Out of all the IPA substyles out
there, Black IPA is perhaps the most maligned and least credited, a
contradiction in terms and a literal oxymoron to drinkers, its very status has
confounded people since it first came on the scene in the 1990’s. The BJCP
designated it as beer that features the dryness, hop-forward balance and
flavours of an American IPA but darker in colour, where dark malts are added to
give a gentle and supportive flavour rather than give a strongly roasted and
astringent note. Garrett Oliver, founder and brewmaster of Brooklyn Brewery
added “most use dehusked dark malts to avoid a clash
between hop bitterness and the acridity that conventional roasted malts can
lend to beers.” Black
IPA as Badger Brewery once described brings together the best of both worlds,
the roasted malt notes of a porter/ stout with vibrant citrussy hoppiness of an
IPA. Like most IPA substyles, with the likes of Black IPA, hops take centre
stage when it comes to aroma and flavour, as Nick Carr elucidates “hop flavour will be a low-medium venturing into the high
range, and can bring notes of berry, pine (resinous), tropical, stone fruit,
citrus, and melon. Some fruity elements are acceptable, whether from hops or
yeast, however, they are not necessary for the style.” Although breweries have been producing
heavily hopped stouts and porters as far back as the 19th century, the first official Black IPA was Blackwatch Black
IPA (5.8%) produced in 1990 by Greg Noonan and Glenn Walter of Vermont Pub
& Brewery in Burlington, Vermont, five years later Jimmy Kimmich joined the
team and refined the recipe, introducing Carafa Special 3 malt into the mix, a
German variety which he recently came across, a de-husked malt that gave German
beers like Dark Lager and Hefeweizens their colour and breaded notes, but
without overwhelming their subtle hoppy character. This proved to be a game-changer,
and Kimmich became one of the early proponents of this style of beer. Jermey
Furzy notes “the modern black IPA likely emerged in
part due to the popularity of Dogfish Head’s Indian Brown Ale. First brewed in
1999, this beer opened the door for a hoppy ale brewed with darker malts.” By 2003, Black IPAs
were beginning to gather pace from breweries based in the Pacific north-west
with the likes of Skull Splitter (9.2%) – Rogue Ales and Skookum
Cascadian Dark (7.3%) – Phillips Brewing coming on the scene, these were
later joined by the likes of Self-Righteous Black IPA (8.7%) - Stones
and James (7.2%) – Hill Farmstead which were hugely influential for the
emerging movement as it took hold in the US.
By the end of the noughties this style had become very popular especially in
the west-coast, Em Saunter states “Black IPAs had a
huge moment in 2010 when they became very popular, especially on the west coast
of America where hops are grown. Many large breweries had commercially made
black IPAs and it was in demand.” At the Great
American Beer Festival 2010, the Brewers Association officially recognised
Black IPA as a legitimate beer style, and 53 entries appeared at the festival
that year.
Meanwhile over on home-soil, Black
Mass (6.66%) – Abbeydale which was first released in 1996, was effectively
the very first Black IPA developed in the UK, despite it not being labelled at
the time. Heavily hopped, with a predominant use of Cascade, along with
Columbus, Galaxy and Green Bullet. This was complemented by a six-malt base,
gathering notes of bitter chocolate, fruitcake, coffee and raisins making it a
beast of a beer as notably described; yet at the time the notion of a heavily
hopped dark ale was seen as a one-off curiosity and was quietly put aside.
While the likes of Black IPAs were increasingly becoming predominant in the US
during the noughties, it was largely ignored in the UK. One of the few outliers
in the wilderness during this time was Black Ice (4.1%) by Titanic in
2006, a hop-forward dark ale brewed with Cascade and Herkules, with strong
citrus notes from the hops cutting through the initial dry notes, a hoppy
finish helps round it off along with subtle hints of chocolate. The beer was
initially developed as a winter seasonal, before being bottled and sold all
year round, yet at the time it was labelled as a Mild due to the lack of
awareness for Black IPA at the time.
