Oregon Brew Crew Announces New Homebrew Competition, The “Heart of Cascadia” for CDA

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tedassur

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Portland, OR - Attention all homebrewers! The Oregon Brew Crew (OBC) homebrewing club is excited to announce its first Heart of Cascadia CDA Homebrew Competition sponsored by Brew Brothers Homebrew Products. A BJCP (BJCP.org) Sanctioned competition, the Heart of Cascadia is open to entries from all national and international homebrewers.

Cascadian Dark Ales (CDAs) are a decidedly Northwest take on an emerging style with various names. “Black” IPA’s, India “Dark” Ales, American-Style India Black Ale are all names you've probably heard. CDAs are dark, with a mild roast character, and dominant hop nose and flavor. The CDA takes it up a notch and highlights the Northwest hop drive and flavors.

The Heart of Cascadia is an expansion of the club’s Fall Classic competition, where the Cascadian Dark Ale has been featured as a special style for the last two years. Due to the popularity of the style, the OBC has decided to host a competition to raise awareness of CDAs and the local roots of this style.

Registration is available on the OBC website, www.oregonbrewcrew.org/heart-of-cascadia. The entry fee is only $7 per beer.

All entries are due by April 12, 2013. Drop off locations include FH Steinbart in Portland, and Brew Brothers in Hillsboro. Check out the website for the full list of drop-off sites.

Judging will be held April 20, and the winner will be announced that afternoon. Entries will be judged based on the proposed BJCP style guidelines. Guidelines and judging location are listed on the club website. This competition will follow all AHA/BJCP rules, available at http://www.bjcp.org/rules.php.

The winner will receive a $150 gift certificate from Brew Brothers and a personalized commemorative glass.

For questions or more information, send an email to [email protected].

Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, the Oregon Brew Crew is one of the oldest and largest home brewing clubs in the United States. We are a non-profit organization dedicated to the education and advancement of home brewing and beer appreciation.
 
I'm gonna dry hop mine in a week but I'm worried it might lose too much hop aroma by the competition. I think I might brew another one just in case.
 
Brewed mine yesterday, by far the most hops I've used in a brew. But the hoppiest so far is only an APA so....
This will be my first dry hopping experience too, well this and a Cal Common I'm doing at the same time.
 
Awesome news everyone!

In case you missed it on the website, Buckman Botanical Brewing has agreed to brew the winning recipe on their 15bbl system for a release throughout Portland later this year!

Also, Brew Brothers is promoting this competition in their national ads in homebrew magazines. I'm excited to see some attempts at stealing the Heart of Cascadia by someone from Philadelphia, or heck, Hungary! Show us how it's done!
 
Awesome news everyone!

In case you missed it on the website, Buckman Botanical Brewing has agreed to brew the winning recipe on their 15bbl system for a release throughout Portland later this year!

Also, Brew Brothers is promoting this competition in their national ads in homebrew magazines. I'm excited to see some attempts at stealing the Heart of Cascadia by someone from Philadelphia, or heck, Hungary! Show us how it's done!

Nice!
 
I am in it. I saw there were 70 paid and received entries. Should be a healthy competition. Judging starts at Green Dragon at 8:55AM and is expected to be complete sometime around noon, possibly as late as 4PM.

Anyone attending?
 
Happy to have brewed the winning recipe in the heart of Cascadia here in Portland, Oregon. This is my favorite beer style and hope it turns out good on the 15bbl system.
 
I didn't really think I liked CDA's until I started trying them at different breweries so I could learn what they taste like and make my own for this competition. Now I love them and order one whenever I see it on tap. I know I advanced to the best of show and got a score of 41 but haven't got my scoresheet back yet. I'm curious what the judges have to say so I can adjust my recipe on their advice. Congrats on the win!
 
Mine didn't fair so well, but like you, I've grown into a fan of this style and want to help push for Cascadian Dark Ale to become a bjcp recognized category.
Calling it a black or dark ipa is silly and also creates confusion especially amongst the commercial guys I've noticed. So many brewers are just hopping up a stout or porter, or they're just adding some dark malts to an ipa for color, both resulting in a weak representation of the style.
 
