I often struggle with the notion of writing negative reviews.
I think by this stage in my beer career I’ve fostered at least an impression of how much time, effort and money is involved in creating a brand new product for market; not just the recipe and the production, but branding, marketing , distribution and all those other necessary evils.
But if the beer doesn’t agree with me, I get the feeling I’m telling people they wasted their time, effort and money. Obviously, this is just my opinion. If every microbrewery was awash with cash I might feel a bit better about it, but they’re not, so I don’t.
So I just have to hope you’ll buy a bottle to judge for yourself. After all, I can’t just keep pounding out glowing reviews. That would get boring. (You’re not bored, are you? Come on, I’m only 100-plus reviews in. Though you’re probably bored by now of this apologetic, guilt-ridden preamble.)
Clearly, a lot of time, effort and money has gone into producing Absolute Darkness, VIB’s first attempt at the Cascadian Dark Ale style. The bottle is beautiful. It glows in the dark. The story behind the beer’s name evokes the utter blackness experienced when the headlamps are turned off while spelunking trip in the Island’s caves.
Good stuff. But I’m left rather flat by the beer itself.
Absolute Darkness is indeed black with a dark caramel glimmer, and has a tan head that settles to a thin cap. All good here.
But the beer has an odd aroma of slightly melted plastic, behind which hide slightly minty herbal notes and the barest hint of roast coffee malt.
Up front there’s very light syrupy malt. A slightly herbal tingle at the back of the mouth introduces a strengthening bitterness across the tongue and sides of the mouth. This fades to leave a big dryness and some charred malt in the finish.
Beyond that, there’s not a huge amount to report beyond a rather thin body. And my ongoing, guilt-ridden apologies (sorrysorrysorry…)
Hey, at least Beer Cat likes. What do I know?
650ml, $5.50, at B.C. Liquor Stores
