Comments on a swift one...: Black IPA - Why ?

As far as my knowledge stretches, the term 'Bl...

2012-02-10T13:07:38.548Z

As far as my knowledge stretches, the term 'Black IPA' is a British invention. The Americans were the first to brew beers of this type, and they were, for once, sensible with naming their new style of beer.
As mentioned in an earlier comment they came up with the idea of 'Imperial Black Ale', and I agree with the comments made about the name, as a lot of Black IPAs are not up to a percentage to be classed as 'Imperial'. But names such as India Black Ale, India Brown Ale and Cascadian Dark Ale seem to fit the beers better, and would also prevent confusion upon ordering.
Why these names were never accepted on this side of the pond is beyond me.

the term 'black IPA' is perhaps unfortunat...

2012-01-11T10:26:33.003Z

the term 'black IPA' is perhaps unfortunate, but IMO is the most accurate description of (most of!) these beers: IPA body, IPA bitterness, IPA hops, but, er, black. as mentioned above the best use Carafa Spezial to add colour but not flavour - so in no way can they be considered hoppy porter/stout as they are bereft of roast barley, chocolate malt, burnt malt, etc, and generally don't have the body associated with stouts & porters.

maybe 'IDA' or 'IBA' would have been a better name, but for whatever reason that's not what stuck.

and lets be honest, it's not the first brewing oxymoron.. after all, we've all had dunkel weißbier...

I think it's a combination of the brewers havi...

2012-01-09T23:23:06.893Z

I think it's a combination of the brewers having a little oxymoronic fun and using the IPA label so punters can identify them as beers they may potentially enjoy... I love them, especially Thornbridge Raven, what a drop!

The first posters India Pitch Black Ale is fair en...

2012-01-09T22:53:52.752Z

The first posters India Pitch Black Ale is fair enough, that oi likes yeps i does. Gud usings a English word is well impotant!! But how many 'Indian Pale Ales' have any connection with India in anything other than historical context? I don't like the term black I.P.A but some of the beers are very enjoyable indeed, even if for my personal taste i have had more 'misses' than 'hits'.

No, no and thrice no! If I saw a new beer called ...

2012-01-09T16:40:48.018Z

No, no and thrice no!

If I saw a new beer called West Highland Black I would expect it to be a traditional stout. The addition of 'IPA' lets me know that we are dealing with a very different beast.

And it is indeed diferent. These are not hoppy stouts or porters because they include little or none of the richly roasted malt that characterises those beers. The best black IPAs use a de-husked Bavarian malt that gives a much gentler roast taste. Add plenty of aromatic new world hops and you have a distinctive, and in my opinion delicious, style of beer.

As I enjoy black IPAs I naturally want to know when one appears on the bar: ie I want the description with which I am familiar to appear on the pump clip. Yes, it would probably have been better if an alternative name had been adopted in the first place, one that didn't have pedants across the land frothing at the mouth: but that horse is long gone. This is a great style of beer: who cares if the name is not ideal?

Thanks to the Grove for giving lovers of the dark hoppy stuff a late Christmas present this weekend. Buxton's Imperial Black is as splendid as Black Rocks, but with a little bit more of everything; and West Highland Black IPA is one of the best beers on the planet.

Tim the younger.

..."not easy to brew"... - Not easy to d...

2012-01-09T15:06:43.009Z

..."not easy to brew"... - Not easy to drink either! Yeuch!

I'm with you on this one Tim. It winds me up n...

2012-01-09T12:59:36.905Z

I'm with you on this one Tim. It winds me up no end. It would be far more innovative to come up with a sensible, more descriptive name for these beers rather than jumping on a hopefully evaporating into the sunset, wagon!

Eevryone knows what an IPA tastes like, adding the...

2012-01-09T11:02:02.688Z

Eevryone knows what an IPA tastes like, adding the descriptor "black" prevents shock at point of purchase. IPA long ago stopped meaning "India Pale Ale" in the true sense. Beer styles evolve, yes it could be a hoppy porter, and some do taste like that, whereas others could be pale if you closed your eyes. There's no problem as I see it and Black IPa is certainly preferable to "imperial" black ale...which imperial court is it aimed at eh?

"I accept that to use the hop character of an...

2012-01-09T10:51:22.367Z

"I accept that to use the hop character of an IPA and adding darker malts creates some sort of hybrid , but is that enough to justify a new genre of beer?"
Clearly yes and one that adds a bit of interest, and if not interest then a talking point, if not a talking point then a bit of fun in an industry where people forget to laugh once in a while. I get where you are coming from, but I don't understand why people get so worked up about it? It's a beer. Might I add that the Black IPA's you have tried are not easy to brew, and as you point out, achieving the desired balance of dark malts and IPA hop character is a challenge. So maybe this is about brewing innovation? granted that the name is an oxymoron, but that really doesn't matter, does it? Cascadian Dark Ale, or an India Pitch Black Ale as I named my homebrew effort, it's just a name.