black ipa

Black India Pale Als is a style of beer that has emerged over the past few years. After the craft brewers had perfected the conventional IPA, numerous subcategories of the originally classic English beer followed. Today most breweries stock at least one and the variety includes Imperial IPAs, Double or Triple IPAs, New England, West or East Coast, Hazy or Black IPAs.

The darkest variant in the category does not date back to the colonial era, but rather has its roots in the early days of the craft beer era. American brewers were already producing Black IPAs in the 1990s, but it would take quite a while before the style caught on and finally spilled over to us. The rich color, which ranges from chestnut to mahogany brown, is due to a plus of dark or roasted malts. This is also where the difference to other IPAs can be found: Instead of only putting the hops in the spotlight, the malt also plays a major role.

Absolutely worth trying!

A fine example comes from the house of Sakiškių alus: Their interpretation comes in ruby red shimmering dark brown and delivers a bitterness that is not for the faint of heart. The flavor profile is made up of caramel, chocolate, roasted malt, coffee, pine resin, herbs and hints of citrus fruit.