Toxic Sludge, courtesy of whoisbrew.com

The Black India Pale Ale or Cascadian Dark Ale is an up and coming style of beer that a lot of brewers have been showcasing recently. It combines the malt roastiness of a porter with the bitter hop bite of a regular American IPA. I do enjoy that marriage of flavors.

Today I will sample Blue Point Brewing Company’s Toxic Sludge Black IPA. This was featured at my recent beer tasting and was a hit with the hop heads. It comes in a 16oz can complete with a skull and crossbones and green toxic residue all over it.

Appearance

I am serving it chilled in my new, awesome Dogfish Head special IPA glass. It pours a black coffee brown with a crowning tan head. Not as black as I expected it to be but not a bad color.

Smell

Touch of cocoa powder, herbal hops and some biscuit notes. There is the faintest hint of chai tea.

Taste 

Not overly bitter with the hops but a nice roasted taste. It is super smooth and very easy drinking. Some brown bread notes are in the finish.

It is not an in your face hop explosion like a lot of American IPAs, but it has a very nice flavor and smoothness for days. Look for this one, Stone’s Sublimely Self Righteous
Ale, Southern Tier’s Iniquity, Avery’s New World Porter, Heavy Sea’s Black
Cannon,  Widmer Brother’s Pitch Black IPA,
Tommyknocker’s Hop Strike Black IPA, Rogue Ale’s Daddy’s Little Helper Black IPA, and Left Hand’s Fade to Black at select ABCs.

Beer Blogger Adam Shugan is a Beer Consultant and store manager at ABC on Archer Road in Gainesville.

Follow him on Twitter @abcbeeradams