[2/15 Update: Did this style originate in Vermont? See bolded update below.]

(Eugene, OR) – Oakshire Brewing will soon release what may be the first “commercially indicative” Cascadian Dark Ale.

Oakshire O’Dark:30 is a hoppy ale at 70 IBU but it’s not pale in color, it’s black. So can we really call it an India Pale Ale or to be more specific, a Black India Pale Ale? That question has been a point of debate in the Pacific Northwest and on beer message boards for some time now.

What are the alternatives? Cascadian Dark Ale, India Black Ale, and India Dark Ale to name a few.

India Black Ale is outlawed from label approval. Southern Tier Brewing could not legally refer to Iniquity Black Ale as an India Black Ale so it settled for “Imperial IBA.” Beer Here and importer, The Shelton Brothers, were told that they could call Beer Here Dark Hops an India-style Black Ale or Hoppy Black Ale on the label but not India Black Ale because it’s not brewed in India. They settled for the latter.

Because the word, “India,” seems to be causing so much trouble, beer people in the PNW want to call these beers Cascadian Dark Ales, given that so many of these beers use hops from the Cascadian Mountains region covering Oregon and Washington. They recently held a symposium with brewers to discuss the emerging style and are working with the BJCP to have it officially recognized. The New School blog offers an extensive write-up.

Though the style reportedly started back in 2003 (if you ask PNW’ers) with beers like Rogue Brutal Bitter Skullsplitter, there has never been so much talk around the issue of what to call these beers.

[Update: Shaun Hill of the upcoming Hill Farmstead Brewery notes that Greg Noonan released the first beer in this style, Black Watch IPA, in 1989 at the Vermont Pub and Brewery:

From Hill’s blog, “Just a few weeks back I was contacted by Mitch Steele (brewmaster of Stone Brewing Co.) because back in the spring of 2006 he had tasted his ‘first’ black ipa – Darkside from The Shed Brewery. He is conducting some research into the India Pale Ale category and I had to inform him that my own inspiration for the beer had come from Kimmich at the Alchemist… whose own inspiration had come from brewing Blackwatch IPA at Vermont Pub and Brewery in the mid 90s… a recipe that John had ‘resurrected’ from Noonan’s archives from the early days at VPB. Three breweries in Vermont had created black IPAs by the end of 2005 – evidently a Vermont original.”]

So what makes this beer a big deal? Cascadian Dark Ale passed the TTB gauntlet.

Brewpublic collected some thoughts from Matt Van Wyk on recognition of the style: “It’s pretty hard to help educate the consumer if the only place they can learn about CDAs is from a handful of beer writers and a little word of mouth. I can’t speak for other Pacific Northwest brewers and their decisions, we just know what this should be and as a company are going to stand behind the movement. Change is hard for people.”

The beer will be available in 22 oz. bombers and on draft beginning March 3.

Beer Stats:

ABV: 6.3%, IBU: 70, OG: 15 deg. Plato
2-row malted barley, wheat malt, specialty dark malt
Nugget and Cascade hops