That aint cool. Someone needs to do something to set them straight. Thats basically false advertisement.
This from wikipedia
Alexander Keith's India Pale Ale
Many beer aficionados are quick to note that Keith's India Pale Ale lacks most of the qualities usually associated with the*IPA style: the alcohol percentage is too low (5%*ABV*vs. the expected 5.5% to 6.5%), as is the level of bittering*hops(less than 20*IBU*vs. the expected 40-100). It also lacks the fruitiness and heavier body found in most*ales. Keith's was marketed as an India Pale Ale long before the IPA style gained popularity in craft brewing circles as a revived historic beer style. This has allowed Keith’s to effectively grandfather the India Pale Ale name in without meeting the current IPA standards. In the United States, the beer is marketed as Alexander Keith's Nova Scotia Style Pale Ale.
This is pretty much correct. They used the term well before the "modern" version of the IPA (really an exaggeration of the historical style, being quite a bit higher in both gravity and bitterness than it originally was) was defined and agreed upon by organizations like the BJCP and AHA. Thus, they are permitted to keep calling it an IPA (in Canada) without being responsible for false advertising. By the most any modern standard though, it would be considered a cream ale if not a straight-up American and/or east coast pale lager.
Thats why the name cascadian dark ale is used. Black ipa makes no sence
Damn! Did really well with the one post and then had to go use the self-serving CDA designation! It is (surprisingly to many people) a pretty controversial matter, but as ab12 correctly points out below, there is nothing truly Cascadian about it, and as such it is pretty much a slap in the face to the Greg Noonan, one of the most respected and important figures in the American craft beer revival, which is why many strongly resist using the name that outright ignores his contribution (and rightly so, IMO!).
Cascadian Dark Ale makes no sense either. The man credited with creating the style, Greg Noonan, first brewed it in Vermont, where the mountains are green, not cascadian.
Yes, this. There were initially three proposed and widely-used names for the style, and for the reasons above, CDA is the worst.
I'm not a fan of the Black IPA title either because of the oxymoron, but at least it's not such a slap in the face to Mr. Noonan. And I have to admit that it at least an effective name - tell somebody that's never heard of the style that you made a black IPA, and they'll easily be able to get a good idea of what you mean. The IPA bit refers to the style that it is based on and drew inspiration from.
The "India" part stopped being relevant along time ago, but since the name has historical relevance, it's not very widely criticized. And since the "IPA" part of Black IPA has similar historical relevance, it makes a heck of lot more sense than CDA (which obviously refers to a false history), and I would strongly suggest the former before ever resulting to the wholly disrespectful latter. But...
Then its an American-Style India Black Ale
This is more or less the third of the proposed and widely used names for the style, though "American-Style" is pointless as India Black Ale clearly refers to that anyways. IBA is also what the AHA ended up agreeing to call it (for reasons stated above), so not only does it make the most sense of the three, but that also makes it the only name sanctioned by a major governing organization.
Sobbeing more or less educated on the entire matter, it should no longer make sense to call it "pale" (as with black ipa), or misrepresent its origins and disrespect one of the (now deceased) fathers of modern craft beer and homebrewing! In fact, there are a couple OTHER far-less-frequently-used names that STILL follow contemporary naming conventions better... namely American Dark Ale or American Black Ale (keeping in line with BJCP category 10, which is probably what I'd like to see them do). But I still see no reason to use anything other than the now-official (within the AHA/GABF) "India Black Ale", but ADA in particular has a nice - ring to it that resembles the (admittedly) "cool"sounding CDA, WITHOUT simultaneously pissing all over the memory of one of the most well-respected craft brewers of his generation... indeed, of the whole post-prohibition craft brewing revival of the past few decades entirely!