Just as its appeal was peaking in the US around 2010, Jonny Garrett
notes that the increase in popularity for Black IPA in the UK was facilitated
by the ascent of the craft beer movement, noting “some
of the country’s early leading lights—BrewDog, The Kernel, Beavertown Brewery,
Magic Rock Brewing, Buxton Brewery—all had one in their core range, or at least
brewed regular Black IPA seasonals. To British breweries opening in the early
2010s, having a Black IPA was proof that you were taking this “craft” thing
seriously.” This new generation
of brewers took interest in the buzz that was taking place across the pond, and
were keen to have a slice of the pie. Soon as a result, during the early 2010’s
the rate of Black IPAs produced in the UK gradually increased as brewers flocked
to take advantage of this veritable gold rush of innovation. Thornbridge was an
early proponent of Black IPA in the UK, launched in 2005, the brewery initially
focussed on developing cask beers that utilized traditional recipes, but with a
modern twist through the innovative use of hops and malts. Gradually they took
influence from popular international beer styles like the emerging Black IPAs
in the US, and in 2009 they released Raven (6.6%),
that featured a combination of American and New Zealand hops including
Centennial and Nelson Sauvin, that gives its piney, fruity character, along
with Sorachi Ace that adds aromas of cocoanuts and citrus fruit. Louis Gunz
described it at the time “Raven is a massively hopped
Black IPA. It pours black as night, has a beautiful intense aroma of pine and
sweet roasted malt, citrus and blackcurrants. Flavours are a complex
combination of bitter chocolate with pineapple and orange preceding a long bitter
finish.” Since it was first
launched Raven has become hugely successful, winning a raft of awards and
becoming one of Thornbridge’s most noteworthy products. The subsequent success
of Raven effectively led the charge for the emergence of Black IPAs in the UK,
and as the new decade dawned, Black IPA would soon take the UK brewing industry
by storm.
2011 proved to be a fruitful year
for Black IPAs, on 9th January, Kernel launched their Black IPA
(6.3%) at the Rake Bar, London; members of the London Brewery Alliance
were invited to the launch. Meanwhile, St. Austell developed Proper Black
(6%), an alternative version of the brewery’s flagship product Proper
Job (5.5%). The beer used a multitude of hops, including Brewer’s Gold,
Chinook, Centennial and Cascade, Beer Today described it as “black with the faintest hint of red and a thick, foaming tan
head. The aroma is piney hops, with a little chocolate malt in the background.
On the palate, there’s resinous, grassy hop notes dominating an edge of cocoa
and bitter coffee. A great example of the black IPA style.” It would
subsequently go onto becoming a popular product for the brewery, appearing in
their regular range for the next several years. Likewise, the same year, Moor
Beer Co. released Illusion (4.5%) a session Black IPA, Bristol Beer
Factory debuted India Ink (6.5%), in May, Buxton showcased their newly
released Black Rocks (5.5%) at the Stockport Beer Festival, Brodies
produced Dalston Black (7%). one of the first bottled conditioned Black
IPAs which Matt Curtis summed up “the malts in the beer
are never overpowering and the notes of coffee I often get with this style that
I would normally associate with a great stout are very muted but provide a
study scaffold for the resinous, zesty flavour.” Meanwhile, the
newly launched Windsor & Eton brewery released Conqueror (5%),
described as a rich and complex ale brewed with five different malts, along
with Summit and Cascade hops, to produce and potent combination of roasted
flavours balanced with a pine-hop aroma. Simon Martin from Real Ale Craft Beer
proclaimed “it’s a good bittered beer, grapefruit,
orange zest going on in the beer too, and then right at the end, when you’re
just about to think where’s the chocolate malt, it kicks in right at the end,
very subtlety.” It
would subsequently go on to be sold in bottle and cask as a part of their
regular range, becoming one of their most popular products, and inspiring a
number of spin-offs.
