THIS week we’re returning to Macclesfield’s Red Willow brewery so that we might have our cake and eat it.

Soulless is rich, dark, and velvety smooth, but is also assertively hopped. So yes, you caught me, it’s another black IPA, a style whose name gets no less silly each time you spell out ‘black India pale ale’, and a particularly fine one at that.

Pouring a deep, translucent black with ruby highlights, and a creamy, fudge-coloured head, the aroma leaps immediately from the glass.

Apricots, perfumed and sweet, are contrasted by sharp limes and liquorice, all bound together by the dank promise of raw hop cones, reminiscent of thyme and blackcurrants.

Fruity and perfumed, an initial surge of dark chocolate and mint ice-cream gives way to blackcurrant jam, all the while vying for attention with jammy cherries, toasted almonds, and roast coffee.

Pomegranate, fresh and lively, and cool, clean melon flood the palate while a bitter-sweet espresso bitterness builds towards the finish.

Hop bitterness is assertive, yet held well within the confines of drinkability, balanced well with sweet and toasty malt.

This is a black IPA done right: Soulless flaunts the extent of its hopping at every turn, with its appreciable malt and roast character bringing complexity, drinkability, and character to the table.

Recommended by Michael Bates, Trembling Madness, Stonegate, York