Tasting Notes: Elusive Brewing: Midnight Oregon Trail

Elusive Brewing: Midnight Oregon Trail (England: Black IPA: 5.8% ABV)

Visual: Black, a half inch of coffee brown creamy head with a mix of tight bubbles within it.

Nose: Dry roasted peanuts and chestnuts. Wholemeal bread. Charred wood. Burnt toast. Sour dough. Grated chocolate.

Body: Dry. Grated black chocolate. Sour dough. Malt chocolate. Slight sulphur. Moderate bitterness. Subtle grapefruit.

Finish: Black chocolate slabs. Bitter cocoa. Moderate hop bitterness. Slight sulphur. As warms grapefruit comes out. Peppery. Pineapple.

Conclusion: I was wondering how a West Coast BIPA would work. As gone into in more detail in the background BIPAs tend to be more malt led, while West Coast tend to have an out of the way malt body. So, you see the conflict, right? I mean they both like the bitterness so hopefully we will see a lot of that, but I was confused.

It is quite dry, so we have that kind of attenuated character a west coast can have. Definitely not as full on attenuated as most west coast IPAs I’ve tried, but it gives a familiar mouthfeel along the Black IPA side and a satisfactory way to deliver the bitterness into the finish.

The bitterness is lower than expected, satisfying but not intense. Possibly this is due to balance from the malt making it seem restrained rather than any actual lower bitterness, hard to say.

The malt is, as mentioned, dry, but with that still quite chocolate filled, but in a bitter black chocolate to more neutral chocolate malt drinks kind of way, rather than anything sweeter. Along with that it has kind of sulphur touch, mouth filling backing character. It kind of works, not as dry as you would expect, not as sweet as you would expect and not as bitter as you would expect, but trying to walk the difficult balance between all those expectations.

As it warms slightly another familiar west coast style element starts to come out – the grapefruit hop character, which actually comes out clearer here than in standard Oregon Trail, which always seemed more earthy leaning to me. Here it comes out pretty cleanly and gives a nice fresh release from the bitter character.

The main disappointment, apart from not being as bitter as my withered taste-buds would like, is that it does not match the FANTASTIC early aroma. There is a huge dry roasted, nutty and nut oil character that is delectable, but doesn’t even hint at similar in the main body. If this had shown up more I would have been ecstatic.

As is, it is good, not GREAT, but good, and with the dearth of black IPAs right now I will 100% take good.

Background: The existence of this beer first excited and then confused me. Excited as, well Black IPA and West Coast IPA, two of my favourite styles that are being used a lot less these days. Confused as well, how does west coast black IPA work? My understanding of West Coast IPA is high bitterness, citrus notes and more notably out of the way malt base and generally quite attenuated. My understanding of Black IPA is quite dark malt led, high bitterness beer. So, yeah how does those two very different attitudes to malt profile work together? Maybe there is already a set style definition, but I was intrigued to see. While not on the front of the can the back text mentions this was a collaboration with “The West Street Alehouse”, so if I am ever in the area I may have to check them out. I have tried and done notes on the standard Oregon Trail and found it good if not top tier west coast IPA style. This was grabbed from Independent Spirit, and drunk while listening to a bunch of Depeche Mode – a friend was telling me about how varied and good some of their lesser known tunes were so I decided to have a little listen to find out and this seemed like a good time.

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Tasting Notes: Kinnegar: Black Bucket

Kinnegar: Black Bucket (Ireland: Black IPA: 6.5% ABV)

Visual: Opaque black body with a good sized creamy brown head.

Nose: Citrus. Pineapple, grapefruit and lime. Crushed bourbon biscuits. Cocoa. Brown bread.

Body: Prickly. Pineapple. Vanilla touch. Tart grapefruit. Dark malts. Sour dough. Light cream. Quite tart. Light charring and charred bitterness. Peppery. Brown bread.

Finish: Charring. Slightly rough bitterness. Bitter black coffee. Grapefruit over that. Raspberry tartness. Bitter cocoa. Peppery to rye crackers.

Conclusion: This is a Black IPA that leans towards my preferred take on the style. While it is dark of body and backed obviously by the darker malts, the first impression you get is citrus heavy, fresh and quite tart in the hop expression.

The main elements in the lead in are pineapple and grapefruit notes, but late on in the body into the finish you get a spritzy raspberry like set of tart notes that I would not have expected at all. It is all very refreshing and prevents the roasted hopped stout take that a lot of BIPAs head towards.

