Black IPAs - oxymoron maybe, but...

I shan't waffle about what an oxymoron is, particularly as I may be reporting on all the 'Black IPAs' I have ever had as a cask ale, so I don't want to lose your interest. But how is such an ale brewed? I checked with a few brewers I know, including Brett who has recently left Hastings Brewery; good luck with your future career Brett, and many thanks for your advice! Primarily, usually malt that has been de-husked is used to provide the dark colour with as little roasted malt flavour as possible. Then, a significant amount of hops are used to provide the hoppiness, eg hops from the USA, Australia or New Zealand like Cascade, Columbus, Nelson Sauvin, Ella and Galaxy. 

OK, so lots of photographs and less writing... I drank my first Black IPA at The Wellington, Shalesmoor, just before I left Sheffield 3 years ago, and brewed by Steel City Brewing; of said brewery I've consulted with Dave "Unpronounceable", as I couldn't remember the name of the ale, and I've borrowed the photograph too, many thanks. You can guess that I haven't any notes of my drinking their Shadowplay (5.6%), but I do remember enjoying the ultra-hoppy flavour of the ale (this was early Steel City Brewing, remember, and the lads do like their hops!), and anything I was to drink later, would have to compare favourably... 

I didn't then experience a Black IPA for nearly 2 years, until I visited The Bricklayers Arms, Putney, in October 2012, where I drank Triple fff Brewery's Jabberwocky (5%), which I reported as being "a very dark bitter with hints of liquorice, very enjoyable, see, I don't just drink pale bitters!" I cannot find a record of the hops used, but am guessing American, as these Black IPAs have also been called "American", based on the style coming from the USA, and usually using just American hops at first. Indeed, I've seen this one commented on as an "American Indian Pale Ale", and I don't think they meant Native American!  

I first had Dark Star's The Art of Darkness (3.5%) a little over a year ago at The Tower, London Road, Hastings St Leonards. This isn't labelled as a "Black IPA", but strength-wise, I'd compare this like Green King IPA to stronger IPAs with hops used, only, The Art of Darkness has more hops used than most IPAs! Warrior hops are used for bittering, and flavouring is provided by an array of hops, including Chinook, Cascade, Columbus and Centennial. I have drunk this many times, as it is, well, this is how I described it the first time: "the surprise was The Art of Darkness, Dark Star adding a whopping amount of hops to make this session beer, by strength, a 'full flavoured black beer'... Not too bad a description... Yes, full of hops, refreshing, with a dry aftertaste, and I was very happy to drink more than just the one pint, excellent!"

Windsor & Eton's Conqueror (5%) was my next brush with the style, at the White Horse on Parsons Green, London SW6. This showed a difference to most of these Black IPAs, as smoked malt was used in the brew, however, substantial use of Summit and Cascade hops appeared to help the flavour acquire fruit, nut and bitter hoppiness. Incidentally, the beer label design is based on William the Conqueror's shield. 

Back to a more 'typical' Black IPA, and brewed by my old buddies at Steel City Brewing again, this time at The Albatross Club (Royal Air Force Association) in Bexhill on Sea, their In The Nightside Eclipse (5.5%). Hops used were Columbus and Magnum for bitterness, and what they term their "holy trinity of Galaxy, Mosaic and Nelson Sauvin for flavour." Extra Galaxy and Mosaic were added to the fermenter, and casks were dry hopped with Mosaic, this was another genuine hoppy ale from Steel City, Sheffield, bitter with even a hint of grapefruit, nice one!

I'm nearing the end of this blog, so you've done well, cheers! In October, at The Gardeners Arms in Lewes, I had the Black Iris Black Mountain (5.9%), I cannot find any information about the brew, but am guessing Cascade hops were used, to keep in with the American style, maybe... I found this did what it said on the label, it was very dark, full bodied, and very hoppy, as I said then, "gorgeous!" 

My penultimate ale, for this blog, is Blue Monkey's Bonobo (5.3%), which I had in January, during my first ever visit to the new-ish Oakham Brewery pub in Kennington, London, The Mansion House. Again, I cannot find anything about the brew itself, but guess Cascade hops were used, seems likely anyway, or something like them... I found it to be a lighter flavour than I'd have expected before gaining experience of Black IPAs, and a bit too easy to drink for its strength! But, to my last word for now...    

