Topic Archives: American Black Ale
Peak Brewing Adds New Beers, Bombers
Peak Organic Brewing Company’s first bomber bottles just arrived. Only one other time has the brewery released a large format bottle, years ago for a special release. There are 2 offerings – King Crimson & Hop Noir. Weiss Principal is slated for the 3rd release in 22’s.
King Crimson – Imperial Red Ale, 9%. First released 3 years ago for a few select New England beer fests, the popularity was instant. Last year found a wider release of Crimson to more tap handles. This year, the brewery even made more & for the first time bottled it.
King Crimson is an Imperial Red Ale that delivers a royal bounty of luscious, fruity American hops on top of a sturdy, deep red malt backbone. This beer is lavishly dry-hopped with Simcoe, adding a citrusy and piney flavor and aroma to the toasty, sweet malt notes. This special treat is a very limited release, so enjoy it while you can!
Hop Noir – American Black Ale (Black IPA), 8.2%. Peak’s first “black IPA.” A big roasty malt profile, big on hops.
Hop Noir is a delectable Black IPA, dripping with piney, aromatic Centennial hops. The malt base is dark and rich, anchored by organic black malt. This provides a strong foundation for the extravagant kettle hopping and dry-hopping that this beer experiences. Enjoy with a night-light.
Availability: 22oz bombers. Draft. Both limited.
100% organic hops & malts
New Holland Goes Dark & Hoppy. With proper head protection of course.
2011 is the year of variations of New Holland Brewing’s Mad Hatter IPA. Earlier it was mentioned that Rye Hatter will be back by June for a second year. Expect another rendition of the Hatter series with Black Hatter. As the same suggests, it’s a Black IPA.
Label:
I.P.A. brewed with black malts which add dark, roasted flavors. Dry-hopped Centennial finish.
Style: American Black Ale (Black IPA)
Availability: 22oz bombers. Draft.
Arrival: TBD
Peak Brewing’s Noir IPA
The second release in Peak Brewing’s bomber series is set for release soon. Following King Crimson, is “Hop Noir.” Hopefully you’ve guessed the style of beer – Black IPA. (Or for the beer nerds – American Black Ale.) 100% organic from the ground up.
About Hop Noir:
Hop Noir is a delectable Black IPA, dripping with piney, aromatic Centennial hops. The malt base is dark and rich, anchored by organic black malt. The provides a strong foundation for the extravagant kettle hopping and dry-hopping that this beer experiences. Enjoy with a night light.
Availability: 22oz bombers, draft. Small batch seasonal release.
Arrival: Late April-May, 2011
8.2% ABV
COMING SOON: Rogue Dad’s Little Helper
Rogue Brewing is celebrating dads and Father’s Day Black IPA style this year. Don’t get dad another boring tie, get him a beer.
Inspiration for the beer & Father’s Day:
After the death of his wife, Henry Jackson Smart was left to raise his 6 young children alone. His courage, love, selflessness and dedication inspired his daughter, Sonora Smart Dodd, to organize the first Father’s Day on June 19th, 1910. In 1924 President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day. President Nixon, in 1972, established it as a permanent day of national observance.
Style: American Black Ale/Black IPA
Hops: Rogue Micro Hopyard Rebel, Newport, Chinook
Malts: Malteries Franco-Belges Carawheat, Weyermann Melanoidin, Weyermann Carafe Special II, Rogue Micro Barley Farm Risk
Taste Expectations (From Rogue): Deep mahogany in color with roasted malt and hop aromas and dense creamy head. It enters the palate with intense hop flavor and coats the tongue with a rich maltiness from the Rogue Farms RiskTM Malt.
Availability: 22oz bombers. Draft. Seasonal release.
Arrival: Spring 2011
Uinta Brewing Dubhe Press Release
As mentioned last week, Uinta Brewing is releasing a new beer “Dubhe” (pronounced Doo-be) brewed with hemp seeds. Funny huh? Here’s Uinta’s press release on this new beer
A Star Is Born:
Uinta Brewing Company’s Dubhe Imperial Black IPA
March 1, 2011 SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH– Introducing the newest addition to Uinta Brewing Company’s lineup, Dubhe (pronounced Doo-bee), an Imperial Black IPA.
Dubhe was named after Utah’s Centennial Star, a star classified as a Red Giant. Dubhe, the star, appears orange in color, and is found at the top end of the big dipper’s spoon. The name “Dubhe” continues Uinta’s tradition of celebrating the great state of Utah, however, “Dubhe” is a fitting name for more than that reason: this beer is as black as the night sky and is brewed with an astronomical amount of hops.
