Just adding another set of experiences to the other reviews... I have used the HopShot twice as part of the Plinian Legacy kit. Both times resulted in wonderful beer. The first time the oil was brown as in the product photo. The second time the oil had turned black as ink. Because I discovered this during my boil, I decided I had no choice but to use it. It turned out just as great as the first time. I didn't do anything special with the black oil (as described in another review) and nothing adverse happened at all. There was some black residue on the top of the boil initially, but it eventually disappeared and, once again, great beer was produced. I suspect the oil turned black because it was in my refrigerator for about 2 months before using it.

Excellent experience. Product worked well for a massive triple IPA.

The product worked well putting it right into the boil. I had NO black tar ball AT ALL (as review below); it was green just like a hop. It mixed well in the boil and had way less residue than whole leaf or pellets going into the fermentor.

HopShot Hop Extract

High rating but take warning there is a learning curve. Really great hops oil and it absolutely gave my IPA the potent finished floral aroma I was searching for - better than any methods I have ever used so far BUT read on. The product is a pure oil extract and mine was black as midnight. Tar, Tar Tar I can't be serious about it enough. If you just squeeze 1 ml out into a room temp or even lukewarm wort - it will just float like a blob and will (never ever ever) dissolve (I'm serious) and nobody explains this nor is it in the product literature. My recovery was better than other disasters I have read. I simply removed my floating oil blob from my room temp finished beer - and boiled a cup or two of water in a glass flask (yes, I have a glass chemistry flask I like to use on the stovetop for such endeavors, don't judge haha) and let it cool a bit, then added my tar ball and swirled around and let dissolve until the hops blob more or less disappears - leaving the good aromatic floral oil in the now golden water and a green smear/stain on the bottom of the glass. Dump the aromatic hops water in the finished beer, stir and voila, instant beautiful hoppy awesome floral nose to your beer without any additional bittering. The residue left behind in the flask was a stubborn oil that came away with extra cleaning. (If) I were to use it for bittering as part of the boil, I would recommend boiling/dissolving the tar in in a small pan or flask with a lot of stirring and agitation first, and THEN add to your (big pot) of wort only after you know it was all dissolved and then complete the boil. Don't take any of this as that negative, again - my batch was a total success with better aroma than I have ever had with dry hopping or late addition hop boils. I played a bit more with this product and this oil will absolutely bind permanently to stray plastics it touches. I can't wait to try in my next boil addition as a a bittering hop. Should work fine.