Brewed on my own doorstep, and let's hope they keep up the good work that Brett appears to have been highly influential in with their very good hoppy 'Handmade' series, Hastings Brewery No 11 Black IPA (5.4%). This is brewed with Ella hops (formerly Stella in name, until a certain brewery company stuck their legal nose in), and is close to what I would always expect from this style. Very dark, very hoppy, tastes 'lighter' and more citrus fruity than a dark ale really should, nice and dry too, I like it... I have had this at both The Tower and The Albatross Club recently, both being very supportive of local and microbrewers, nice one, cheers!  

4 new pubs in London...

Well, not quite all new pubs, though one of them is, but all new to me, and the first 3 I hadn't been to before are all in CAMRA's Good Beer Guide 2014, so a promising day was ahead... 

After drinking elsewhere (the Harp, more of soon), I wandered down to The Edgar Wallace, Essex Street, in the Temple area. This is a good looking building and has a lovely comfortable feel to the interior, though the downstairs bar area is smaller than I'd imagined before entering, there is also an upstairs area (tables and seating) that would feel as comfortable as being at home when dining here! 8 real ales on sale, which come from the Enterprise standard list, sadly, so not too many micro ales. Anyway, 2 regulars, their 'own' Edgar's Pale Ale (3.5%) brewed by Nethergate, so presumably their own IPA, an OK bitter, but a bit thin, and the rather good Crouch Vale Brewers Gold (4%). The other ales you wouldn't be surprised by...

My next visit was to The Castle, in between Fetter and Chancery Lanes, and a 'Red Car' pub, a small pubco that appears to have a background in Redcar; certainly the landlord here comes from up there. A more varied selection of ales here, though, coincidentally, their 'own' ale was brewed by Nethergate! That is, Red Car Best Bitter (3.9%); this time, presumably Growler Bitter. A nice Victorian pub, with a very pleasant Kiwi behind the bar, Lauren, who is going home to New Zealand in a months time, though may be back, no problem, as her parents are both Brits. Other ales included London Pride; Abbey Ales Bellringer (4.2%); Dixon's Hoppy Daze (4.2%), brewed by Riverside brewery; Spitting Feathers Farmhouse Ale (3.6%); and Atomic Brewery's Dark Matter (4.1%) and Strike, a 3.7% quite sour pale bitter, not bad. Missing you already Lauren... 

My third 'new' pub was just up from Smithfield Market, the Old Red Cow, another run by someone from up int' North, so much so that they didn't take the tight sparkler off when I asked them to whilst pouring my ale! The barstaff were friendly enough, though, and 4 ales on sale, at a quite high price, mostly over £4, and some 'craft' beers on at over a fiver; this isn't a cheap pub to visit. There were 2 pale bitters, Windsor & Eton Windsor Knot (4%) and West Berkshire Full Circle (4.5%), Signature Brew Bad Carols (5%), and Alchemy Five Sisters, a 4.3% 'red' ale with plenty of roasted malt flavour. The prices and tight sparklers mean I shan't be returning too soon... 

My final new pub, is a new pub called The Mansion House, near to Kennington tube station, round the corner from where I used to live, and opposite the church I first got married in! It was dark by now, so the photograph taken with my mobile phone of the outside is pretty poor, but it's a new building as well, so not that exciting, lots of glass, you can guess. This is the fourth Oakham Brewery bar, as far as I can tell, and, like the others, (the Bartons Arms in Birmingham is the other I've visited before), all seem to sell Eastern food, an 'oriental' restaurant being incorporated here (site). I also met up with 3 members of the Musicians Union NEC, so intelligent conversation was enjoyed too, as well as the beers of course!

Sadly, though, I needed to catch a bus back to Clapham Junction from outside the nearby Imperial War Museum, and from there to catch my late-ish train home, so I could only have a couple of ales. As you'd expect, there were all the regular Oakham ales, spoilt for choice really: JHB, Inferno and Bishops Farewell, but Citra only in bottles, and a real cider of their own. They did, though, have a rather lovely 6% ale brewed with Citra hops, Green Devil IPA, pale, dry, fruity aroma and taste, grapefruit++, plenty of body, and pretty damn good! They also had a guest ale from Blue Monkey Brewery, another 'Black' IPA, which I shall one day be dedicating a blog to, Bonobo (5.3%), as with other black IPAs, dark, tasting lighter than you'd expect, though, of course, not anymore now I'm used to them. A bit too easy to drink...

