HEAD-TO-HEAD #5: Cohort (Summer Wine Brewery) vs. Faithless XI (Red Willow Brewery)

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A head-to-head between black IPAs from two highly regarded UK breweries...

I'll start with Cohort, which is described as a 'Double Black Belgian Rye PA'; a grand, not to mention unique description so lets see if it lives up to the promise... Pours inky black with an initially large but short-lived rust coloured head. Tropical fruit bubblegum amalgam on the nose; mango and pineapple are especially prominent. A sweet syrup (overly so?) of tropical fruit juice notes (pineapple/mango/guava etc) run from front to finish; huge, almost overwhelming flavours that I've not experienced before to this extent in a beer. They threaten to unbalance but luckily a huge, gloopy, sticky malt body acts as a counterpoint. Slight toasted grain in the finish. Carbonation is spot on. Bitterness is surprisingly restrained, alcohol less so. I couldn't pick out the rye malt and the usually distinctive Belgian yeast flavours fail to shine...but who cares? Its an India pale ale, albeit a black one, so its all about the hops. And their aroma really shines.

Onto Faithless XI, described as an Imperial Black IPA... Pours a shade lighter than Cohort with an off-white head that disappears equally as fast as its congener above. Strong vanilla ice cream and conifer like hop aroma. A subtler nose and subtler flavour profile overall... Tart grapefruit up front leads into a drying, bitter, citrus zest finish that's much like sucking the inside of a grapefruit and getting some of the peel in with the bargain. Faithless XI has an equally impressive thick & creamy mouthfeel as Cohort but less of a solvent finish and without the presence of charred barley. So, this black IPA is another hop vehicle but features a drier and more rounded, less intense flavour profile. If I'd known beforehand I would have started with the gentler Faithless prior to the tastebud-lacerating onslaught of Cohort.

To conclude: These are two beers that are similar, but different. Similar styles, different hop characters. Cohort is big and brash whereas Faithless is more of an introvert whilst being a little more polished and well rounded. Both are exciting, modern and thoroughly tasty beers. Get Faithless XI while you can as its part of Red Willow's limited edition Faithless series.

• MALTS:  COHORT = pale, rye, carafa, others / FAITHLESS = ?
• HOPS: COHORT =  SUMMIT, CITRA, CHINOOK, SIMCOE, AMARILLO / FAITHLESS = CHINOOK, COLUMBUS, GALAXY, CENTENNIAL
• IBU: COHORT = HIGH / FAITHLESS = HIGH
• ABV: COHORT = 7.5% / FAITHLESS = 7.2%
• COHORT IS FERMENTED WITH A BELGIAN YEAST STRAIN AND INCLUDE RYE AS PART OF THE GRAIN BILL.
• FAITHLESS xi IS A bottle-conditioned LIMITED RELEASE BEER.

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