Initially the freshness controls the front, with hints of darker malts behind, leading into a much more evident charred, bitter finish sprinkled with a touch of pepper. However as time goes along you get the malt rising in the middle with a bready base, more peppery rye character and more bitter charring, becoming more like the finish for the full BIPA experience.

It’s not quite got the balance of the best black IPAs, that hard to describe touch that makes them so good – but it is still darn good. The rye is mostly used well, initially quite quiet allowing you to appreciate the open beer, it builds to a heavy rye cracker and peppery presence by the end – possibly a tad too heavy at the end for me – it mutes the brighter, slightly tarter notes, but generally a decent progression of flavour over time for an enjoyable BIPA.

Pretty satisfying.

Background: This was found while heading around Dublin as part of a holiday in Ireland. Oddly, the pub I had intended to hunt out was shut down, so I stuck my nose into a place called Tapped that boasted 50 taps, figuring that should have at least something I want to try. A good chunk of the taps turned out to host cocktails and wine, which were not to my taste, but I noticed in their can list they had this – which was in ratebeer‘s top 50 beers from Ireland, so I figured I would give it a go. It’s a rye black IPA – I am an utter sucker for BIPAs, and a rye touch never hurts so I had high hopes – especially as the BIPA seems an underused style these days which makes me sad…

Tasting Notes: Moor: Agent Of Evil

Moor: Agent Of Evil (England: Black IPA: 7% ABV)

Visual: Black and opaque. Two inches of brown froth mounds of a head that leaves a sud rim.

Nose: Bitter coffee and coca dust. Slight ash tray. Empty, used coffee cups. Sour dough. Wholemeal flour. Light peppermint and chives.

Body: Milky chocolate. Chocolate cake. Crushed peanuts. Charred bitterness. Brown bread. Roasted character.

Finish: Bitter chocolate cake. Dry roasted peanuts. Charred bitterness. Ash. Earthy hops. Slight choc lime. Peppery. Ground spice. Bitter coffee.

Conclusion: This is definitely taking the hopped stout like interpretation of a Black IPA. I will admit I generally prefer the the opposite take – the fruity hopped dark malt style BIPA. Even with that said, considering the dearth of new Black IPAs around here recently I welcome a new entry into the style.

So as the hopped stout like take of a BIPA, this seems to be doing a very British hop take on that – earthy and spicy in how the hops come across with solid bitterness but pretty much no bright notes. Very robust, and nothing too fancy. Earthy and peppery early on with some more prickly spice notes in the finish. So, fairly simple in the hop use – dark, charred, almost all bitterness and earthy spice. So, I guess it will be up to the malt to provide the contrast.

Actually, the malt is, well, still fairly grounded. A mix of bitter coffee and cocoa, done in a quite roasted and robust way. So, definitely feeling very stouty. There are slight milky touches, but mainly goes with bitter chocolate in a bitter chocolate cake kind of way. With very little sweet character this ends up a fairly hefty beer. The only concession to sweetness is a slightly creamier chocolate cake centre that shows up if held.

It’s not a top of the range BIPA, but for all its heavy character it is still pretty darn drinkable. It feels like an earthy British IPA meets British Stout meets Black IPA. A worthy entry and makes me wish even more that more people were turning out new Black IPAs at the moment.

Solid, not a game changer but solid.

Background: So, I want new Black IPAs. This, while not new new, is mostly new to me. I had it on tap in the Moor Tap Room a while back. They also do a standard IPA- Guardian Of Peace, which I really should do notes on at some time, as if my memory serves me right, it is a bit tasty. Anyway, yeah Moor are very reliable in turning out decent brews, and I wanted a Black IPA, so I grabbed this from Independent Spirit. I went with the ultra optimistic ( I may be lying about that bit) History Of Guns album Acedia to listen to while drinking.

Tasting Notes: First Chop: Syl Black IPA

First Chop: Syl Black IPA (England: Black IPA: 6.2% ABV)

Visual: Black. Black-cherry red hints at the edges. Moderate sized brown head. Some evident carbonation.

Nose: Fresh dough. Crushed peanuts. Malt chocolate. Slight flour. Brown bread. Slight peppermint.

