East End Will Feature “Black Hop” @ 2012 BigPour 9/8

Every year in late summer, we realize that we’d better finally come to a decision as to what special beer we’re going to brew for The Steel City Big Pour. As the local-est brewery to the fest, we’ve been given the honors of brewing the official beer for the fest, that we tap halfway through each session. (And simultaneously tap at the Brewery for Growler Hours, and at our Growler Shop in The Strip). And of course, this year is no exception. So without dragging this out any longer, let’s cut to the chase…

This year’s BigPour Brew will be a Black IPA called, perhaps rather obviously, Black Hop. The Black IPA is also known as a "Cascadian Dark Ale" which is probably better style name, since there’s nothing "Pale" about them. While the flavor and aroma have familiar notes of citrus and tropical fruit that you’ll find in an IPA (ours uses Amarillo, Zythos, Centennial), there’s also a roasty, chocolatey component to this beer that pulls it into new territory. Well, somewhat new for us anyway… Snow Melt is close, but still not quite hoppy enough to be a CDA/Black IPA.

We’ve brewed about 15 barrels of this beer (or 30 kegs), so it’s only going to be available for Growler fills, and the occasional keg here and there around town. It will nto see wide distribution, so your best bet is to come see us either at the fest, or at either of our two locations. And who knows, if it’s as popular as some of our previous BigPour Brews, it might just become a regular seasonal thing around here.

Stop by for some and I’ll see you here, there, or at that other place there.

Cheers – Scott