May 27, 2021
In times of crisis, people tend to turn to the comfort of
familiarity, whether it be revisiting the family recipes they
enjoyed as a kid or just attempting to relive some idealized
version of the good old days. Over the past year, between
quarantines, lockdowns, and political strife, nostalgia has made a
big comeback, in everything from the music we’re listening to, to
the very beers we drink. I’d be lying if I said I haven’t been
reaching for more of my tried-and-true favorites during the
pandemic. If the world is crumbling around me, at least the last
thing I’ll taste will be the predictable deliciousness of a Sierra
Nevada Pale Ale with a soundtrack of glorious ’90s pop to accompany
it.
But there are more beers from the recent past to rediscover, and
none more ripe for such examination than the humble Black IPA.
Underappreciated by the masses but beloved by brewers from all
over, the Black IPA has always been polarizing. Jonny Garrett dives
deep into the history of the misunderstood style, its origins,
evolution, and surprising (albeit small) comeback over the past
year in his piece titled “Darkest Before the Dawn — The Unlikely
Return of Black IPA,” which was published on Good Beer Hunting on
April 6, 2021. By “comeback” I mostly mean people waxing poetic
about the style, but there have also been a handful of enterprising
masochists who refuse to let it go the way of the Brut IPA. Bless
them for it.
In this conversation, Jonny and I will discuss exactly who is
asking for Black IPAs, how examining the style for this story
sparked some surprising positivity for him personally, and what it
was like talking to beer icons brewing at powerhouses like The
Alchemist and Firestone Walker. We’ll also talk about how Hazies
and Black IPAs were both born in the same small corner of Vermont,
how their paths diverged so completely, and why it’s so important
to relish the small joy found in a glass of good beer.