Black to the Future

I haven't done a beer spotlight in a while. Actually haven't done a post in a while. Blame the holidays for that. One day off in the last two weeks. Anyway, there is a new beer style out there that has become a bit of a fad. I'm speaking of Black IPA's. Also known as Cascadian Dark Ales or India Black Ales, these beers are dark in color but deceive a bit because their focus is more on hop flavors and aromas. According to the Brewers Association there should be some caramel malt flavor as well as a moderate amount of dark roasted flavors, however the focus should be hops. Burnt flavors should be absent. A few years ago Stone released their 11th anniversary black IPA. This thing was so bangin. It was chock full of citrus hop flavors and aromas with a nice complimentary caramel malt backbone and dry hoppy finish. Superb. They re-released this one off as Sublimely Self Righteous Ale which is now in regular release. Check that shit out.

So, when I picked up 21st Amendment's Back in Black, I was expecting something in the same vein. I was sadly let down. When I saw the smart package in the beer store, I was instantly intrigued. My expectations were high. The beer is part of the new wave of canned craft brews that has been gaining popularity in recent years. According to the packaging this beer is inspired by Paul Revere's midnight ride and is brewed with rich dark malts. It clocks in at 6.8% abv. The beer pours black with a substantially tan head that leaves a nice lacing behind. Aroma is sweet malt and some light citrus hop aromas. I expected a lot more hop in that aroma. The flavor of this beer is interesting, but not in a good way. There are some roasted flavors up front, but they are subdued. There is a moderate hop bitterness but the hops stop there. There is a lingering malty sweetness that seems really out of place in an IPA. All this is set against a really light body that kinda feels like a mind game. You'd expect this beer to be thick and heavy from the look of it, but it is quite thin. The sweetness of the malt really messes things up here. It doesn't taste focused at all, and frankly the flavors are kinda weak. All in all, this beer is just out of whack. It seems like they made the beer just to be one of the first companies to have a black IPA as a regular release. I would suggest that they retool their recipe and try to get some more IPA hopiness up in this piece. Some cascade in the hopback definitely wouldn't hurt this brew. In any event the focus of this style should be hops first and foremost with roasted and sweet malt as a counterpoint that also gives the beer a nice smooth body. Here you just get a sweet, slightly bitter beer that lacks body. There's a bunch more new Black IPA's out there. If you find a good one, let me know.