Dubhe is comprised of five hop varieties, a hop profile bold enough to shine through the roasted, dark malt character of this beer. A citrusy hop aroma, achieved by dry hopping with a proprietary blend of extreme Northwest hops, balanced with notes of mild dark chocolate and a hint of sweet licorice. Smooth from start to finish, Dubhe’s layered flavor profile emerges with rich and rounded toasted malt flavors, and is followed by a lively hop bitterness. At over 5 pounds of hops per barrel, Dubhe is the most hop-laden beer Uinta has ever produced.
This shinning new addition is brewed with hemp seed (A play on the name, perhaps?), and has a far-out ABV of 9.2%.
Arrival: Mid March 2011
Jailhouse Brewing Midnight Special
Jailhouse Brewing (Hampton, GA) is adding a 4th beer, to their lineup – Midnight Special. An American black ale, or black IPA for those that still like that better.
The name is inspired by Creedence Clearwater Revival’s cleassic song “Midnight Special.” The song is linked to jails and jailhouses. The brewery mentions:
“Midnight Special is about a train that shone its ever lovin’ light in the cells of the prison. The light represented a light of salvation and escape from the walls that held them. There are many historical versions of the song and it is part of what made making this beer so interesting and special to us.”
Jailhouse brewer Glen Golden decided on a black IPA for this new beer hoping to showcase some new malt from Jailhouse’s malt supplier. JH really wanted a big ABV beer, in the neighborhood of 12%, but the bar was set a little too high on that one. Midnight Special should weigh in around 10%. It’s a long boil on this one – 2 hours. The hops are warrior (bitter) and centennial (until the end of the boil). Dry hopped with more centennial.
Midnight Special joins the “Solitary Confinement” series at Jailhouse. Specialty and one time brews will find their way to lockdown here.
Arrival: March 2011
So, for weeks now we’ve been trying to brew our new Solitary Confinement release, Midnight Special. It’s the first in a series of one-off beers we are planning to brew this year, and from what we can tell so far it promises to not only test the limits of the brewery but also your taste buds.
The idea for this beer came from an old prison song called “Midnight Special” Popularized by Credence Clearwater Revival, “Midnight Special” is about a train that shone its ever lovin’ light in the cells of the prison. The light represented a light of salvation and escape from the walls that held them. There are many historical versions of the song and it is part of what made making this beer so interesting and special to us.
After a few conversations about what type of beer it would be, we finally settled on the idea of a Black IPA. Black IPA’s are becoming more prevalent these days and it seemed this would make the perfect match for our “Midnight Special.” I also wanted to try out a new malt from my supplier that would impart dark color without roast flavor and bitterness. It was perfect for this beer.
At this point I envisioned a decently hopped IPA with a respectable amount of alcohol and body when our resident hop head, John Carden, mentioned we should go big or go home. His first thought was to make it a 12%’er. It was a brilliant idea given the name. I’m on record that 8% is about where my limits for balance and enjoyability fall but I do love a good challenge. After a little calculating and research I realized that 12% would not be attainable with our setup and house yeast so we had to settle for closer to 10% ABV. We had a new target. On to the hops.
We scoured the freezer for the hop profile in this beer. Since we would brew this for the first time full throttle (no pilot batch) we felt it best to keep it simple. But, once again we’d go big or go home. This beer is bittered with Warrior hops and then gives way to all Centennial hops every 20 minutes for the last hour of boiling. To achieve the proper bittering and level of alcohol we were shooting for, we had to boil this beer for two hours. We also intend to dry hop with a very generous amount of Centennial hops until we feel it is right. How’s that for creative freedom?
When Midnight Special is ready, we expect it to have a nice malt backbone to support 90+ IBU’s of bitterness and around 10% alcohol by volume. It will have a subtle roast character with a very citrus hop aroma and flavor. Oh yea, it will be black as Midnight!
Solitary Confinement beers from JailHouse will be in very limited quantities each year. Be sure to keep track of what we’re doing so you won’t miss out on each release. http://www.jailhousebrewing.com/pages/newsletter_FORM
COMING SOON: Uinta Dubhe
Uinta Brewing (Salt Lake City, Utah) is joining the American Black Ale/ Black IPA craze with “Dubhe”. Dubhe will be an imperial black ale brewed with hemp seed. Hemp seeds are actually interesting sources of food. They contain all the essential fatty acids & amino acids in order to sustain life. Contrary to popular thought, the seeds do not get you high, or have psychoactive properties. Hemp seeds when crushed or boiled give a nutty flavor.
The name Dubhe is pronounced “Dub”, and refers to the star in the front bowl of the big dipper, part of the constellation Ursa Major. It is the second brightest star in the constellation.
Availability: 12oz bottles.
Arrival: Spring 2011
