Black IPA Taste OFF!

This post picks up where I left off from my post on Danny Boy Beer Works attempt at a Black IPA or American-Style Black Ale.

Remember I was hatching that plan... you know... about having a head to head style off?  I'm not talking models and hipsters crowding around a runway, but getting a bunch of beers of a particular style, grabbing friends and seeing what beer wins the Taste off!  Enter the Italian Stallion... err Black IPAs!

The short list:
Pitch Black IPA - Widmer Brothers - Portland, OR
Sublimely Self-Righteous - Stone Brewing - Escondido, CA
The Name of Suffering - 3Floyds - Munster, IN
Notorious B.I.P.A. - People's Brewing - Lafayette, IN
King of Hop - Union Brewing Company - Carmel, IN
Nunmore - Flat 12 - Indianapolis, IN

Previous Tastings:
Black IPA - Danny Boy Beer Works - Carmel, IN
*Komodo Dragonfly - Upland Brewing Co. - Bloomington, IN

*I had Komodo fresh off tap a few hours before I had my first King of Hop a few months ago at their Carmel tap house.  I couldn't get my hands on a bottle for the taste off, but I will still rank it in the list.

Complete disclosure, I was waiting until Union Brewing Co. (UBC) had King of Hop on draft again before attempting the taste off.  For those who don't know about cask beer I will direct you towards our previous post on Union Brewing Co.  The quick and dirty is that they don't bottle and don't do cask growlers, however they now have growler-friendly versions of their beer!  Fun limitations to work around when doing a tasting! 

Cameron Fila Owner/Brewer at the UBC took it upon himself to let us host the tasting at his brewery. Not only that, he also sat in on the taste off!  I know he wanted to see where his brew stacked up with other locals and non-local breweries.  To be honest I did as well.  It was fun hearing Cameron's take on a style that really hasn't been sussed out.

After a long and arduous task of swilling beer and formulating responses/notes, find below the master list of final standings of what shook out!

Big thanks to:
Cameron - Owner/Brew Master
Tony - Celler Man
Hannah - UBC Groupie
Nick - Guilt by Association to Big Guy!
Nathan - Marketing Director/Bartender

Final Standings
1 : King of Hop - Union Brewing Company - Carmel, IN
     -Roasty coffee nose with notes of burnt carmel.  A medium to light body.  Creamy and sweet coffee roast polish.  Finishes dry with a hop nip bitter finish at the back of the pallet.  Hands down the best of the group!  The only thing that was holding it back from a perfect five was the nose.  Cameron prefers the roasty nose in this latest batch, however the Hop-Head in me sides with the floral hop nose in the previous batch paired with the body and finish in this latest iteration.  "Hail the King, BABY!"

2 : *Komodo Dragonfly - Upland Brewing Co. - Bloomington, IN
      -Very similar to the King of Hop, but missing that creaminess and great hop finish!

3 : The Name of Suffering - 3Floyds - Munster, IN
      -Hop malt nose.  Light body. Sweet and bitter. Fizzier than expected.

4 : Sublimely Self-Righteous - Stone Brewing - Escondido, CA
     -Nice toasty floral nose.  Carmel, malt and molasses notes.  Medium body. Sweet at moments.

5 : Notorious B.I.P.A. - People's Brewing - Lafayette, IN
      -Raisin malt nose, sweet.  Medium body. Notes of camel & raisins. Finishes dry & tart.

6 : Pitch Black IPA - Widmer Brothers - Portland, OR
      -Floral raisin nose, balanced hop malt body. Wet finish.

7 : Nunmore - Flat 12 - Indianapolis, IN
     -I don't think the bottle did anything to enhance this one.  Better off draft until the next batch of bottles.  Upon pouring the same as the other BIPA's this fizzed up about as bad as Oak'n Barrels Epiphany.  Other notables were the great floral nose and much lighter body.