Body: Charring. Slightly empty. Brown bread. Crushed walnuts. Chalk touch. Malt chocolate. Bitter cocoa.

Finish: Charring. Brown bread. Bitter chocolate. Slight savoury/sour mix at the end. Bitter hops. Peppery. Chalk touch.

Conclusion: You know, I’ve not had a good Black IPA for bloody ages. Having finished drinking this, I’ve still not had a good black IPA for bloody ages.

Yes that is about the limits of my attempts of comedy, why do you ask?

The aroma is fairly generic – leaning towards a more roasted stout like set of notes rather than crisp hoppy notes. Fans of BIPAS will know they tend to go one of two ways – Fresh fruity IPA over darker malts, or stout like but with roasted hoppy notes. This definitely is going for the second of those based on the aroma.

It is roasted, nutty and bready – you can see why I think it is playing to the roasted stout side, right? It isn’t my favourite of the two interpretations – I just love the fruity hop over dark malt style, but this take has its place as well.

The first sip taken is- kind of charred, bitter but also kind of empty behind that. There is a vague chocolate backing, but nothing to really get your teeth into. On top of that it is kind of rough around the edges as well – slightly chalky, roasted and yeah, just generally rough.

Time lets it build up a bit of weight behind the hoppy notes and the chocolate character, letting them express themselves a bit better. Because of this you end up with a beer that is mediocre rather than shit. So, an improvement.

It doesn’t have the hop flavour excitement of a good IPA, nor the weight and accompanying flavour of a good stout. It really feels like , at best, a very basic Black IPA.

So, it goes from terrible to only dull,

Not worth grabbing.

Background: I grabbed this as it is a Black IPA. I love the style but there seems to be less of them about these days as NEIPAs and Brut IPAs became the new fad. Ah well. First Chop have yet to release a beer that really excite me, but have not been bad, so I figured it was time to grab another one from them. Looks like they are doing something a bit different with this one though – it is made with jaggery sugar – something I will admit I had to look up on google. Another one grabbed from Independent Spirit. Since it is a Black IPA, I put on Metallica – The Black Album while drinking. Ok, that was just an excuse – I haven’t listened to Enter Sandman in ages and needed to change that.

Tasting Notes: Kaiju!: Cthulhu On The Moon

Kaiju!: Cthulhu On The Moon (Australia: Black IPA: 6.5% ABV)

Visual: Black. Creamy inch of a brown head.

Nose: Nutty. Bitter chocolate. Bitter hop character. Lightly earthy. Bitter raw coffee.

Body: Earthy bitterness. Chalk touch. Sour cream twist. Bitter cocoa. Tofu. Light charring. Light toffee/Choc Toffee.

Finish: Earthy. Greenery. Bitter cocoa. Bitter coffee. Pepper. Sour cream. Kiwi.

Conclusion: This is a take on the black IPA style that I was not expecting. Most BIPAS I’ve seen either go the hoppy stout route, or in the fruity smooth way with chocolate backing. This feels like a black IPA take on an earthy English style IPA. Intriguing.

The base is quite stouty and on the harsher end of the stout scale, showing more raw notes from the bitter cocoa and coffee. There’s even a chalk touch and a slight sour cream twist under that, which would act as a grounding notes in most beers, but here just pushes it further into the heavy, slow drinking style.

Onto that heavy base the earthy, bitter hops are another weighty layer – peppery, nutty and earthy. This brings none of the fruity high notes that I usually expect of a black IPA.

So, not a showy beer, instead a slow, heavy beer. There is the slightest touch of toffee sweetness in the mid body, and slight kiwi that rises in the finish. The offsetting notes are used sparingly to make the heavier notes more manageable. There are hints main body of similar green fruit, but it never fully develops, instead keeping to the more earthy bitter notes.

It is not one I would have often, but it is a solid one. It reminds me of a Best Bitter, mixed 50/50 with a British style IPA, the kind of drink you could drink a few slow pints of with in mates in a traditional pub, near a warm fire.

Not a must have, but an interesting take and solid enough.

Background: So, I’m kind of partial to the Kaiju movies, if not a massive dedicated fan – loved the recent Shin Gojira so that was a good start for this. Big Lovecraft nerd, so a Cthulhu reference is my jam. This is from Australia, and I haven’t tried many beers from there, so always a chance to expand. Finally not had a good BIPA for a while – so yeah, out of the Kaiju! Beer stuff that turned up at independent spirit, it was almost inevitable that this would be the one I’d grab. I did miss a trick on music though – just put on some Anti Flag out of generic annoyance at the world today, when I had perfectly good Lovecraft themed rock from Darkest Of Hillside Thickets right there and I didn’t use it. Shame on me.

