"Cascadian Dark Ale" Beating a Dead Horse?

Must we continue whining like a bunch of buffoons here in the NW?

For God's Sake... Read Andy Crouch's Article on this subject! He clearly states that the NW did NOT invent the damn style. What more needs to be said? Can we please stop all the whining and protesting, you're just looking like a bunch of bleeding heart dumb asses!

Andy appears to be level headed guy who's just laying out the facts. He looks and sounds rational....

Here's a couple more little slices of life. Lets start with a positive slant on CDA.

Wikipedia generously defines:

Cascadian Dark Ale.
The Cascadian Dark Ale (CDA) (or "Black IPA") is a relatively new variant of IPA, with a characteristically dark or black appearance, due to roasted malts, while retaining the hop aroma typical of the IPA style. Examples of this style include Heavy Seas Black Cannon, Stone Brewing Company Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale, Hopworks Urban Brewery Secession Black IPA, Widmer Brothers Brewery W'10 Pitch Black IPA, Laughing Dog Brewery Dogzilla, Cascade Brewing Dark Day, Deschutes Brewery Hop In The Dark CDA, Thornbridge Brewery Raven, Victory Brewing Company Yakima Glory (formerly Yakima Twilight), the Blue Star Donkey Lady, and LoneRider Grave Robber Black IPA, Garrison Brewing Black IPA. The name refers to the Pacific Northwest Region of the United States ("Cascadia", related to the Cascade Mountain Range, near where Cascade Hops are grown), where many current commercial versions are made. The style was invented by Greg Noonan in Vermont in the early 1990s, and by the mid-2000s there were several commercial versions made in that state.

Two important points stick out:

1. The Style was invented by a well known Brewer (Gregg Noonan) in Vermont. Gregg was very well known and his history is well documented.

2. Read the locations of all the examples of CDA given. It's a beer that's been and currently being brewed all over the nation. One of the oldest classic examples comes from Stone Brewing. A brewery in California.... NOT CASCADIA! NOR is Vermont in CASCADIA!

What's next NW? Wanna claim fame to Maple Syrup!!


OK.... I can hear the whining continue.... I hear, "But we have made the style popular" or "We make it better."

WRONG!! Not according to any of the Beer rating sites. Lets call them the voice of the people. Beer Advocate is based on the East Coast and RATE beer is based on West. So between the two, we can say if a FAIR voice of the beer nation.

Whether it's East Coast or West Coast, the lists looks about the same and guess what??? The Cascadian CDA's do not dominate with preference in style. In fact, favorable beers within style are all over the country.

How and why would one area even try and call it their own? Because we grow the hops??!!! That's stupid! They're using NW hops too!


Here's Beer Advocates top Black IPA/CDA's

1. Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale - Stone Brewing Co.

2. Iniquity (Imperial Black Ale) - Southern Tier Brewing Company

3. Serious Madness - Mad River Brewing Company

4. Or - Cigar City Brewing

5. Hop In The Dark Cascadian Dark Ale - Deschutes Brewery

6. Dark Hops - Beer Here

7. Yakima Glory - Victory Brewing Company

8. Clown Shoes Hoppy Feet (Black I.P.A.) - Clown Shoes

9. Otter Creek Alpine Black IPA - Otter Creek Brewing / Wolaver's

10. Either - Cigar City Brewing

11. Trout Hop Black IPA - Grand Teton Brewing Co.

12. Skookum Cascadian Brown Ale - Phillips Brewing Company

13. Flashback Ale - Boulder Beer / Wilderness Pub

14. W'10 Pitch Black IPA - Widmer Brothers Brewing Company

15. Bashah - BrewDog Ltd

16. Black Perle - RJ Rockers Brewing Co.

17. Blue Point Toxic Sludge - Blue Point Brewing Company

18. Terrapin Capt'n Krunkles Black IPA - Terrapin Beer Company

19. Back In Black - 21st Amendment Brewery

20. DogZilla Black IPA - Laughing Dog Brewing