Black IPAs aka Cascadia Darks

I know I have mused about this style briefly once before.
However Belmont Station had a selection of these on tap over the weekend so they are back on my mind.

For those not familiar with the style it has the kind of heavy hop profile generally associated with an IPA coupled with the darker malts more commonly used in stouts or porters.

Overall it is a style I find myself conflicted about. I like the strong backbone that the darker malts deliver, and I find that they balance the bitterness of the hops in a way that is more to my taste than traditional IPAs. On the other hand many of them are either too bitter for my taste or have flavor profiles that just don't mesh.

My picks if you want to give this style a try

Widmer's '10

This is their spring seasonal and widly available. The hop flavors are bitter but also strongly citus-y with the finish firmly belonging to the malts.

21st Admendment's Back in Black

This one is very balenced with the jops leaning more toward the resin-y than the bitter. Not for everyone, as the tast is kind of pine-like, but interesting.

Southern Tier Brewing

I recently came across two of Souther Tier's Blackwater series of beers.
Thers are some lovely girl-friendly flavors, ladies. The entire series is dark beers with dessert-type flavors (vanilla, coffee, chocolate) and you can bet I'm keeping my eyeballs peeled for more of them.

The first one I got was the Creme Brulee Stout
Now, I am major vanilla nut and the name alone for me conjures up visions of creamy slight floral decliciousness. I fully expected to be disappointed, but I wasn't
Southern Tier delivers a rich, heavy mouthfeel with beautiful, sweet vanilla notes.
I am completely in love with this one.

The second one my beer store had was the Jah-va
This one is a coffee stout made with Jamaican beans. Once again, Southern Tier has taken an ingredient of intense depth and fully delivered on it's subtlety and distinctive character.


I have only 2 caveats to mention with either of these beers. The first one is that they are VERY sweet. The Creme Brulee more so, although I found the sweetness a bit more distracting in the Jah-va.

The second reservation I have in recommending them is that they are sold in 22oz bottles. There beers are very strong and very rich. 22oz was a bit much for yours truly. I still highly recommend both (and based on these any others of the Blackwater series you can get your hot little hands on), but I also recommend finding a friend to split a bottle with.