When I find myself in front of a fridge where I can choose from 40 different cans of beer and a dozen styles from just one brewer, I'm in a tough spot...
What to choose?
Hop Hooligans, a Romanian brewery from the town of Žilava near Bucharest, filled these refrigerators with its offerings and put me before a difficult choice...
I was reading the names of the beers and their styles from the colorful labels, until the vendor got annoyed and told me to close the door because I'd been holding it open for too long.
I then reached out and picked two.
One of them is Night Lights, a craft beer in the Black IPA style, a product of the Romanian brewery Hop Hooligans.
The salesperson told me I made a great choice with the Black IPA style, which in this beer successfully combines dark, roasted malts with a strong, fresh hop profile.
I brought these cans home and thought I'd feature them in a #beersaturday contest, but since, for the second week in a row, there's no call for us beer drinkers, and the title of this post says, “it has to go on,” I decided to write without an invitation, as I taste them, one by one.
On these overly hot summer days, I avoid drinking during the day. The reason is simple: I'm often in a car as the driver, and these craft beers have a bit more alcohol, so tasting them wouldn't be a wise choice.
But that's why, when night falls and the temperature drops below 30%, I pull Night Lights, a Black IPA with 6.5% alcohol and a pretty bitter 70 IBU, out of the fridge.
Looking at the label again as I read the ingredients, I realize it probably wasn't just the Black IPA style that made me choose it. The beautiful label, which depicts a black cat observing illuminated apartment buildings, also played a part in my decision.
So let's see what the Black IPA style looks and tastes like.
In the glass, Night Lights lives up to its name. The color is dark brown, almost completely black, opaque.
A beautiful, creamy, brown head forms on top.
As soon as I brought the glass to my nose, the magic of the Black IPA style kicked in.
Instead of the heavy coffee notes I detected in the stout, I was immediately hit by an explosion of hops here, just what I expect from an IPA.
The dominant aromas are pine and grapefruit, thanks to the Simcoe, Citra, and Mosaic hops, and only in the background, you can detect a subtle aroma of roasted malt, dark chocolate, and cocoa.
The first sip brings a sharp, yet pleasant bitterness. The hop character is in the foreground – citrus notes and the resinous bitterness of pine simply cut through the palate. This is immediately followed by the balance provided by carefully selected dark malts. They provide a mild flavor of black coffee and biscuit, but without the astringent, burnt, and ashy taste that sometimes spoils dark beers.
The beer has a silky texture and moderate carbonation. The finish is dry, long-lasting, and distinctly bitter.
When I read more about the Black IPA style, I realized it's a style that many brewers find difficult to balance – the beer often ends up either as a regular stout with a bit more hops, or just a regular IPA with added color.
I also took the advice on how to drink this beer—I didn't have it too chilled. I let it warm up a bit in the glass at room temperature, and on my palate, I felt a balance of roasted malt and hops.
Hop Hooligans did a great job with Night Lights. They successfully “camouflaged” a hop bomb in a black suit and gave me a fantastic taste of this style.
