Into the Dark: Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale
I picked this beer up with the idea it could be a great example of the new Cascadian Dark Ale, which is a Black Indian Pale Ale. Yeah, Pale and Black, well that’s Americans for you…we can do anything we want, screw the Reinheitsgebot.
To start this one is Black as night. If you hold it to the light you get a bit of amber color of out of the murky darkness, but I wouldn’t go in there without a flashlight. The aroma you get is a complex one. There is some chocolate coffee notes, grassy hops aroma, grapefruit bitterness…complex to say the least. All of that followed up just enough alcohol to keep you warm if it’s cold. The body has a nice balance that holds all of these flavors and aromas together quite nicely. The carbonation and the alcohol content hold the complex flavors of the beer together in pretty good harmony but I think the alcohol might have been a bit bold at the finish. That is Stone Brewing for you though so it works for them.
Since the Cascadian Dark Ale is such a new style (it’s not even listed on the BJCP site), we at ThirstEase are committing to trying as many of the commercial examples. I think we may even brew one up to see how the style comes together. We will keep you posted.
pro Beer quod Clementia!
