Alley Kat’s latest beer in its Big Bottle Series hit store shelves last week. New Moon Cascadian Dark Ale is a Black IPA/Cascadian Dark Ale/Black IPA/pick your name of this new style. Generally speaking I am a big fan of Cascadian Dark Ales (and that is the name I prefer, as well). The blend of strong hop character and bitterness combined with the maltier aspects of dark ales appeals to me. I think it creates an inherent balance that I am always looking for in a beer. Mega-hop bombs can be fun once in a while, but most of the time I am looking for a beer which I can consumer a couple of pints without my cheeks imploding.

So, needless to say it didn’t take me long to open this one. In particular I was hopeful as Alley Kat does balance well, sometimes at the expense of the more extreme beer styles. This is a style built on balance, so it should be in their wheelhouse.

It is a deep, rich, opaque brown beer verging on black. It builds a voluminous tan head that drops lots of lacing and leaves behind a tight surface blanket. The aroma is sharp citrus, pine, resiny hop blended with a dark caramel, toffee and dark fruit. I also get tiny hints of roast.

The first sense of the flavour is soft caramel, some dark fruit of plum and hints of cinnamon for some reason. I also find a soft earhtiness and delicate dark chocolate roast. The middle starts to bring out a piney, resiny hop flavour. Bitterness builds near the end. I find it accents resin, citrus and is rather notable in its presence. I find the linger fascinating. It has resin and citrus hop flavour, a sharp bitterness all balanced by a chocolatey malt and a touch of roast in the background. I really appreciate the last messages left by this beer.

Surprisingly (for me) the hops in this beer are really present and distinct – more than many other styles I have had. The Citra hop really comes through. It is one of the few Cascadians that reminds me that it started life as an IPA. It doesn’t lose its IPA character, but instead mutes it with darker malts. It might be a bit too sharp – it doesn’t create the smoothness some others have – but I like that I can still taste not only hop bitterness but exactly which variety of hop.

It may be possibly lacking some finesse, but it is an assertive interpretation. I like and and I commend the good folks at Alley Kat or not shying away from creating a hop-forward Cascadian. It still has all the balance I am looking for, but I really appreciate that the specific hop character still shines through.