Robin Shepard
Black Hops — with its name’s play on “black ops” that’s more evident when you’re looking at the beer’s camouflage packaging — is a bit deceptive. While it’s a Black IPA, you might not know it if you weren’t looking at its color. It’s a new take on the style, refreshing for those who think they know what to expect in the hoppy bite of the BIPA.
What is it? Black Hops IPA from the Hop Garden of Belleville.
Style: The Black IPA (BIPA) goes by many names: American black ale, India black ale, and Cascadian dark ale (when most of the hops are American-grown Cascades). Hops are at the forefront, but the style can also have a modest malt signature because of the amount of black malts that are used to give it its rich black color. The BIPA will usually range from 6% to 7.5% ABV.
Background: Hop Garden’s Black Hops IPA features Nugget, Centennial and Cascade hops. While the Nugget provides strong spicy herbal bitterness, the citrus tones of the Cascade and Centennial still stand out. They provide the crucial element in differentiating this from other BIPAs.
The Hop Garden’s Rich Joseph teams up with Page Buchanan at House of Brews in Madison to develop recipes and make the Hop Garden’s beers. Joseph was looking to make a black beer with more tropical grapefruit bitterness than the more common piney, resiny hoppiness found in many other BIPAs. Blackprinz and Midnight Wheat malts, which have become popular in black IPAs for imparting dark color without the harsh burnt tones found in other highly roasted malts, augment the effect of the hops. “The idea was, if you closed your eyes and didn’t know what color the beer was, it would taste like an IPA,” says Joseph.
While the beer’s name comes in part from its deceptive qualities, Joseph also named the beer as a tribute to his son, Jacob, a Marine stationed in San Diego at Camp Pendleton.
Hop Garden Black Hops IPA is available in four packs of 16-ounce cans for around $11-$12. It finishes at 7% ABV and around 55 IBUs (International Bitterness Units).
The Hop Garden is moving all of its production from 22-ounce bomber bottles to four-packs of 16 ounce cans. Joseph has found that some of the larger grocery stores are moving away from stocking bomber bottles as 16-ounce cans continue to grow in popularity among craft beer drinkers.
Tasting notes:
Aroma: A firm yet light citrus hoppiness.
Appearance: Dark black color with a soft brown head.
Texture: Medium- to full-bodied and round. However, there’s dryness throughout.
Taste: A roasted chocolate maltiness is up front, then a dry citrus hoppiness.
Finish/Aftertaste: Dry bitterness.
Glassware: The Willi Becher will focus the aroma of the hops under the nose.
Pairs well with: Blue cheese and aged smoked cheddar.
The Verdict: This is a BIPA with a welcome slightly juicy citrus hop flavor. It avoids the burnt dark malt bitterness I find in many other BIPAs. Joseph and Buchanan have refined this beer somewhat between the first batch that came out in mid-December and the batch that’s now on local shelves, switching the bittering hops from Columbus to Nugget and then dry hopping with Cascade and Centennial. All that worked to bring out more citrus flavor and aroma. Now Black Hops has a pleasant, sharp, dry accent of grapefruit bitterness from the new hops.
