The Unlikely Return of Black IPA

Love me some Black IPA... Elation put on Black Straw this past Friday and its the best beer I've had from them in a while. Miss the style.

 

SSR is the gold standard imo, when it’s fresh it’s simply amazing. But other spin off takers weren’t so hot, one I had tasted burnt. Undrinkable, the bar had a name your price on a pint to get rid of it and even that didn’t work, guys wouldn’t spend a $1. Finally it was a freebie and still lasted a week in limbo.

 

“I think it’s too aggressive of a style for a lot of the younger generations’ tastes” – John Kimmich

That pretty much sums up the lack of popularity for Black IPA with a portion (vocal portion) of the craft beer market. Needless to say but Black IPA does not taste like Juicy-Juice boxes.

I personally enjoy quality Black IPAs (e.g., fresh SSR like Dale mentioned above and I enjoyed FW Wookey Jack as well) but there is little doubt in my mind that the broader craft beer consumers (e.g., Haze Bros) will not support these beers.

Cheers!

 

WBAYDN x-post.
SUCK IT Haze Bros?

 

Too bad.

Founders Dark Penance has long sat in my top 10. Would love to find it again.

 

The problem with Black IPA's is that if not brewed right they can tend to have a muddled taste, or end up being too full bodied and resembling a hoppy Stout/Porter. Could also end up with an unwanted smokey or burnt quality as noted by JackHorzempa above.

I am a fan of a good Black IPA, SSR being the poster child for this style. While I have had several good examples of the style, unfortunately I have had just as many bad examples.

 

It was Dale (@nc41) who made that observation.

Cheers!

 

I've yet to have a black IPA that wasn't either just sort of pointlessly made black with dark but non roasty grains or that didn't go too full throttle with both roastiness and hop bitterness in a way that I find off putting. I certainly enjoy some imperial stouts that have a hefty amount of IBUs, but I don't really want west coast IPA hop levels in a dark beer. One of the few styles that I'll say "more for everyone else" about.

 

on the topic of John Kimmich, beelzebub is an awesome beer that I would probably call a black ipa. They label it an American Stout but it’s hopped quite intensely. A beautiful beer if you haven’t tried. I don’t think it’s been brewed in a while though.

 

All I've seen is the Stone. No local brewery has put on out, no other one from any brewery has shown up.

The SSR IS marvelous.

 

Totally agree with this. Beelzebub is a delicious black ipa that the brewery calls an American imperial stout.

 

Agree, that is one hoppy stout. First time I had it was on draft in Waterbury and was not expecting the hops in a stout when I ordered it, but loved it.

 

Real Ale’s Blakkr is THE best I’ve had.

 

I'm pretty sure Catamount Brewing Co. predated Noonan's Vermont Pub & Brewery by a couple of years, and the author is confusing (micro)breweries with brewpubs - licensed breweries that sold and served beer at retail, both on- and off-premise. Granted, these days the legal differences are disappearing in many states.

Vermont, like most every other US state, had to change their alcoholic beverage laws to allow brewpubs, since so-called "Tied House" regulations prohibited them. (The websites linked above confirms it).

 

I love a good black IPA and I've had some from the hip breweries that were outstanding to good. Hill Farmstead S&S 2 is the best I've had in the genre, the way they perfected the mouthfeel was amazing. Trillium Black Mettle is decent, but needs to age away the green a month or so. Tree House Raven is pretty good too and just slightly under wookey or dark penance. Agree SSR is another great one in the style. All the ones named above are in the 8+% range, so wonder if the balance of slight alcohol heat also helps the style. I also used to drink a lot of Victory Storm King which was a very hoppy stout.

 

The Black IPA style may have been pushed into the back seat, but at least it's not in the trunk. It's likely to continue to show up like a seasonal, but I doubt it will become a standard in any brewery's lineup.

Bell's re-released their Black Hearted Ale a few months ago and it flew off the store shelves. I'm guessing that it will continue as an occasional release with that kind of consumer reaction.

 

Sorry about that, I may have been a couple of beers in when I credited you with nc41's observation