There’s a handful of specialty brews we anxiously await the release of year after year. To the glee of Standing Stone coworkers and our IPA-loving customers we welcome Hop Night back to our seasonal beer list! This Cascadian Dark Ale, or Black IPA, or India Black Ale (we’ll get to all that later) boasts the hop aroma of an IPA and rich, roasted flavor of dark malt – making it a savory, complex beer to imbibe on its own or pair with hearty, robust foods.
The official name of this beer style is a topic of heavy debate in the craft brewing world. Brewing communities around the globe claim rights to call this recently acknowledged beer style by their own favorite names, including Black IPA, Cascadian Dark Ale and India Black Ale. To straighten things out, the Brewer’s Association defines the variety as an American-Style Black Ale – “with medium high to high hop bitterness, flavor and aroma with medium-high alcohol content, and balanced with a medium body.” The beer style also boasts moderate caramel malt character and medium to strong dark roasted malt flavor and aroma.
We think Hop Night is all that and more, with lots of organic malt and certified Salmon-Safe Cascade hops from Goschie Farms in Silverton, Oregon. And being in the Pacific Northwest, we’ll go ahead and say we’re partial to the name Cascadian Dark Ale.
About the Beer
This is an opaque black Cascadian Dark Ale with herbal citrus aroma, medium body and pine and black currant flavors. Enjoy a robust mouthfeel and fresh, hoppy finish. 7.7% abv, 65 IBU
Malt
• Organic Two Row
• Organic Munich
• Briess Blackprinz
• Organic C-60
• Oat Flakes
• Organic Chocolate
Hops
• Bittering: Apollo
• Flavor/Aroma: Golding, Cascade, Simcoe
• Dry Hops: Cascade, Simcoe
Food Pairing Suggestions
This beer’s bold character matches equally hearty, rich foods. Its hoppy backbone also pairs well with spicy foods if you like to kick up heat, or use the fresh, bitter finish to clear your palate between heavy bites. Here are some suggestions from the brewpub, including a few new items from our latest menu face-lift:
• Black and Blue Burger
• 5-Spiced Teriyaki Ribs
• Chorizo & Arbol Chili Pizza
• Vietnamese Pork Sandwich
• Penne Marinara with Italian Sausage
• Black Bean Nachos
• Andouille Sausage & Jalapeno Pizza (recurring daily special)
Give Hop Night a whirl, and if you decide you love Cascadian Dark Ales as much as we do, try any of these additional brews from other great West Coast microbreweries: Secession CDA from Hopworks in Portland, OR, O’Dark:30 from Oakshire in Eugene, OR, and Sublimely Self-Righteous from Stone Brewing in San Diego, CA. Be sure to grab a pint of Hop Night at the brewpub while it lasts, and toast innovative, enthusiastic craft brewing!
