Wormtown Dark Day BLACK IPA

Wormtown Dark Day BLACK IPA (2013)

Limited Release (March).

22 fl. oz. / $8.99 USD / 6% ABV

About: "Dark Day refers to an event that occurred on May 19, 1780, when an unusual darkening of the day sky was observed over the New England states and parts of Canada. The darkness was so complete that candles were required from noon on. Dark Day IPA is a collaboration with Dave Richardson from Gardner Ale House. Herbal hop aroma is complimented with roasted malt character. American de-husked roasted barley does not lend a bitter acrid flavor but imparts a roasted character that melds with low level caramelized malts. Big herbal, citrus hop flavors and bitterness clash with roasted and mildly sweet malt. Try Dark Day IPA and then drive to Gardner to try its sister brew Nightcrawler IPA."

Thoughts: Poured a dreadfully dark brown color that's not completely black in the glass but is impossible to see through. The eggshell head started slow and then uprooted itself, leaving a three finger top full of small bubbles.

Smells crisp. I like what I'm getting here. Though pretty hop forward there's a sweetness to the scent that really accents the herbal, minty qualities. There's some slight pine, but it's mild and very earthy, and a hidden punch of citrus behind that mint.

There's a lot of roasted malt to start off the taste. It was hardly evident in the scent, very background stuff, though with a black ale you know it's gotta be there. Aside from the boost of roasted dark malt, the taste is pretty consistent with the smell. It's got a potent herbal tone that flows through from start to finish. At the end of the gulp a slow rising bitterness builds and forms a minor haze of leaves and smoke. It's a pretty weird blend of flavors but they all intermingle nicely. After warming it gets a little bready and some caramel notes start to shine through. The aftertaste kind of tastes like raw sourdough that's been charred with a blowtorch.

The mouth feel is very light and bubbly. This stuff pretty much immediately turns to foam once it enters the mouth. I guess we can say that it's an airy situation. This is a decent black ale. It could have used some black licorice and some barrel aging, but at least it didn't reek of chocolate and coffee. Dark Day is my second beer from Wormtown and won't be my last.

Wormtown Hopulence

Wormtown Hopulence (2012)

Brewed and Bottled by Wormtown Brewery in Worcester, MA. USA.

Limited Release.

22 fl. oz. / $7.99 USD / 8.5% ABV

About: "Brewed with an abundance of hops. Once we started hopping this beer stopping was impossible. Emphasizing Amarillo, Horizon, Summit, and Glacier hops with support from 5 other American varieties. Hops were added in every conceivable part of the brewing process. Whole leaf in the mash, hop forwarded (lautered through whole cones), hop backed, first wort hopped, kettle hopped with pellets and extract, and dry hopped in the fermenter and brite tanks. No expense was spared to bring you HOPULENCE!"

Thoughts: Decided on my Jason Voorhees glass considering the guy basically is from "Worm Town". Hehe.

Poured an uber cloudy amber, almost peach colored tone. The slightly yellowed  head was super long lasting and did something that I don't normally see, it left bald spot in the middle of the top once it started to fade out. Ususally there's just a thin sliver left, or puddles or a cresent moon shape, but I don't recall ever seeing the foam cling to the glass and flow away from the middle like this.

This smells very fruity: like, peaches and mango, but mostly lemon zest and though as if my mind is playing tricks on me, a strawberry/banana blend. There's a slight peppery tone throughout, and aside from that it seems pretty soothing.

Taste is very spicy first off, loads of peppery hops flutter around the mouth, and it's mildly sweet. Not really bitter after the swallow, nor absurdly sweet in the mouth, and I wouldn't really say it's bittersweet either. It's a calm, collected mix of gentle sweetness and pepper. Really nice. This has a really smooth taste and has a nice overall composition. It's a little buttery tasting, chalky, and slightly astringent. It's not off or unpleasant at all, but perhpas it could be a little sweeter... which is probably a werid complaint. As I usually hope for more of a hoppy DIPA anyways. Biterness starts to shine through around the end of the bottle and it's not bad. Everything seems to sit together well.

Mouth feel is  a light medium, it's a little bubbly and leaves a shitload of aftertaste that isn't exactly bad tasting, but rather a little astringient.

I'd been looking forward to trying a Wormtown beer. I heard they got a spiced pepper ale which I've yet to find. When I saw this DIPA on the shelf that I hadn't seen two days ago when I was at the liquor store, and the JULY stiker on the back (I drank this the last day of July), I just couldn't help myself.