When Greg KOch wrote on the Stone blog back in August that he was going brew a collaborative beer with the fine gentleman from BrewDog, my anticipation was piqued.  Besides the fact that BrewDog has so far elluded me (besides their Punk IPA, which was great) and a collaboration with Stone nearly garanteed a new tasting opportunity with the Scottish brewery, I am a huge fan of collaborative brews, as it brings out the creative in the malt artist, forcing them to step outside their “comfort zone.”

Reading up on the forecasted brew fostered even more excitement:  A Black Belgian Style Double India Pale Ale, named Bashah, was in the works.  Pushing style boundaries is a pet interest of mine, and this combination seemed up my alley as IPAs loose their interest unless they can stake a claim to uniquenes, and I am partial to Belgian style brews.

With a Double Belgian style IPA homebrew of my own (light, not dark though) bubbling away in the corner of my kitchen, it was the perfect time to taste a collaboration between two respectable breweries.

The Pour:

The beer’s color is blackinsh brown, and noticeably thinner than many dark porters and stouts.  A thin tan head collects but doesn’t rise much more than an quarter of an inch and quickly dissapears into the bottle leaving nominal lacing.

The Nose:

The aroma is great.  A spicy but very mild clove aroma typical of Belgian yeast strains mixes pleasantly with the citrusy hop aromas.  There is an abstract fruitiness, similar to peaches.  Trying to pinpoint the exact hops used was difficult.  I am not comfortable saying cascade, although the grapfruiet aromas associated with the variety was present, but there was aslo an earthy/grassy aroma that I typically tend to find in more European varieties.  Overall though, the hop makeup smelled predominantly like an American IPA.  What set this apart were the smells that came from the darker malts:  Coffee, chocolate, hazelnut, a bit of smokiness, and wood.

The Taste:

While I found the aroma to be quite complex, the flavor was more tame.  The hop build, like the smell, did not taste like a grapefruit bomb went off in my mouth, but was a subdued citrusy and piney bitterness.  There was a definite apricot flavor and the spicey Belgian yeast did not dissapoint.  The dark males were a tad bold, in my opinion, and masked some of the pleasant subtle nuances that are locked in a Belgian style IPA.  Unfortunately, there was a flavor that I just could not get past.  There was a bitter, astringent tanin flavor that was entirely distracting.  Tanins naturally ocur in beer (and wine) and are not always a flaw.  In fact, many flanders and sour ales depend upon this flavor.  However, when out of balance it doesn’t settle well with me.  i would be willing to be that the stout-ish malts higlighted this flavor.  Perhaps tannins were not present and this was just a result of the grain bill?

Overall Thoughts:

This was an ok beer, in my opinion.  It was overpriced ($5.99 for a 12 ounce bottle), and the atringent flavor did not bode well with the style.  Were it a tad cheaper, I would buy it again.  Besides the fact that nearly every beer deserves a second chance, off putting flavors of tannins dissipate over time.  If you have had this interesting beer, let us know what you thought!

Nate’s Rating:

Overall Satisfaction: ★★¾☆☆ 

Among other Belgian Style IPAs: ★★½☆☆