As the year came to an end, Brewsters joined the fray with Cruella (4.8%),
sold as part of the brewery’s Wicked Women range of limited release beers;
described as a dramatic beer, it was developed in tribute to the foremost
villain of 101 Dalmatians. In December, Magic Rock released Magic 8 Ball
(7%) that fused speciality malts with new world hops to create a tropical
punchbowl of flavours and aromas, it was subsequently sold in cask, keg and
bottles. As 2012 dawned, Stewart Brewing produced Black IPA (5%),
initially developed for a beer challenge the beer soon became widely popular,
even winning Silver at the 2012 International Beer Challenge, which prompted
the brewery to put it on regular release, the following month Kent Brewery introduced their first Black IPA Engima (5.5%). Meanwhile, in March, Brewdog debuted
their Libertine Black Ale (7.2%), which was marketed as a voluptuous
beast of a beer noted for its hop flavours and complex malt profile, whilst
Buxton released Imperial Black (7.5%), one of the first Imperial Black
IPAs, it was described on its labels as a game changing beer with abundant
fresh hop aromas of zesty citrus pulp and forest fruits, complemented by a
roasted malt base. And Otley went in for the pun with Oxymoron (5.5%),
noted for using German Carafa malt and 5 different hops, with dry hopping for
added flavour. Boak and Bailey were left perplexed, noting at the time, “we detected an alluring hint of smokiness and a clanging
grapefruit acid note. Much as we enjoyed it, we’re not sure the effect was
deliberate, or that it is really an IPA in any meaningful sense.” Later that year,
Salopian produced their first Black IPA, Vertigo (7.2%) bottled
conditioned in 330ml bottles it was described as full bodied with chocolaty
orange notes and aromas reminiscent of green hops, moreover Conwy planted the flag for Wales
with Riptide (4.6%), brewed with US hops including Columbus, Cascade and
Mosaic, it was effectively a tribute to the hoppy aromas of the American IPA,
this beer was later retailed in cask and bottle as part of their regular range,
becoming one of the most widely sold Black IPAs in Wales. North of the border, Fyne Ales debuted Sanda
Black (5.5%), named after the Sanda lighthouse, located off the southern
tip of the Mull of Kintyre in southwestern Scotland. It was developed as a cask
special, as part of their IPA project exploring malt and hop combinations on
different styles of hop-forward beers. It was brewed with Citra and Nelson
Sauvin hops, along with five types of malt, including Maris Otter, Wheat,
Crystal Malt, Carafa Special 3 and Black Malt; the Ormskirk Baron described it
as having “bold flavours with aromas of passion fruit
and gooseberry burst onto your taste buds before being balanced by roasted
chocolate smoothness.” Meanwhile, the
recently launched Beavertown Brewery hopped onto the Black IPA bandwagon with Black
Betty (7.3%), developed as a homage to penny Sweet Shops, reminiscent of
black jacks and fruit salads, the brewery described it as having “tropical fruit flavours offset with liquorice and chocolatey
malts, not for the faint hearted.” It gathered a
mixed response, Boak and Bailey noted “complex and
interesting, then, and exhibiting a distinctive brewery character. It won’t be
to everyone’s taste, but beers that aren’t to everyone’s taste are what we’d
like to see more of,” while Patrick O’ Connor was more favourable “Black Betty is a mouth filling full-bodied brew. This beer
is loaded with a wide range of flavours; dark chocolate, caramel and roasted
malt leading into some tropical flavours. All topped off with loads of malt.” In the space of
two years, a number of breweries across the UK produced a multitude of Black
IPAs, this sudden growth in popularity was due to the craft beer boom, where
consumers favoured more artisanal produced products over mass-market brands.
Yet, the very thing that facilitated it success would soon prove its
undoing.
List of Refernces
Patrick
O’Connor, Bevvy of the Week: Beavertown – Black Betty, The Life of Stuff, 11th
March 2017