8 : Black IPA - Danny Boy Beer Works - Carmel, IN

the Big Guy: So I dig this style of brew, but not as much as O-Dawg and for the most part I like mine a little bit sweeter. King of Hop is sweet hoppy and roasty, really everything you could ask for and a little bit more from a BIPA. My second favorite was Notorious BIP by the guys at People's. My third favorite was In the Name of Suffering by Three Floyds. Theirs was a sweeter New Orleans style brew and I totally dig it. All of these were rated at 4 for me, so it was a very close race. I have Komodo listed as a 4 on Untappd as well, but I only wanted to comment on things that we drank while doing the taste test.

Sources:
http://beerstreetjournal.com/black-ipa-no-dark-cascadian-ale-no-american-style-black-ale/
http://www.washingtonbeerblog.com/get-it-right-its-an-india-black-pale-lager-ale/
http://www.brewersassociation.org/pages/business-tools/publications/beer-style-guidelines

The Scene: People's Brewing Company

I am an IU guy and because of that I haven't really had much People's beer. I didn't really give them a fair shake until I had Captain Black Strap and Notorious BIP, which are amazing brews. Once I had these I knew I had to go check them out. It doesn't hurt that my wife is a PU grad and she still has friends that are up in the area.

People's brewery is a little spot tucked away in Lafayette. You pull up to a big garage door with their logo painted on it in a fairly industrial area. Their brewery is like the Cheers of Indiana craft beer. It has an awesomely friendly vibe right when you walk in. The tapping room is intimate without being claustrophobic with a bar for about six people and a handful of tables.

The style inside was industrial with a rustic bent and plenty of local photography and more Purdue propaganda than an IU guy can normally handle. Everything was cozy enough to make me want to sit and drink all night. The bartender was friendly and helpful. He made a great recommendation with the Parishioner's Porter on Nitro for my first pint. It was robust and dark with a nice mix of sweetness and coffee bitterness. I give it a solid four out of five. Some of our fellow patrons at the bar even struck up a conversation with us People's newbies. That kind of stuff always reminds me how much I love craft beer people.

What really impressed me though was the number of open taps. So often you go to a brewery and only find a few brews on tap. We ordered two flights on top of my pint. When we got the two flights, the bartender was good enough to mix it up since the flight only held six glasses and they had ten beers on tap. Also, the glasses were a pretty generous size, probably four ounces. The three of us passed the tasting glasses around to try everything they had to offer and their beers were excellent.

I was starting to regret not going up sooner to check them out. Overall it was an outstanding drinking experience. I ended up picking up a shirt so I could represent properly. After our stop at People's we went over to 9 Irish Brothers, a local Irish restaurant (by the way the food was excellent). When I got there, I found out they also had a People's brew on tap that was only available in the restaurant. It was their Irish Red and it was fantastic. I had been impressed with some of their brews, and I really liked the nitro porter, but Nine Irish Red was a stand-out. It was probably one of the best Irish reds that I've had. I totally see why People's is taking over the scene up in Lafayette.

Thanks for doing it right guys!

Captian Black Strap

This is their 9% abv Russian Imperial Stout by People's Brewing Company. Not sure where the hops are, but they provide a solid balance without taking the spotlight.

The beer pours out super dark and oily. It is thick and heavy with a decadent mouth-feel, feels like luxury. There was basically no head, the little bit that is there goes away fast. No lacing. No nothing

The beer smells sweet with a little smokey profile.

Damn! This beer is sweet and delicious. So often I try and analyze ever reason why its good, and forget to say that this is just some really good beer. The malt comes out right up front with some chocolate and heavy caramel. The beer is brewed with molasses and it tastes great. I just did a molasses stout home brew and I was super disappointed. Thank God People's is way better at brewing than I am. The molasses flavor gave it a bit of a sweet and breakfast sort of flavor. It reminded me of a darker version of Founder's Breakfast Stout (which is one of my favorites). There was a hint of smokey malts behind all the sweetness of the beer, but not enough to overwhelm anything.

The hop profile is clean and finishes on the back-end of the beer. It still has a nice clean finish despite the huge malt flavor up front. As it heats up there is a little more booziness and the hops get a bit stronger, but it still holds up as an excellent beer. I was impressed at how little you taste the 9% abv.

This is probably the first seasonal / specialty beer I have had from People's and I am freaking impressed. Get your hands on this while you can. It is a strong contender for my top five beers of the year... but damn I just love a good RIS.

I give it a 4.5