'Blackout' - CIA

Born on March 12th 2010

Hot on the heels of the gone but not forgotten IRA is our new 'Blackout' Canadian India Ale - hitting the beer faucet Friday March 12th 2010 @ 5:00pm.

Why CIA? Well it's almost an IPA and it's almost a Double IPA but it's too dark to be either, it's too monstrous to be an American Brown - and so it is...... Canadian India Ale.

This is a big dark full-bodied hop-bomb that was brewed 8 days earlier on March 4th 2010 during a 5 hour blackout at the brewpub. I was about 5 minutes into the lauter when we lost power, needless to say that made for a long day. About 3 hrs into the blackout I decided this brew born from the depths of darkness needed a little extra colour so I added a few kg's of black patent malt to the slowly cooling mash, then another kg of roasted barley directly to the kettle for the duration of the boil to add yet a little more colour and to smooth the dry roasted character. After the fast and furious fermentation I dry-hopped the brew with a few kg's of Columbus to round it out and to infuse that pungent, raw, vegetal freshness we all know and love so much.

And there we have it - a 1.074 wort fermented, dry-hopped, transferred, carbonated and tapped in under 8 days from yeast pitch. Some may (and do) call me insane but the proof is in the glass Friday at 5:00pm. Come on down and see what real fresh beer is all about, you won't be disappointed!

Vital Stats:
Gravity - 18.0P/1.074
IBU's - 82
Hop Rate - 3.8 lbs/bbl
ABV - 7.3 %
Colour - 20 SRM
Malts - Pale Ale, Melanoidin, Crystal 70, Crystal 160, Munich, Black Patent, Roasted barley

Hops - Magnum, Columbus, Simcoe