Black IPA, first beer ever dumped

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jmo88

jmo88

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Well, I am here to confess some serious alcohol abuse: I dumped a beer. The beer was a bomber of Idaho's Laughing Dog's Dogzilla Black IPA. I deemed it undrinkable.

First of all, WTH is a black IPA anyway? I ashamedly fell victim to it and made a purchase. Lured in with its promises of delicious NW IPAs, which I go gaga over, complemented with a "dark malt twist". I thought it was a good buy. Stupid me, I should have known it would suck from its contradictory title.

Laughing Dog should have labeled this a sour ale. Sure its hoppy, but a pale color is necessary for an IPA too, so let's just be honest. Now I think they are just using a marketing ploy. This is not a good sour ale either. The smell is medicinal and awkward, and the taste is straight bitter hop and sour. I am embarrassed to say this, but I'd rather have purchased a 22 of natty light.

Does anyone like this stuff?
 
Tried a Black IPA at Pizza Port a month ago. Thankfully it was a sample and I didn't get stuck with a full pint. Dark malts and to many hops don't seems to work well together.
 
I had a Black IPA recently and loved it. It was definitely unique, but to my liking. I really wish though that they wouldn't label beers as an India PALE ale if they are not though. Why not call it an IDA (India Dark Ale)? Just one of my pet peeves.
 
jmo88,

Not sure if you would like it, but try Iron Horse Brewing (Ellensburg, WA) Black IPA. It's hoppy and a bit bitter, but definately not sour and medicinal.
 
Hmm. I always thought this would be an interesting idea to try. Though perhaps if it sucks it's not such a great idea after all.
 
Hey some guys might like this style, so if it sounds good to you brew it. The one I had just wasn't great, but you might brew a fantastic beer.
 
Don't feel bad about dumping a few ounces of beer you don't like. Sometimes, a beer just sucks. I did the same thing not long ago with a bottle of Sam Adams Winter Lager.

Dumping a whole batch is an entirely different story...
 
McKBrew said:
jmo88,

Not sure if you would like it, but try Iron Horse Brewing (Ellensburg, WA) Black IPA. It's hoppy and a bit bitter, but definately not sour and medicinal.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Will have to give that a try. Haven't had anything from iron horse yet, I think.
 
I stay away from Laughing Dog... sweet beer, and I can never finish a pint.

Haven't had a good Laughing Dog yet. Black IPA's are not all bad... I had one before )not enough coffee this morning to remember), but it was not LD.
 
Its not labeled a black IPA, but Avery's New World Porter is dry hopped and has an amazing hop aroma. I love this beer and would consider it a "black IPA"

Stone also made an excellent black IPA
 
I don't know what you guys are tasting, but I love the LD Dogzilla Black IPA. I agree that they shouldn't call it an IPA, but it is a good beer IMHO. I just had 3 imperial pints of this the other night fresh on tap - I wanted more but would have needed to either stay the night at the bar or get a ride.

Also, LD is now producing this year round because of the demand... so there must be others that like the stuff.
 
CDA (Cascadian Dark Ale) will probably be a recognized BJCP style in another year. So far, I haven't had anything all that great. The coffee/husky flavors of stouts and porters just don't work with citrus hops. I'm looking at trying one with chocolate malt, de-husked dark wheat, maybe Summit for bittering and earthy/spicy flavor and aroma hops.
 
B-Dub said:
Tried a Black IPA at Pizza Port a month ago. Thankfully it was a sample and I didn't get stuck with a full pint. Dark malts and to many hops don't seems to work well together.
Click to expand...

The Warrior? I like that beer. They've done two black IPAs and I thought both of them were good. The Black Lie was the better of the two, and I thought way better than Stone's. Although that was good too.
 
I had a bottle of Shiner Cheer at a party last year. I didn't dump it, but after one taste, I put the bottle down and walked away.
 
SchmidtyBeer said:
Its not labeled a black IPA, but Avery's New World Porter is dry hopped and has an amazing hop aroma. I love this beer and would consider it a "black IPA".
Click to expand...
+1 to that. Had some this week and really liked it. The tasting notes said something like "Think Black IPA". It was lighter and thinner than most porters (in a good way) and the hoppiness was spot on.
 
I am not a huge IPA fan, I am growing into them, but I gotta say that I really like the 11th anniversery ale from Stone (Stone 11th Anniversary Ale) which is a dark IPA and mighty tasty and I am not a big stone fan either.


P.S. I know I have stone brews in my sig, but my friend is a huge stone fan (grew up in Escandido) so they are for him basically.
 
I have my first dumpable batch in a keg right now - a Bubble Yum Pilsner. (The Bubble Yum part was unintentional.) I haven't dumped it yet but as soon as I need the keg it is sink bound.
 
I was in San Francisco a week or so ago and visited the 21st Amendment, and they had a black IPA on tap...Back in Black I think it was called. I don't know if they actually referred to it as a black IPA, but that's what it was. It was pretty good actually.
 
I have got ten gallons of a Black IPA that is just not that good. There is nothing really wrong with the beer, it just tastes a little wrong to have roasted malts and lots of hops. Kind of bitter and burnt. Not good. I am hoping that it will improve with age. I'll check back with it in about six months.
 
I've dumped bottles of New Belgium's Abbey ale, North Coast's Brother Thelonius, and Furthermore's Thermorefur. Don't feel bad. You can also use the beer for a marinade.
 
I've had three examples of Black IPAs.

Stone's 11th anniversary (and the sublimely self righteous ale), Widmer's Black IPA, and my own attempt.

The first two were great. The third was barely palatable. I didn't dump any though....
 
The closest I've had to a Black IPA was Hoppin' Frog's Black N Tan which is part stout and part IPA. It was actually really good.
 
congratulations, you found a beer you didn't like. now find something to do with it:

bbq chicken?
salad dressing?
ice beer?
car wash?
yeast starter?
last beer of the night? (HAH!)
 
I'm not a hophead but I made the black ipa from NB (extract + specialty) and I really enjoy it, down to my last 6 pack now. It's more mellow now that's been the bottle a couple months (yeah too long for an IPA but I don't really mind the mellowing of the hops, not being a hophead).
 
If the Old Fruit Loops accept "Cascadian Dark Ale" for this style, that will be the last shred of their credibility hitting the fan.

I consider Arrogant Bastard a hoppy dark ale, and pretty fine to boot.

If I brew a black hop bomb with german or english hops and someone calls it a CDA, they can expect a personal vist from me.
 
I feel like I'd rather have a strong dark Belgian ale like Rochefort than a black IPA... but people like the Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale and others, so I'll have to try them!
 
I've been fortunate enough to have quite a few CDAs. It's become my favorite style by far.

Widmer W'10 - A-
Laughing Dog Dogzilla - C
Barley Brown's Turmoil - A
Hopworks Secession - A
Deschutes Hop in the Dark A+
Oakshire O'Dark:30 - B
 

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