Tasting Notes: Vibrant Forest: Necropolis

Vibrant Forest: Necropolis (England: BIPA: 8.2% ABV)

Visual: Very dark brown to black. Massive brown froth head with large bubbles.

Nose: Milky coffee. Crisp hop character. Pine needles. Wet wood. Kiwi and grapes.

Body: Walnuts and cashews. Slight sour cream twist. Kiwi. Lightly creamy. Creamy chococlate. Grapes. Pineapple. Toffee.

Finish: Sour cream and chives. Malt chocolate. Dry roasted peanuts. Slight hop oils. Praline. Grapes. Pineapple and custard. Bitter cocoa and hops. Chocolate cake

Conclusion: This is fairly low bitterness for an “India” prefixed beer – well low in hop bitterness anyway, it has a decent level of bitter chocolate character, especially in the finish, which makes up for the lack of hops kick.

However, for the most part we have a fairly sweet chocolate body, matched with a sour cream like twist contrast – in an old school Punk IPA style – backed up by light use of sweet green fruit and light tarter fruit notes.

The hops seem to all be working on the fruit flavour rather than bitterness, hop oils, resin or any of that stuff. It feels like the New England take of the Black IPA world, just with a lot more body than that would suggest.

That body is what makes the beer work – a good malt sweetness, with moderate range in those sweet flavours; More importantly than that it gives the fruitier notes grip with a solid mouthfeel. The light sour cream twist makes it feel different from the BIPA range and gives contrast to keep the sweeter notes from getting dull.

The beer doesn’t quite feel like a Black IPA – the fact it calls itself an India Black Ale seems a very good call to me as it balances the malt and the hop much more than the IPA style oft suggests. It is also worth mentioning that this is dangerously easy drink at the abv it comes in at – the smoothness makes you feel like you could session it. But you can’t. Just don’t. Please.

I’m very impressed – the easy drinking BIPA of great flavour.

Background: Independent Spirit have had Vibrant Forest beers in for a while now, and I keep promising to get around to trying something from this brewery. Also I haven’t had any Black IPAs for a while, so this looked like a chance to kill two birds with one stone. Incidentally the beer calls itself an India Black Ale, which seems like better naming convention than Black IPA, but I think the fight for getting general acceptance for that naming has long since sailed. Drunk while listening to more Nightwish – the album is bloody long so I’m giving it a few listens over to get a feel for it – seems to have quite a range of styles within it.

Tasting Notes: Brewdog: Prototype: Black Rye IPA

Brewdog: Prototype: Black Rye IPA (Scotland: BIPA: 6.5% ABV)

Visual: Very dark brown to black. Large creamy browned head.

Nose: Kiwi. Muggy hops. Malt chocolate. Dry roasted peanuts. Slightly dry. Sulphurous eggs.

Body: Milky chocolate. Slight brown bread to wholemeal crackers. Kiwi and grapes. Slightly peppery. Vanilla toffee. Custard.

Finish: Milky chocolate. Black pepper. Moderate hops and bitterness. Milky coffee. Wholemeal crackers.

Conclusion: A lot of rye based beers overuse the rye element, in my opinion. I find it works better used sparingly to add something to the texture, and a bit of spice to the body rather than being something that dominates the beer. This actually uses the rye fairly lightly – it builds up over time to become prominent late on, but very gentle early in the beer.

The main black IPA base is fairly simply done – moderate chocolate, but actually leaning more towards toffee and custard notes than you would expect. Feels like some influence of a traditional IPA than you usually get in a BIPA. Don’t get me wrong, of course the chocolate and coffee notes are more dominant – here in a milky and smooth style, but it isn’t just showing those elements.

For an IPA, black otherwise, the hops seem to be lesser used than normal. You mainly get kiwi on the flavours side, and moderate levels of hop character and kick. This is probably the weakest part of the beer for me – while this manages to use the rye style well, the hop use only seems competent – very minimal in what it has for range, and seems lacking compared to the many other excellent BIPAS.

