CulturAle Press

Far From India: India Pale Ales in the 21st Century.Stone Berlin Groundbreaking Collaborating #3 Stone BrewDog Super Bashah.  Belgian Black Double IPA.

Date:  March 21, 2019

The Story— When Stone opened their groundbreaking new brewery in Europe they produced and appropriately named a “Groundbreaking Collaboration” series of 14 magnum bottles that retained in the US at $60 each.  We ran into them at Julio’s in Westboro, Mass., one of the premier beers stores in the US.   The Black Hog rep and I were trying to figure out what they’d charge for the boxes of magnums they were trotting out to an end cap display.  We figured fifty to sixty bucks would be about right.  I tried to figure how many Ellie was going to let me bring home– options were one or two.   When the $20 price went up I grabbed every one they had — a half dozen plus an extra one for some occasion (Blue-Gray event in Virginia.)  Ellie was aghast.  I’m only sorry I didn’t fill the car with more of them.  They’re still on shelves all over the east at their original $60 tag.

The beers are intended to age for years.  We didn’t have the patience, though if I had thought more deeply (and hadn’t already committed to more than 100 new tasting beers for us at … OUCH.. prices) I would have purchased a one now, one later for each of them.   But who could guess they’d be this good at a year out.

In this series we’ll show off a Belgian IPA, a Double IPA and a Black IPA, but this is the only Belgian Black Double IPA you’ll find anytime soon.

The Beer— Huge, chewy and rich.  Creamy, with apricots and orange in addition to the intrinsic dark cherry and fig.  Tons of dark fruit – cherry and figs.  Hops sing a soft chorus behind.  Some of the fruit in the aroma softens to herbal in the taste with chocolate bringing up the rear.

Part Russian Imperial Stout and part Belgian Abbey Ale and all IPA — Black Belgian Style Double India Pale Ale.  (“Style” my unsteady foot).  It’s based on a 2009 collaboration.  After two years the hops have stepped aside to a allow the Belgian funk and dark fruity malt to take center stage.

Value — AT $20 it’s a steal, at the list $60, it’s at least fair and maybe good — you won’t find this beer at your local nano.

Values:  “fair” is a good beer at an above market price, “good” is worth the money, “very good” is a bargain, and “excellent” is a steal.

In mid-March we’re taking a look at the incredible variety of IPAs.   The style is by far the biggest seller among craft beers in the US and probably in Europe as well.   Even century-old breweries in Reinheitsgebot-narrowed Germany are brewing IPAs (if the brewer calls it “ale” it doesn’t have to conform to the strict purity law).   But you have to ask these days: What is an IPA”?  We’ll take a look at almost a dozen recognized and semi-recognized styles of IPAs in the next couple of weeks.

 We’re often asked to share our tasting notes on over 33,000 beers; this blog is in answer to those requests.   Not all our notes, though.  The great beer writer Michael Jackson admirably followed the Thumper Rule, and we’ll try to do the same.  (“If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nuthin’ at all.”)   All the beers we post are from the top half of our ratings and most are from the top quarter.   Of greater value, we think, are the stories behind the beers,   and we try to give you enough about the brewery, the style and the places to find great beer to help you on your own beer journeys.   At CulturAle Press we try to write books and publish posts that will help you “Drink Well and Travel Safely.”