Black IPA
American Black Ale
Cascadian Dark Ale
India Black Ale
Can we please pick one of these and come to some kind of a consensus?
By “new”, do you mean “about 5 years old”? :mrgreen:
This debate’s been raging for some time. Actually it was raging, then everyone just kind of stopped talking about it because nobody really cared, as many (including me) have kind of written the style off as a bit of a fad.
If I had to pick one, it would be “India Black Ale” (not on your list :mrgreen: )because its easy, pays homage to the base style, and “IBA” sounds cool
[quote=“Pietro”]By “new”, do you mean “about 5 years old”? :mrgreen:
This debate’s been raging for some time. Actually it was raging, then everyone just kind of stopped talking about it because nobody really cared, as many (including me) have kind of written the style off as a bit of a fad.
If I had to pick one, it would be “India Black Ale” (not on your list :mrgreen: )because its easy, pays homage to the base style, and “IBA” sounds cool[/quote]
Yup- I should say it’s not really new, just new to me. :lol: Though IBA sounds good, I think it should be either American Black Ale or Cascadian Dark Ale since it originated in the NorthWest.
*I edited OP
For what it is worth, I read recently that more porter was exported to India during the colonial period than pale ales. The porters were heavily hopped like what we traditionally think of as an IPA. Traditional IPAs were drunk by officers because they were expensive. Highly hopped porters were drunk by common people because they were less expensive. So maybe black IPAs are not so new.
Oh man, this just compounded the problem even further. I have new name suggestions:
-India Pale Porter
-Cascadian Export Porter
-Common Export Hopped Porter
-Black India Porter (this may be the winner. I love me some bips.), or of course,
-India Black Porter Ale Beer…India
It really is an annoying style though, aside from Black Cannon by Heavy Seas and Sublimely Self Righteous (though I haven’t had the latter in awhile). So many of them are just American Stouts.
I don’t think it’s a fad. People just tend to rebel with changes or even at the thought of something new. Who cares? I really never understand the backlash. It’s a style that can be and is brewed. It should have it’s own name and place in the BJCP guidelines or at least be a sub category of American IPA. It could be 14B-2 with American IPA being 14B.
I’ve always like Cascadian Dark Ale, but American Black Ale is growing on me.
IMO, that’s the problem with most commercial versions. I personally like a very, very slight roast/chocolate/coffee character when drinking a American Black Ale (I’m running with this name), but of course it should be very dark. Porters tend to be fuller and often sweeter than I’d want my ABA. And stouts would have much more roast character than I’d want in my ABA. I like a dry, but not heavily roasty, strong, but not sweet or full bodied, ABA.
I call it American Stout. If it doesn’t taste like a stout, then I call it American IPA with Black Food Coloring. In that case, it’s the dumbest “style” I have ever heard of. Why not use Purple Food Coloring? :evil:
[quote=“Helvetica”]Black IPA
American Black Ale
Cascadian Dark Ale
India Black Ale
Can we please pick one of these and come to some kind of a consensus?[/quote]
How about “Gimmick Beer that I Wouldn’t Put in my Mouth If You Paid Me”?
Denny’ da man!
[quote=“Denny”][quote=“Helvetica”]Black IPA
American Black Ale
Cascadian Dark Ale
India Black Ale
Can we please pick one of these and come to some kind of a consensus?[/quote]
How about “Gimmick Beer that I Wouldn’t Put in my Mouth If You Paid Me”?[/quote]
That’s a shame. Wooky Jack is a fantastic beer!
Not to further thread-jack, but I will anyway…just not a fan of FW’s beers. I’ve tried them over and over again. Maybe too much caramel malt? Metallic? I can’t quite place it, but I know I don’t dig it.
BITE YOUR TONGUE, SIR!!!
All seriousness, they are probably my favorite brewery. Union Jack, Double Jack, Wooky Jack… all fantastic. And don’t get me started on their Anniversary Blends, Parabola, Velvet Merkin… Jesus… they are all some of my favorite beers out there. I collect the Anniversary Ales. They are some of the best barrel aged beers I’ve ever had.
Nothing wrong with the beer in concept, but right now most examples I have tried sort of jumped the shark. Regardless, Black IPA is short and descriptive.
BITE YOUR TONGUE, SIR!!!
All seriousness, they are probably my favorite brewery. Union Jack, Double Jack, Wooky Jack… all fantastic. And don’t get me started on their Anniversary Blends, Parabola, Velvet Merkin… Jesus… they are all some of my favorite beers out there. I collect the Anniversary Ales. They are some of the best barrel aged beers I’ve ever had.[/quote]
I do want try their Pils that won one of the websites’ beer of the year award. Yeah, just don’t dig the others. Let me ask you, do you like Nugget Nectar (Troegs)? I know a lot of people that like it, but I just personally don’t dig. Similar beer to me as Union Jack. Just not my bag.
BITE YOUR TONGUE, SIR!!!
All seriousness, they are probably my favorite brewery. Union Jack, Double Jack, Wooky Jack… all fantastic. And don’t get me started on their Anniversary Blends, Parabola, Velvet Merkin… Jesus… they are all some of my favorite beers out there. I collect the Anniversary Ales. They are some of the best barrel aged beers I’ve ever had.[/quote]
I do want try their Pils that won one of the websites’ beer of the year award. Yeah, just don’t dig the others. Let me ask you, do you like Nugget Nectar (Troegs)? I know a lot of people that like it, but I just personally don’t dig. Similar beer to me as Union Jack. Just not my bag.[/quote]
Yup… big fan of the Nectar.
Do you like barrel aged beers? More specifically big, boozy, bourbon barrel aged stouts, porters, barley wines, strong ales, etc? Their anniversary ales are a blend of 6-8 different beers in their lineup. Most have been aged in some sort of barrel, usually bourbon. If you’re a fan of that type of beer, I highly recommend trying to find them when released. They aren’t easy to find here in Jersey, but I manage to get my hands on a few every year. I only break one of these out on very rare occasions.
I’m in the middle on this. I’m generally annoyed by the propensity to push the boundaries on everything. I have to admit that I’ve had a few examples of the “style” that I’ve rather enjoyed. Wooky Jack for sure. Sublimely Self Righteous. Boulevard Grain Storm (releases this month 
).
I’m boring. I just call it “black IPA.”
But if we didn’t push the boundaries there would be no bacon pancakes or bacon wrapped filet or cheesy bacon bombs or… or… or… we never would have put a man on the moon (but mostly the first three)
[quote=“dobe12”]
Yup… big fan of the Nectar.
Do you like barrel aged beers? More specifically big, boozy, bourbon barrel aged stouts, porters, barley wines, strong ales, etc? Their anniversary ales are a blend of 6-8 different beers in their lineup. Most have been aged in some sort of barrel, usually bourbon. If you’re a fan of that type of beer, I highly recommend trying to find them when released. They aren’t easy to find here in Jersey, but I manage to get my hands on a few every year. I only break one of these out on very rare occasions.[/quote]
Yeah, that’s probably where our tastes diverge (Nectar). I do like barrel-aged beers (particularly barrel-aging them myself!), and never turn my nose up @ a high abv beer, but at a certain point, I begin to wonder whats the point and grab a Michter’s with 2 cubes.
[quote=“dobe12”]
Their anniversary ales are a blend of 6-8 different beers in their lineup. [/quote]
So its basically a dump bucket from a competition? :mrgreen: J/k, I do believe blending is a lost art and I think its awesome when brewers can do it…(well)… I will undoubtedly give FW another shot, but its just not something I seek out.
I’d say it’s an OK beer given the hurdle they had to overcome.