Happy to have brewed the winning recipe in the heart of Cascadia here in Portland, Oregon. This is my favorite beer style and hope it turns out good on the 15bbl system.

I know that its being distributed locally after being brewed? Or just at Buckman?

Im curious to try out the winning recipe, but no real information on when its being brewed or where its going to be served came out...
 
I'm not too sure either, but I know I will be participating in the brew at Buckman on May 16th and the planned release date is June 10th. I will post updates here when I know more about if it will be draft only, or bottles, or what.
 
I know that its being distributed locally after being brewed? Or just at Buckman?

Im curious to try out the winning recipe, but no real information on when its being brewed or where its going to be served came out...

BTW, I'm checking out your fermentation monitor. Really cool, I might make one, need to get some soldering supplies and skills first though.
 
As of today, the following locations have agreed to pick up at least a keg of the winning CDA:

Green Dragon
Rogue Hall
Rogue Pearl District
Beer Mongers
Blitz Ladd
EastBurn
Hawthorne Hophouse
Bottles
15th Avenue Hophouse
Beer
Concordia
Saraveza
The Hoppy Brewer
Bridgetown Beerhouse
NWIPA (1/4 BBL)
Caps & Corks (1/4 BBL)
Baileys
 
Calling it a black or dark ipa is silly and also creates confusion especially amongst the commercial guys I've noticed.

I am more and more convinced that they are different styles. CDAs tend to have a more pronounced malt backbone and roastiness, whereas Black IPAs/American Dark Ales are basically... black IPAs - same recipe as an IPA with a dehusked roasted malt added.
 
I am more and more convinced that they are different styles. CDAs tend to have a more pronounced malt backbone and roastiness, whereas Black IPAs/American Dark Ales are basically... black IPAs - same recipe as an IPA with a dehusked roasted malt added.
Well people need to at least stop calling something black/dark and pale at the same time.
 
I am more and more convinced that they are different styles. CDAs tend to have a more pronounced malt backbone and roastiness, whereas Black IPAs/American Dark Ales are basically... black IPAs - same recipe as an IPA with a dehusked roasted malt added.

I thought it was the other way around. Every Black IPA I've tasted was malty, sweet, and roasty. The best CDAs I've had have been basically what you described as a black IPA. :confused:
 
Regardless of what they are called I want to make one. Vegan, you wouldn't be willing to post a recipe for those of us outside Oregon would you?
 
Regardless of what they are called I want to make one. Vegan, you wouldn't be willing to post a recipe for those of us outside Oregon would you?

Sure, the recipe is in my sig with notes on what I'm going to change on the next round. Minor adjustments.
 
I thought it was the other way around. Every Black IPA I've tasted was malty, sweet, and roasty. The best CDAs I've had have been basically what you described as a black IPA. :confused:

This is why it is good it isn't a recognized style. Whatever name or guidelines they give it will piss off the other half of the brewers and lock the style down. What happens next year when people are brewing "black imperial ipa's", "black belgian ipas", "black white ipas", "black english ipas", "cascadian dark wheat beers", etc? If anything they should combine some of the styles not make new ones. If you love CDAs, brew them. If you want to enter them, isn't category 23 just filled with Black IPA/CDAs these days anyways?
 
This is why it is good it isn't a recognized style. Whatever name or guidelines they give it will piss off the other half of the brewers and lock the style down. What happens next year when people are brewing "black imperial ipa's", "black belgian ipas", "black white ipas", "black english ipas", "cascadian dark wheat beers", etc? If anything they should combine some of the styles not make new ones. If you love CDAs, brew them. If you want to enter them, isn't category 23 just filled with Black IPA/CDAs these days anyways?

I don't know about competitions, this was the first one I've entered. I brewed this to the Cascadian Dark Ale category standards as listed on the competition's website. Here's what they had:

Here’s a look at the Cascadian Dark Ale style as described by Brewer’s Association. It’s a little bit different than your Black IPA guidelines and tends to be less roasty and more citrusy. (Continue down for recipe, results, and tasting notes)

Cascadian Dark Ale:

IBUs: 60-90+
Color: 40+ SRM
OG: 1.060-1.075 (15-18 P)
FG: 1.008-1.016 (2-4 P)
ABV: 6-7.75%

Aroma: Prominent NW hop aromas: citrus, pine, resinous, sweet malt, hints of roast, toast, chocolate malt, and/or Carafa back-up the hops. Dry hopped character is often present. No diacetyl, esters generally range from low to none. Though the resinous, piney, and citrus hop aroma generally comes from NW American hop varieties, hops of other origins may be used to achieve this character.

