Speakeasy Ales & Lagers Butchertown Black Ale

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Speakeasy Ales & Lagers Butchertown Black Ale.

Commercial description: “Butchertown Black Ale celebrates our 14th year by bringing back the long forgotten neighborhood of San Francisco where our brewery stands today. The nearby creek was once the home to over 16 slaughterhouses and was a thriving neighborhood till shipbuilding took over the waterfront in the 1930’s run up to WWII. The beer is a play on the senses: black as night, but with a deceivingly lighter body than the color would indicate and a dry-hopping regiment more akin to an IPA than a stout or porter.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a very dark brown with a frothy off-white head leaving rings of lacing.

Aroma: Roasted malts, chocolate, coffee, caramel, pine and citrus.

Taste: Roasted chocolate malt, pine and citrus hops, toffee, caramel, charred roasted malt, coffee and bitter chocolate.

Overall: I enjoyed the multi-faceted Speakeasy Ales & Lagers Butchertown Black Ale.  At 8.2% ABV this malty/hoppy offering isn’t the type of beer I gravitate towards, but I liked it. If you're a fan of Black IPAs - try it!

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

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