to smell a beer this dark have that scent. The taste was citrusy at first with some piney nodes, but didn't blow me away. It finished a bit harsh, but not too bad and packed some nice hops. Overall its not an amazing IPA, but one that's worth trying because of the dark color and roasted malt flavors which set it apart from most of the other more mainstream IPAs. Its growler time!