Cheers!

Twickenham to Sussex via places up North...

Well, I did visit London, which is up North to me, plus some ales from much further North than London reviewed here. Anyway, I included a visit to the Eagle Ale House, off Northcote Road, and close to the Junction; I never thought it would happen to me and a girl from Clapham, you know the one! This is a decent ale house, though seems to have less of the pale and hoppy ales I prefer. On this visit, they did have a golden ale from Hackney Brewery, H3 (4%); Clarence & Fredericks Best Bitter (4.1%); Woodforde's Wherry (3.8%); and I thought I should try the resurrected Truman's Swift (3.9%), another 'golden' ale, with quite a rich flavour, plenty of body for a lower gravity ale, and nice and bitter. They now have their own new brewery in the East End, and I'd love to have one of their glasses! Anway, more about them @ their website, and good luck to them too.  

I also visited my 'local' in Putney, the Bricklayers Arms, which had apparently been drunk dry by Fulham and Villa fans over the weekend! Anyway, they did have 4 Twickenham ales on sale, sadly, just ran out of Naked Ladies too (I'm sure it used to be called 3 Naked Ladies, the landlady said they certainly had changed their pumpclips, and had a similar opinion to me, though others present didn't agree, oh well). Anyway, Twickenham ales they did have were Grandstand, a 3.5% session beer; Redhead, a 4.1% "red ale", believe it or not; a very nice 3.7% pale and hoppy "golden" ale, Sundancer; and a 4.4% winter ale, Winter Cheer, a not too bad darkish bitter with a mellow maltiness and dry aftertaste.     

I have to mention the Tiny Rebel ale (which is from way up North) Hank (4%), reported on before, and still very good, but this time drunk at the First In Last Out, High Street, Hastings 'old town', nice one, cheers! Of course, the FILO also sells 4 or 5 of their own ales, also well worth trying, of course, but they had the Tiny Rebel on, so... 

Back to the Dolphin, Rock-a-Nore, Hastings, and this time I did manage to have a pint of the excellent pale and hoppy Oakham Bishops Farewell (4.6%), see my recent blog about pale ales that mentioned Oakham too, I do believe. In addition to their regulars, Hophead, Sussex Best and Youngs Special, they also had Ilkley (see, from Yorkshire) Rye N' Dry (5%), a deep copper coloured bitter with a roasted malt flavour, and the more local Franklins Pudding Stout (4.2%), a bit sweet with a hint of coffee and smoky malt flavour, not bad either.  

At the Tower, London Road, Hastings (upper) St Leonards/Bohemia, a number of crackin' ales, including from Dark Star, of course, have been enjoyed recently. They have had Hastings 'Handmade' number 11, their Black IPA, which I've also had at the Albatross Club in Bexhill on Sea, and more to be reported on soon with a blog just about 'Black' IPAs, which sounds like an oxymoron, and also the very good Hopback Citra (4%), which has a very citrusy aroma, hint of malt in the flavour, more than usual in such a hoppy ale, and a dry aftertaste. 

Since then I have enjoyed the great array of ales in the photograph above, with the 'session' ale being the 4.7% Dark Star APA, still just £2.60 a pint! First, I drank the new local Sussex brewery 360 Degrees (website) Pacific Pale #49, a 4.9% pale and hoppy dry bitter, a very good new ale indeed, and at £2.80 a pint, nice one, ta. Also, had a couple of pints of Thornbridge Jaipur, well you have to, don't you, when you can get this 5.9% Derbyshire ale for just £3.10 a pint? It was the best Jaipur I've tasted for a long time too, it appears more bitter and dryer than it used to be, what I always preferred about their Kipling, pale, dry and bitter; could be a good side effect of an accountant getting the grist reduced, so it is fermented out further to reach the strength... it's a thought? Oh! And Dark Star Critical Mass, which I have never had before. The reducing of the strength from 10% to the more manageable 7.4% was lamented by locals, but a darker roasted malt flavoured bitter (£3.20 a pint, usually up to £5 a pint elsewhere!), very good too.

And Louisa the landlady serving me on this visit too, cheers, and many thanks Lou!