Hello and welcome to Beers and Such, the world's greatest craft beer review site as voted by no one at all, ever. I'm not one to let a little thing like obscurity and a small but dedicated following stop me from claiming total dominance of the niche.
I'm sooo excited to try today's beer I can hardly control my fingers. Bitter Waitress Black IPA by Shillow Beer Co brewed in Scarborough, Ontario has me dying to see what this beer is all about. For those of you that don't follow the blog as closely as you should (you know who you are), I am a fan of IPA's and a huge fan of black beers.
This is like Christmas and my birthday in a can. I hope.
As you can imagine from the name and see in the pic, it's black as can be. It's also 6.5%, so unlike most of the porters and stouts I've tried thus far, this one packs a punch. I know it says IPA on the can, but to me it smells just like a stout. That's not a bad thing in the slightest.
I can't wait any longer. It's time to try this baby.
It's a really nice stout. It's got a really nice toasted malt intro, a very light glimpse of hops in the middle, and then an all stout finish that I really like. I'm not an expert on the intricacies of the brewing process, so I don't know if a black IPA is literally a stout by another name, but I like this one for being a stout.
Dare I make the comparison? I don't know if it's blasphemous, but this is maybe a nicer stout than that other well known stout out there. It's not on nitro so the creamy head of Bitter Waitress could me creamier and there's no cascade, which really is a thing of beauty. It's really easy to drink and I can't understate how good it is.
I think this beer would fit in nicely in an Irish pub. A real Irish pub in real Ireland, even. I want to put on a tweed hat and a jacket with patches on the elbows while I drink this. I know that's a stereotype, so don't get your knickers in a knot. It's also the image that comes to my mind when I think of drinking in an Irish pub.
Thanks Obama!
My rating: 10/10. That was an easy one. It's a really good, easy drinking stout that makes me happy.
My trusty second sipper has gone to bed, so there will be no official second sip, but I'm going to go ahead and say the Mrs would give this one a high mark as well.
My wife's rating: 10/10. Wow, that's generous. I couldn't agree more.
There you have it, friends. Bitter Waitress Black IPA by Shillow Beer Co in lovely Scarborough, Ontario is a really nice, easy drinking stout despite it's name. Have a gander at the rest of Shillow's offerings at shillowbeer.com