Black India Pale Ale?

Can there be such a thing as a black "pale" ale? The answer is... well.... yes. Maybe I'll name mine the oxy moronic ale.

The first tidbit I learned on my west coast excursion is that Cascadian hops and roasted barley make for a delicious combination. More on this later.


St. Andrew's Tripel

A brief disclaimer: there has been some upheaval that Andrew got shafted in the naming of his beer. All those who want to voice their concern have the floor. I think this beer is an honor to him, but I'm bias towards its delicouss potency. Yes, it is quite strong in alcohol. Although I tried it prematurly- at the bequest of a certain fan- it had all the Belgian spiciness of a tripel but was a bit on the dark side. Coloration was a concern of mine because I used pale malt instead of the lighter pilsner malt. Color aside it still needs some aging to lessen the alcohol presence. Right now it is quite like Andrew; edgy, gingery and not too mellow but will always make for a good time. With proper aging it will simmer down and become refreshing. Am I talking about Andrew or the beer?


The Blond Hopshell

For this bad girl I will use the pilser malt to get a more authentic light color. I will not however, use cascadian hops. I'll save those for my India Black Ale. I refuse to say Black IPA, it's just not right. I was planning on bringing ingredients back from the old west but the store did not have a grain crusher, and I was not bringing whole grains in my suitcase. I am very excited about this beer. Big Belgian complexity with a bitter hop infusion. mm mmm mmm.

Now for the IBA/Black IPA/ CBA

This topic was actually debated at a recent beer conference. Yes, even beer people are dorks (look at me). The arguements were made: People will understand and be attracted to a black IPA because they already know they like IPAs. But you can't have a black and pale ale! Because it's bittered with hops, it's based on the IPA buuuuttt, it's dark and roasty so let's call it an India Black Ale (i like this). But no-one will know what that is. People didn't know what an IPA was until someone explained! CBA- Cascadian Black Ale- now this name is just because one of the two brewers who originated the style wanted to show where it was from... same reason IPAs have the word India- but the consensus was that east coasters wouldn't be too keen on the term because it's exclusive. I agree. No-one outside the pacific northwest even knows what the hell Cascadian means. It's a mountain range. (see image below). And everything in the region is named after it. Think of Colorado and their baseball team... people like their mountains.

So we have a new style of beer. It smells like citrusy hops but without the intense hop bitterness. The secondary flavors are of toasty roasted barley and dark grain. Imagine if Guinness smelled like dogfish head 90 minute.... pretty weird huh? Those pacific northwest hops have really strong grapefruit smells so it is quite odd to put your nose into a dark beer that smells of such citrusy hops. I thoroughly enjoyed the half dozen samples I had. The best might have been at Widmer. They make so many beers we don't get here. I enjoyed their W"10 Pitch Black IPA with some dragon wings. Spiciest wings ever. A friend I met out there said it best... Portlanders are intense about everything. Extreme and unique cocktails, beers, bars, music and hipsters... well the hipsters all look the same... just like in NY but with beeny caps and flannel shirts. Not my scene.

I predict the east coast will be invaded with black hoppy beers very very soon. Get ready. I'll have mine after the bar exam. Until then.... cheers.

Oh yeah... Little C don't think I forgot about you. Honey Lav shall be bottled this weekend.