Appearance: Deep brown to black with ruby highlights. Head varies from white to tan/khaki, and is generally long-lasting.

Flavor: A balance between piney, citrus-like and spicy NW hop flavor, bitterness, caramel malt,and roast, chocolate, or Carafa-type malts. Roast character ranges from subtle to medium. Black malt is acceptable at low levels, but should
not be astringent. Intense ashy, burnt character is not appropriate. Caramel malt is acceptable at low levels but the finish should be dry. Diacetyl should not be present. Emphasis should be on hop flavor, which when combined with roast/black malts often exhibits a minty, spicy character.

Mouthfeel: Light to medium, hop bitterness and tannins from roast malts combine to create a dry mouthfeel. Resinous character from high levels of dry hopping may create a tongue coating sensation.

Overall Impression: A highly-hopped, medium-bodied dark ale, similar in many ways to a strong version of American IPA, except that it incorporates dark malts and signature NW hop varieties, sometimes in conjunction with fruity esters. Bitterness and body is much closer to an IPA balance than a strong ale or American stout. Finish is a nuanced interplay of hop and roast bitterness to create a dry quenching impression. Alcohol can accentuate the roast character in stronger
versions.
 
theveganbrewer said:
Sure, the recipe is in my sig with notes on what I'm going to change on the next round. Minor adjustments.

Ah. I check on my phone so I don't see signatures. This is going in for my next brew.
 
And the BJCP has the American-style India black ale. Their description:

American-stlye India Black Ale has medium high to high hop bitterness, flavor and aroma with medium-high alcohol content,
balanced with a medium body. The style is further characterized by a moderate degree of caramel malt character and medium to
strong dark roasted malt flavor and aroma. High astringency and high degree of burnt roast malt character should be absent. Fruity,
floral and herbal character from hops of all origins may contribute to aroma and flavor.

Original Gravity (ºPlato) 1.056-1.075 (14-18.2 ºPlato) ● Apparent Extract/Final Gravity (ºPlato) 1.012-1.018 (3-4.5 ºPlato) ●
Alcohol by Weight (Volume) 5-6% (6 -7.5%) ● Bitterness (IBU) 50-70 ● Color SRM (EBC) 25+ (50+ EBC)

Key differences are the amount of roast and the types of hop aroma. The American IBA has more caramel and dark roasted malt and fruity, herbal hops. The CDA would have less roast, citrusy hops, and possibly more bitterness and alcohol content.

I don't see a problem having the two styles, I think they are significantly different. Maybe a stickup is more a line of thought that for example there's 1 IPA category, doesn't matter if you have fruity hops or citrus hops, it's still an IPA. You can have an IPA with a lot of crystal malt, or one with none, still an IPA.
 
I thought it was the other way around. Every Black IPA I've tasted was malty, sweet, and roasty. The best CDAs I've had have been basically what you described as a black IPA. :confused:

I think you're right and I was confused. I think we'll agree that there are definitely regional differences.

As for the Black IPA name, it doesn't really bother me, but I think American Dark Ale/American Hoppy Dark are good compromise names.

For the BJCP, they should just create a specialty IPA category that would include Black IPAs, White IPAs, Belgian IPAs and all the other variations that are not covered by the existing styles.
 
I just got back from brewing this on the 15bbl system. I just want to say thank you to Ted, the Oregon Brew Crew, and Danny at Buckman Botanical Brewing for putting together one heck of a homebrew competition. What a great experience. Hope all of you hop heads come out for launch night on June 19th. There's about 50 pounds of hops in this batch!
 
Woo Hoo! It was my pleasure. That's my first competition put together from scratch with me at the helm, and it was quite a ride. I'm glad we found such a truly delicious beer, and can't wait to try it from the taps. Congrats again, Daniel. Hope brew day was awesome.
 
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