Cascadian/Dark IPA

Yeah, I remember seeing Deschutes at the Happy Harry's beer fest, but no, they don't get this far over. It's strange how much it varies. I had a conversation with a Dickinson Liquor store owner who was pretty bitter about the politics of the distributing.

they just don't give a crap about central and west ND, because the population, doesn't meet thier little minimums. it is political crap.

i am on a personal boycott of New Belgium for that reason. pisses me off cause i love 1554

randi philleo wrote:Can you get Deschutes over on the state line? I wonder if anyone would have a bottle of their 'Hop in the Dark'.

Deschutes is distributing in ND, they were at Happy Harry's Beer Fest and I have seen them in Fargo liquor stores. I wonder if they are not in the Bismarck/Mandan area for some reason, like New Belgium if I remember the discussion on the Masher's forum.

I have seen several of their beers on the shelves but I haven't seen Hop in the Dark for sale though.

Heh, nice Dennis.

I had tried good Cascadian from Bozeman Brewing Co on tap at a pizza parlor out in Montana. It was roasty and malty, but not overly bitter. Okay, so it wasn't mine. Mike ordered it... I made the mistake of ordering some watered down Scotch Ale from another brewery, bleh.

i have yet to try one.

but i do love hearing people bitch about the name. let's call it

ameircan cascadian like dark blackish IPA ish Hoppy Beer!

doesn't that just roll of the tongue?

That could be. I know it was pretty highly reviewed.

Wasn't Hop in the Dark recently named a Top 25 beer by Wine Enthusiast Magazine?

Can you get Deschutes over on the state line? I wonder if anyone would have a bottle of their 'Hop in the Dark'.

No worries! I didn't think you sounded like a jerk. In fact, this is exactly the kind of discussion the BrewingTV episode talks about. Some people get pretty worked up about the "official name" of the beer.
Thanks for the advice. If this snow hits and I can't make it to the relatives this weekend, I might just swing by Bridgeview to peruse their selection.

Upon re-reading my post, I sound like a jerk. My apologies. I'm a little annoyed that the Pacific Northwest is claiming the creation of a style that has been around since before most of the breweries in the PNW that are brewing them. That's like California claiming hoppy red ales as California Native IPAs because they've brewed a lot of hoppy red ales lately (though hoppy red ales have been around a while and are not exclusive to California).

As far as beer buying goes, Fargo's got a really interesting situation. Happy Harry's has a bunch of interesting stuff and it seems like Bridgeview goes out of their way to get even "better" stuff and not have much overlap with Harry's. I always hit both when I'm in the Fargo area. You might be able to get something.

If I were to take a blind swing at what you might be able to find, I'd guess that you might be able to get one or two of the Deschutes versions of the Dark IPA style. I'm not sure how much of the Deschutes lineup you get (we get none of it here) but I know that you get at least a little of it; maybe you'll be able to find "Hop In The Dark Cascadian Dark Ale."

I've got a Black IPA recipe in the works, I'll send it your way if it turns out well. Of course, it might suck and get used as cooking liquid.

Alright, well maybe it wasn't "first" brewed in the Cascadian range, but that's where it certainly was popularized and refined. I really could care less, I guess, I just want to try the darn stuff!

Happy Harry's might have something since they generally have quite a wide variety of beer, but I'm hatching my bets on Bridgeview Liquors in Moorhead. They're the only place outside of the Twin Cities that supplies Surly beer, and they have the widest range of brews that I've ever seen in the area. May just have to pay them a visit...

"Cascadian" refers to the area in the Pacific Northwest referred to as Cascadia.

The first documented example of this style of beer was brewed in Vermont in the mid 90s (meaning Cascadia can't claim it as their creation as they've been doing).

As far as commercial versions...maybe you'll still be able to find the Widmer W'10. It's pretty good, to be honest. Here's a link for a list on BeerAdvocate:

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style/175

Good luck finding 'em in Fargo; we don't have anything in Bismarck (though, you do have a significantly better selection in Fargo).

Cascadian IPA, Dark IPA, whatever, my question is, have you tried it?

I watched the Brewing TV episode where they discussed the debate on the name and, if nothing else, it sure did whet my whistle.

Since I don't brew (yet) does anyone know if there is a commercially available brew of the aforementioned variety?

As far as the debate itself, I do find it interesting. Personally, I like the stance behind calling it "Cascadian" vs. "Dark," because the word is that much more descriptive than merely "Dark." Also, it does sort of give credit where credit is due as far as localizing the area for which the recipe first was brewed.

Thoughts????