Name: Shadow Council
Brewers: Cerebral Brewing (United States)
Style: Specialty IPA: Black IPA
ABV: 7.1%
Review Year: 2021
Shadow Council is a Black IPA by Cerebral Brewing from Denver, Colorado. This dark-colored, hoppy IPA features a malt bill composed of 2-row, flaked oats, rye, Carafa, Caramunich, and was hopped with Citra and Strata.
STYLE GUIDELINES
This beer is being evaluated as a Specialty IPA: Black IPA(21B) in the context of the provisional guidelines of the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) for the said beer style. The most current version of the guidelines can be found on the BJCP website.
This style is also known as Cascadian Dark Ale (CDA) mainly in the Pacific Northwest of the United States.
TASTING NOTES
Pours clear ruby brown with a brown head. The nose melded moderately low pine with lychees, cranberries, and grapefruit. Medium body and carbonation. The flavor painted fairly high pine, orange pith, cantaloupe, and passion fruit against a malt backdrop of roasty cacao or dark chocolate and oats. Bitterness was a notch above moderate, driven by both hop and malt flavors; very low residual sweetness. The aftertaste lingered long with roasty coffee with a hint of white pepper earthiness.
THE VERDICT
Shadow Council is a very good take on this unique beer style. This Black IPA has a balance that favored the hops relative to the malts but we think there is still room for the hops to shine brighter. Less of the oaty impression could also be pursued in our opinion. The hop character, dryness (lack of residual sweetness), and bitterness are strong points of this beer.
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Cerebral Brewing
Craft Beer from the United States
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