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.