Final analysis: Black Moon Black Witbier

Style: Specialty Beer (black version of a Witbier). Original gravity: 1044. Final gravity: 1014.
ABV: 4%. IBU's: 17.

So what started as a quest to make an "oxymoronic" beer turned into the pint you see above. Much like a Schwarzbier, my goal was to take an existing style at turn it black without having it be too roasty (since that would basically be a porter or stout). We've had it on tap a couple months now but it still tastes pretty fresh. Here's the review:

Appearance: I definitely achieved my goal here. If you hold it up to a light you can get slight mahogany highlights around the edges, but otherwise it's black, black as the ace of spades. A decent off-white head caps it off.

Smell: The aroma is mostly a balance between a coffee-like roastiness and a tart yeastiness. You can catch a slight whiff of coriander but the orange peel doesn't really come through.

Taste: Up front you get a slight citric bite with some wheat and barley malt sweetness. In the middle you get that distinct tartness that's characteristic of a Wit yeast. Most of the flavor seems to come in the finish, where you get roastiness, orange (both the sweetness and the bitter pith) and just a hint of coriander. To be honest, I'm having trouble picking out the coriander, but when I brought a bottle to my homebrew club's meeting, a couple people noticed it right away so maybe I'm just not that sensitive to it.

Mouthfeel: It feels somewhat full because of its effervescence, but it's thin enough to stay drinkable. I would think it compares favorably to Hoegaarden.

Overall: I was pretty happy with this. I thought it could use a little more coriander and orange peel, and maybe a little less roastiness, so next time I'll likely up the spices and cut down on the chocolate wheat (maybe add a little more carafa III as a cap). While it was roastier than I had anticipated, I thought the orange peel plus the yeast still gave it that characteristic Witbier bite, and I don't think anybody would mistake this for a stout. This definitely fit the bill for a dark summer beer.