• Brewery: Black Rooster Brewery
• Country: Denmark
• Style: American IPA
• ABV: 6.5%
• Size: 500 ml
• Bought from: Systembolaget, ~50kr
• Beer Advocate
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Black Rooster are a phantom brewery, meaning they own no brewery of their own, but rather brew their beers at other breweries (in the same fashion as e.g. Mikkeller). ‘The Hoptimizer’ is an American-style IPA, physically brewed at Søgaards Bryghus. It was difficult to find any detailed information on the beer, but it is apparently a maltier IPA, that has been dry-hopped with a ton of Cascade and Chinook (at least Cascade has been used in the boil as well according to the label). The color of the beer should be around 25 EBC, while the bitterness should be around 75 IBU. This looks like an IPA I will like!

[easyreview title=”Black Rooster The Hoptimizer” cat1title=”Appearance” cat1detail=”The beer pours with a dark amber, almost brown, color, and a slight off-white head is formed during pour. The small head is quite long lasting, and collapses leaving some drapes of lacing along the glass. The beer is slightly hazy as well.” cat1rating=”4″ cat2title=”Smell” cat2detail=”The aroma is hop-dominated, with tones that are floral, citrusy and even leaning towards that of peach and pineapple. There is some caramel present in the aroma as well.” cat2rating=”3.5″ cat3title=”Taste” cat3detail=”The flavor begins with some caramel and malts, leaving the slightest hint of roastiness. The hops take over quickly, lending some tones of resin and grapefruit to the mix. The flavors ends in a quite dry and bitter finish, leaving a slight aftertaste of caramel and honey. There is a slight presence of alcohol as well, but otherwise the beer was quite well balanced.” cat3rating=”4″ cat4title=”Mouthfeel” cat4detail=”The beer has a medium-full body and a moderate carbonation level, making it quite easy to drink. The finish is quite dry, but still quite pleasant. The slight presence of alcohol disturbs a little.” cat4rating=”3.5″ summary=”Overall a great beer, that featured some pleasant hop tones, bitterness and a nice malt backbone. It was a little maltier than most IPAs, but I actually liked that in this beer. Unfortunately this isn’t available for purchase in Finland, but you can find it at Systembolaget in Sweden. Would drink again!”]