So, looking at this, the main difference maker in it is the rye. Even by the end it isn’t that harsh, just adding nice peppery weight to the beer. It is a generally competent BIPA, but feels like there could be so much more done with it. Keep the malt and rye as it is, but really fruit up the hops, then they may have something here.

As the beer is now, competent bit only competent in a world of exceptional Black IPAs.

Background: Third, and what was initially the final beer of this year’s Brewdog Prototype vote. I say initially as barely a week or so after releasing the three beers, saying that they would not release the blond ale as it was not up to snuff, well they released the blond ale. Considering bottling, posting, etc time I’m fairly sure they had an idea that the blond ale would be out shortly so I have no idea why they didn’t just wait a few weeks and release the lot at once. Sigh. Ah well. Anyway, this is a Black IPA made with rye. It is pretty much all in the name – oh, also it has a decent 70 IBU. As always I am not an unbiased actor on Brewdog beers. This was grabbed from Brewdog’s shop, and drunk while listening to some of Jonathan Young’s Disney covers. Because of course.

Tasting Notes: Odyssey: The Occult – New England India Black Ale

Odyssey: The Occult – New England India Black Ale (England: BIPA: 6.7% ABV)

Visual: Very dark brown to black. An inch of brown head that leaves suds.

Nose: Fresh. Slight vanilla, kiwi and grapes. Slightly milky. Slight creamy pineapple.

Body: Treacle. Milky chocolate. Creamy and milky. Kiwi and grapes. Milky coffee. Peach yogurt. Light tart notes – grapefruit.

Finish: Grapes. Malt chocolate. Low bitterness and moderate hop character. Peach yogurt to milkshake. Grapefruit. Treacle. Brown bread and brown sugar. Slightly yeastie.

Conclusion: Ok, as I’m still trying to work out where I stand on the whole New England IPA style thing, I have to contend with the fact that we now have a Black New England IPA. I swear I will never catch up with these things.

This is an odd mix – the creamy NE IPA style and the darker BIPA notes interact in unusual ways. When you take a sip it can be either a big boom of treacle, chocolate and coffee – or a soft milky thing that allows the fruit notes to roam more. Ok, in either one there are hints of the other, but it still gives a very different impression depending on which is ascendant at the time.

It is odd – the prevalent treacle reminds me of the notes used to give weight to lower abv dark beers, especially in how it seems to float over the lighter creamy flavours. It seems to be because of that creamy NE style that makes everything seem easier going than the abv or hop usage would otherwise suggest.

Possible because of the contrast between the two sides, the fruit hop flavours feel more evident than a standard NE IPA, and more than most BIPAs. They come across as a kind of fruity yogurt style and light tart grapefruit freshness. The bitterness level is still fairly low – which does make the BIPA style feel kind of odd – usually the higher hop bitterness I what makes a BIPA not just a higher abv dark ale, in my eyes anyway.

Overall – good – actually does more to make me get why people enjoy NE IPAs that most standard IPAs’ take on the style do. However the varied elements are good, but not really coherent. Each element works by itself, but they don’t feel like they all build a bigger whole, just working by themselves.

Still, there are much worse things to be – still interesting and enjoyable, just doesn’t 100% hang together.

Background: Offer me Odyssey Brewing and hops and you have my attention – their work has been pretty damn shiny so far. This one is an odd one – a black New England IPA – ok, someone was going to start spinning off variants of the new England style eventually – my first encounter may as well be from Odyssey. This one was grabbed from Independent Spirit and drunk while listening to B. Dolan – house of Bees vol 2.

Tasting Notes: St Austell: Proper Black

St Austell: Proper Black (England: Black IPA: 6% ABV)

Visual: Black. Large browned creamy head. Still.

Nose: Milky coffee. Kiwi. Slight roasted air. Slight bitter chocolate. Key lime pie.

Body: Slight sour dough. Prickly hops. Key lime. Milky chocolate. Slight liquorice notes. Creamy. Chocolate liqueur.

Finish: Cocoa dust. Moderate bitterness. Light charring. Slight liquorice. Slight sour dough and milky coffee.

Conclusion: Ya know, I mentioned during my notes on “It’s All Propaganda” that it didn’t feel like a black IPA, despite being a good beer. This has similar issues with not feeling like the style, but in a different way. The base has the smoothness and feel of BIPA down pat, which is where IAP failed – it has the base coffee and chocolate, with slightly roasted bitterness in as well. Those base flavours are present but not dominating, leaving room for the hops to do their work. So it succeeds at that where IAP had its issues.

