Steel Toe Douglas

This is a 7.5% ABV Cascadian Dark Ale or Black IPA from Steel Toe Brewing of St. Louis Park, Minnesota. 

The beer pours black in color. There is a medium sized head of beige foam. The aroma is piney and tangy, fruity, oranges, ripe melons, broken pine needles, all up front, over a base of dark roasted malts, pleasant char melding into the pine, waking by a cold campfire in a deep pine forest. The taste hits the aroma notes, big pine and fruit, tangy, yet sweet and ripe, then a wave of dark roasted malt, char, ground coffee, and a bit of very dark bittersweet chocolate. The beer drinks smooth with moderate carbonation and a moderately bitter finish. Cascadians, or black IPA’s can be hit or miss, this one is a hit. When I don’t like them, the hop notes and dark roasted malt notes are out of harmony. When they hit, the two blend and meld together well, while retaining their separate identities. The bottle tells us nothing, but there is a picture of a pine/fir tree, so I will guess that Douglas refers to the tree, which refers back to the pine notes in this beer?