Beer Review – Silver and Black IPA

• Name: Silver and Black IPA
• Brewery: Branchline Brewing Co.
• Style: IPA
• Origin: Texas
• ABV: 6.5%

This review is going to focus on another San Antonio Brewery, Branchline Brewing Co. Here in the great city of San Antonio, we take a few things very seriously. Whether or not they appreciate amazing Tex-Mex food, have an affinity for Big Red or listen to Selena Quintanilla on repeat, I’m yet to find a true San Antonian that doesn’t LOVE the San Antonio Spurs.

Related: Freetail Tropical Punch Bexarliner Review

Given the borderline holy status of the Spurs, silver and black (and sometimes the old school “fiesta” logo colors) are all over this city. For this reason, it is no surprise at all that Branchline Brewing Co. would build a liquid tribute to the five-time NBA Champions. Yet again, I have to give props to my brother-in-law for introducing me to this beer, as I had never heard of it until he handed me a tallboy.

Now we’ve established its cultural significance, let’s talk about the beer.

I’m not sure why I was surprised to see a jet black beer pour out of a can labelled Silver and Black. The color immediately reminded me of a Guinness. It’s dark as a winter’s night but, unlike Guinness, is fairly carbonated.

Smell wise, it’s fairly typical of an IPA. It is very hoppy, and almost fruitily sweet. In my experience, that smell does not come from something this dark. My beer senses were all sorts of frazzled, and so I cautiously continued into the alcoholic unknown.

After the smell, the flavor profile threw me off big time. This beer tastes like a Guinness, just significantly more bitter. It has a strong coffee flavor with a smokey undertone. I was really shocked to experience such a stout-esque flavor profile in a beer that smelled this way.

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I am going to frame my thoughts by saying, I am not a coffee drinker. The tones of a Guinness are pretty much upper limits. On more than one occasion, I have had to throw in the towel on a beer that was far too coffee-y for me. For that reason, this beer was not for me.

I absolutely respect the complexity of this beer, and am very much looking forward to trying more of their brews, but Silver and Black IPA was just not my deal. That said, I think many beer drinkers who also enjoy coffee would have a great time with this one. Definitely worth a try.

TL;DR

Silver and Black IPA was not my favorite, but thats only because I am not a coffee drinker. This beer has the bitter qualities of an IPA and ever more intense smokey, coffee flavors such as those found in a Guinness Stout. For some, that will be perfect. I, instead, will respect its upside from afar.

Rating: 6/10

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