Unfortunately this beer, unlike IAP, doesn’t do enough with the hops to fill that space. It has the bitterness, but ends up feeling like a hoppier or more roasted stout. It doesn’t take full advantage of the flavour possibilities of a Black IPA. There are some green fruit notes, but far less than it deserves.

So, as a beer it is not bad – in fact if this was pitched as a hoppy stout I would probably find it pretty decent – so let’s look at it as that and ignore the whole Black IPA thing.

As that it has a solid chocolate base, subtly enhanced by a few green fruit notes that round it out and a slightly higher hop character than normal. Despite fairly heavy flavour and a 6% abv it is pretty easy to drink – albeit with a hop level that builds up over time.

It is a solid, fairly stout like, beer. The extra hops add some nice flavour, but not enough to make it special. I feel the need to damn it with faint praise, but every time I try it ends up sounding so bloody hipster. “A good try for a mainstream brewery” kind of thing. Bleh. Solid, no real bad points, but in doing so it takes no risks that would let it soar.

Background: Man, I haven’t done notes on St Austell beers for years – not since back when I relied on my cheap main camera and crappy phone camera. Now I have a far better camera, and the same lack of skill at using it. Anyway, this was part of a set of beer given to me as a Christmas present by a work colleague. Many thanks! Drunk while listening to History Of Guns: Mirror Pond – they used to have it up for free download, but I can’t find a link at the moment. Pity – they do lovely, unusual electronic meets gloom meets guitar work.

Tasting Notes: Mad Dog: It’s All Propaganda

Mad Dog: It’s All Propaganda (Wales: Black IPA: 5% ABV)

Visual: Very dark brown. Large creamy heads. Not quite opaque in body.

Nose: Bitter cocoa. Light charred notes. Bitter hops. Lemongrass and a touch of key lime. Fresh wet lettuce. Roasted nuts and cashew nuts. Fresh doughnut dough. Coffee.

Body: Lemon sorbet. Malt chocolate and chocolate liqueur. Kiwi. Lemon milkshake.

Finish: Lemongrass. Bitter chocolate. Charring touch. Lemon sorbet. Kiwi. Light apricot. Bitter coffee.

Conclusion: Did you say Sorachi Ace was used in making this? Instant five stars. Would drink again! More seriously, these hops work much better in a Black IPA than I originally thought they would. I had bought this more out of whimsy than thinking it would actually work.

The malt base is definitely present, but not too heavy – kind of chocolate, bitter coffee and slightly doughnut dough like. Those elements show a lot more later on though, as the hops stop doing their thing. Thus the finish especially feels quite roasted stout like, sure, but the first sip is more than malt base mixed with fresh lemongrass and a kind of lemon milkshake creaminess, followed by a nice hop punch. You are always very much aware of the darker set of notes, so your tastebuds feel slightly confused as it tries to reconcile a lemon creamy notes with bitter chocolate and hoppiness. The conflict seems less as time goes on, with the savoury lemongrass as closer match to the black IPA base.

If I was to pick a main criticism it is that, based on expectations of the style, the base feels closer to a general British dark ale than specifically a Black IPA – probably due to the comparatively restrained abv for a BIPA of 5% ABV. So, best view it as a hopped dark ale than a BIPA if you are thinking about if you want to grab it.

Generally, taken as itself, taken as that British dark ale with a bit more hops, it gives a nice bunch of freshness early on, and a solid darker set of notes to dominate the back, with the savoury a line throughout.

So, fun for me, not dominated by Sorachi Ace, but enhanced by it. Not super refined as a beer, and not closely tied to BIPA expectations. However for general drinking I enjoyed the hell out of it. Could it be made more polished? Sure. As is it is a fun one though.

Background: I grabbed this from The Beer Emporium, it hit a few of the things that make a beer interesting to me -new brewery on me, sorachi ace hops, Black IPA. Nice mix of stuff to grab my eye. Especially as the hop choice is a very odd one for a BIPA. I try to grab beers from over in Wales as well – they don’t get much of a look out a lot of the time, but there is some very good stuff there. Drunk while listening to a mix of old school Offspring albums. Used to be a huge fan of them during my teen years, no so much a fan of their recent stuff. I may just be getting old.