30 Days of Thanks, Day 2

Today I am thankful for black IPA. Beer? I'm thankful for beer when people are without power and heat and water? Yes. Because I'm shallow and self-centered like that.

Anyway... After a long week that started shitty but ended pretty good, I needed a beer. I haven't been drinking much beer lately. Since coming back from Vermont in July I've been mostly drinking cider. I found a local dark and dry hard apple cider I like quite a bit. The last few months I felt that beer was just too heavy and cider fit the bill.

Tonight, it was rainy and cool and November--and I wanted a beer. I'm pretty much an IPA drinker--the hoppier the better. And IPAs are Pacific Northwest standard. By the way people talk about them, you'd think brewers in the Pacific Northwest invented the IPA. But I've also found out I like oatmeal stouts a lot. I never thought I like stouts, but, holy shit, I do.

So, as I was about to grabs a six-pack of an IPA I like, I saw a black IPA. And since the beer guy (you know, the guy in the liquor section who knows beer instead of wine) was right there, I asked what the difference was. Simply put, it's either a maltier IPA or a hoppier stout. Or as the beer guy said, "It pretty much follows the pattern of people in the Pacific Northwest making everything hoppier." He went on to explain that the bitterness of the hops cuts into the richer chocolate taste of the malt. I was sold. To add to the Pacific Northwest ownership of the IPA, black IPAs are also called Cascadian Dark Ale.

And you know what? It's great. Super great.