Hey there, I made a Black IPA last year when Nighttime Ale came out (without my knowledge). Friends liked my Black IPA. I discovered Nighttime soon after it was released and thought, wow, this is great and similar. Lagunitas makes the better of the bunch, to me, because the blackness of the IPA isn't accompanied with stout-like characteristics. I think a Black IPA should be an IPA that's simply looking black -- no black malt characteristics, somehow. That's the challenge of making a Black IPA. Make Pliny black, right? Good luck. Anyway, overall, mine was less fruity and less sweet, but I used Maris Otter as a base, along with flaked oats and Weyermann Carafa II (the dehusked version). Simple. For hops? Lots of hops. Unfortunately, I used a blend so I can't tell you the individual hops: Falconer's Flight from 30 min and on, continuous. There were differences, of course. Overall, mine was less fruity and also less sweet. I had a high ferment, for one... Hope this gives you ideas
