Black IPA
Alaskan Brewing Company in Juneau, Alaska, United States 🇺🇸
IPA - Black / Cascadian Dark Rotating Out of Production|
Score
7.06
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Alaskan’s spring seasonal release is a new beer experience created from a combination of traditional beer styles. Alaskan Black IPA has the appearance of a porter or stout but combines the roasted malty characters with the refreshing flavor and bright aroma of an American IPA.
Alaskan’s spring seasonal features the hop-forward profile of an IPA with the dark black color and flavors of a fuller-bodied porter. A burst of fresh, citrus notes from Cascade and Centennial hops balance the hints of coffee and bitter chocolate with a subtle toasted sweetness and dark fruit highlights leading to a pleasantly dry finish.
The Black IPA style is also known as “American-style India Black Ale” or “Cascadian Dark Ale,” and though we still may not know what to call it, we do know it’s dark, hoppy and we can’t get enough of it. Alaskan first shared their take on this new style with the limited Pilot Series release of Alaskan Double Black IPA. This spring release is a more sessionable version with the same surprising balance between hops and roasted malts.
Alaskan Black IPA is made from glacier-fed water, generous additions of Cascade, Centennial and other Pacific Northwest hops, and an array of eight different pale, caramel and chocolate malts.
The combination of big citrus and dark malt flavors make Alaskan Black IPA an outstanding pairing beer for dishes that combine sweet and savory. This includes everything from chocolate & ancho-chipotle rubbed pork, fried chicken and waffles or curried chocolate.
Alaskan’s spring seasonal features the hop-forward profile of an IPA with the dark black color and flavors of a fuller-bodied porter. A burst of fresh, citrus notes from Cascade and Centennial hops balance the hints of coffee and bitter chocolate with a subtle toasted sweetness and dark fruit highlights leading to a pleasantly dry finish.
The Black IPA style is also known as “American-style India Black Ale” or “Cascadian Dark Ale,” and though we still may not know what to call it, we do know it’s dark, hoppy and we can’t get enough of it. Alaskan first shared their take on this new style with the limited Pilot Series release of Alaskan Double Black IPA. This spring release is a more sessionable version with the same surprising balance between hops and roasted malts.
Alaskan Black IPA is made from glacier-fed water, generous additions of Cascade, Centennial and other Pacific Northwest hops, and an array of eight different pale, caramel and chocolate malts.
The combination of big citrus and dark malt flavors make Alaskan Black IPA an outstanding pairing beer for dishes that combine sweet and savory. This includes everything from chocolate & ancho-chipotle rubbed pork, fried chicken and waffles or curried chocolate.
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7.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8
Purchased at Breeze Thru Wine & Spirits in Milwaukee, WI; enjoyed on an unusually warm last night of January. Appearance is black, not too thick, with a rich off white head that laces to the glass. Aroma is unusual, the bottom of the description is ’chicken & waffles’ and I kind of get that, it’s really faint, more of the yeasty elements come out in the nose. Taste is good, but it’s not IPA like at all...not getting any bitterness or citrus notes, more of a chocolate malt with ale yeast quality, which is still good, but it’s not a black IPA. Medium carbonation with light to medium body. It’s pretty good, Alaskan does a good job with dark ales.
Tried
on 31 Jan 2012
at 16:18
6.9/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 6.5
Bottle @ home. I enjoyed the Double Black IPA version that these guys released, so hopefully this is similar. Black appearance with a small, brown head. Very roasty, dark chocolate malty, espresso, cocoa, moderately piney/herbal hoppy aroma. Bitter, roasty chocolate malty, piney, organic hoppy flavor. Pretty good but not excellent.
Tried
from Bottle
on 28 Jan 2012
at 22:07
6.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
12 oz. bottle, pours a dark brown with a small white head. Aroma of roasted malt, hops, licorice and some sweetness. Flavour of roasted malts upfront, with very bitter hops to finish. Not so well balanced, with a high astringency on the second half of the palate. Decent.
Tried
from Bottle
on 28 Jan 2012
at 13:14
6.9/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Pour is very dark ruby, nearly black - moderate tan lace - smell is more like a hoppy stout - quite a bit of dark malt, chocolate, anise, char - there is some fairly strong, woody hop character as well, which well with the more roasty notes, so overall the aroma is very pleasant, if not completely to style - flavor is drier than the aroma suggests - quite roasty and bitter - first, the bitterness of dark malt, followed by some char, then some fairly strong, woody hops - pretty acidic on the tail end - a little bit of licorice - decent flavors happening, but unlike better examples, where the hops and darker malts play off of each other, their character here never seems to completely come together - a decent beer, but it could be a lot better.
Tried
on 27 Jan 2012
at 19:15
7.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Pours a dark, brownish-black with a good, mid-sized head that is pretty firm. Floral, hoppy aroma. Flavor of roasted malt with strong hop presence in the background. Some coffee and chocolate, as well as some citrus, with a rather bitter finish to the whole.
Tried
on 21 Jan 2012
at 12:36
7.8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7
Tap. Almost black color, beige head. Aroma of pine, light coffee, cocoa. Taste is similar. Nice mouthfeel.
Tried
from Draft
on 20 Jan 2012
at 00:46
6.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 7
On tap at Republic bar. Black color. Mild aroma of hops and roasted grain. Flavor is mild hops also, as well as roasted malt with oatmeal. Very smooth palate, but I would like more intense flavor.
Tried
from Draft
on 15 Jan 2012
at 11:06
7.5/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
12oz bottle. Brown-black amber. Thin beige head. Quite reminiscent of Sierra Nevada Stout in some respects, this is a really solid, well executed beer. Its more on the roasty chocolate side of the spectrum, lots of hop character still, but doesn’t really have that minty bitterness or syrupy that screams Black IPA...which makes it a little more sessionable. Still a really good beer.
Tried
from Bottle
on 12 Jan 2012
at 20:32