[Pinski]

Crossdressing Amateur
That's what I'm calling this "style" from now on.
I refuse to call it Cascadian because it probably originated with the late great Greg Noonan in Vermont.
I don't like calling it Black Pale Ale because that's stupid.
I find the better examples pretty good in that they look darker than they taste, giving it an interesting juxtaposition.  More refreshing than a stout or a porter with just the tiniest bit of roast.  The ones I don't care for are the overly roasty ones.  The flavors just don't seem pleasant to me.
Yes, I too think it's a fad.  Last year it was IIPA, a couple of years ago everybody was making Saisons.  Before that it was wood-aged beers.  When will it be Ordinary Bitter?

Seems to me like it already is.

[smoga]

....  When will it be Ordinary Bitter?

The one of the guys in the local Brewing club has started a annual celebration of Ordinary bitter - essentially, low gravity cask conditioned ales - it flies in the face of the "bigger is better" trend in brewing. You never know; It could be getting trendy...

[gordonstrong]

I recently turned in a "Session Beers" article to BYO.  So somebody's interested.

I talked on another thread about going to Blackstone in Nashville and getting perfectly normal beers, well crafted.  It was so refreshing.  I'm so tired of extreme everything.  How about something you can actually drink rather than just sample?

[micsager]

I brewed a W10 Black IPA clone that was in BYO last year.  I've tweaked the recipe a bit, and now it's one of my staples.  I don't really care whether it's a new "style" or not.  I like it.

What I'd like to know is the history of other "new" beer styles.  There are many recognized styles that are not all that different, so maybe these should have their own as well. 

As for the "black IPA" being an oxymoron, big deal.  There are many such phrases in our language.

[anthony]

I almost think that the competition mentality pushes a lot of brewers, commercial and homebrew, into these "extreme everything" sorts of phases. You enter a bunch of well-brewed beers into a competition that target the lower to middle end of the style guidelines and be confused when you receive a bunch of 30's back on your score sheets...

One experiment I'd like to do one of these days is enter fresh, well-cared for commercial examples into a home brew competition, making sure that the organizers are aware of it and exclude them from ribbon contention. In categories like Pale Ale, IPA, Stout, and Strong Ales, I doubt the commercial beers would consistently place in the top-3 and it isn't because homebrewed beers are so much better than commercial beer; it is more about the lack of emphasis on drinkability in judging... just my 2c anyhow.

[Will's Swill]

I'll go against most of the grain here and say that I actually enjoy this style, whatever you'd like to call it.  It's actually somewhat amusing that there's so much angst about how to name the style.  Seriously, this is worth getting worked up about?  I call mine a Colorado Black Ale, but whatever.  Anyway, I got turned on to, uh, black, hoppy, not-pale ales when trying the original Avery New World Porter.  REALLY liked that.  They replaced it in their line up with their Baltic Porter, which to me was not nearly as good.  Now it's back, but they seemed to have changed it up in response to what I admit is a bit faddish and I don't find it the same. 

I don't know if the style has legs or if it should be included as part of existing styles.  But then there are a bunch of more similar style categories out there already, witness Lite American Lager, Standard American Lager, Premium American Lager, Cat Piss, the list goes on.  Examples that  I enjoy of the beer style that shall not be named (and I admit good examples are hard to find commercially) have more finishing hops than a robust porter, and less roast and way more finishing hops than the various stouts.

Does it deserve it's own category?  Who cares!

Should it be called Black IPA?  Well, any craft beer drinker that comes across a Black IPA would know exactly what is meant by the name without having ever heard the name before, despite the misnomer.  Cascadian Dark Ale?  Maybe.

OK folks, the fire extinguisher is handy...

[maxieboy]

To each his own. Heard of it, never had it, not really interested in brewing it. The classics, well made, are where it's at maaannn... 

[ckpash88]

Opinions are like butt holes everyone has one and they all stink. Like you said to each their own. You can't rag on a person for what they like it's like being mad at the sky for being blue.

[tschmidlin]

Put me in the column of "it's not the same as a porter or stout".  Why do I say that?  Because I really like porters and stouts.  CDAs . . . they're growing on me, but it wasn't love at first sip.  A CDA is to an IPA what a Schwarzbier is to a Pilsner.  Is it a passing fad?  I don't know, but I see an awful lot of them around here, with more coming out all of the time.  Should it have it's own style?  I think that's up to Gordon.

As for the name . . . I refuse to call it a Black IPA.  Don't like the name CDA?  Come up with something else, I don't care as long as it makes some sense.

[Will's Swill]

Amen.

[pyrite]

Put me in the column of "it's not the same as a porter or stout".  Why do I say that?  Because I really like porters and stouts.  CDAs . . . they're growing on me, but it wasn't love at first sip.  A CDA is to an IPA what a Schwarzbier is to a Pilsner.  Is it a passing fad?  I don't know, but I see an awful lot of them around here, with more coming out all of the time.  Should it have it's own style?  I think that's up to Gordon.

As for the name . . . I refuse to call it a Black IPA.  Don't like the name CDA?  Come up with something else, I don't care as long as it makes some sense.

umm, perhaps Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale, like stone calls it. I don't know if the fad has even reached the masses yet.  I don't even think the masses even know the style exists.

[bluesman]

I've had a few examples that were okay but I like my IPA's ...well let's just say pale. I wasn't super impressed with any of the examples that I've had, not to say they were bad because they were okay.

I find the slight roast present in them to be a distraction from the main event which is the "hops with a supporting malt presence".

They are in my estimation variations of American Stouts. I certainly wouldn't want to discourage anyone from making one but if I want a dark hoppy beer, I much prefer the stouts and porters. Just my opinion.

All I'm saying is that it was kind of a strange experience.  For what ever that's worth.
-J.K.L.

After all of the hype over this beer my expectations were set pretty high, so suffice it to say that after I tasted one for the first time I was sadly disappointed.

The beer style may grow on me but for now it's "meh".

[jeffy]

It really depends on which example you tried.  They all seem to have drastically different levels of roast.  I like the less roasty ones.

[bluesman]

It really depends on which example you tried.  They all seem to have drastically different levels of roast.  I like the less roasty ones.

Right.

I tried Yakima Glory (BA gives it a B+), Black Cannon (BA gives a B+) and Stone Sublimey (BA gives a A-). I preferred the Black Cannon of the three but again I like my IPA's and then I like my Souts and Porters. YMMV.

[JKL]

I like my IPA's and then I like my Stouts and Porters.

+1 

I think the next time I want a commercial, black as night, high test, high IBU ale. I'll just pick up some Old Raspy.
-J.K.L.