HopCat/PussyCat Beer Guild in Grand Rapids, MI

About six months ago, I remember seeing some online articles that were discussing the mysterious black IPA. Some were stating that a black IPA could not really exist, and others were saying it has been around for ages so stop talking like it’s a new beer, you freakin’ idiots! (You know how Internet message board arguing goes, you insecure little ninny!) Whether it’s new or not, I’d never seen nor heard of a black IPA before, and I’d never even been given the chance to sample one until I found myself in arguably the best bar in America, HopCat in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Beer Advocate has already beaten me to heaping praise upon HopCat, naming it the third best bar in the world. I’ll second virtually anything stated over at Beer Advocate, and I’ll also point out that their Crack Fries may be the most delicious fries on the planet. But we’re here for the beer and when I saw one of those mysterious black IPAs show up on the menu, a double black IPA for that matter, named Black Scratch Fever, I was immediately sucked in. Claw away, pussy cat.

Served in a beautiful, 12 oz snifter, the Black Scratch Fever looked like a deep, dark porter with just a touch of scorched hazelnut tossed in. The beer didn’t have a whole lot of head, and the smell pulsated with solid notes of coffee and bitter malt. I was hoping to find some noticeable hops hints in the nose, but all of those were annihilated by the strong malt. The taste and mouthfeel were unlike anything I’d ever had in a beer before. A slimier, but also cloyingly thinner, mouthfeel of a porter was the first characteristic, with a blast of bitter, coffee-flavored malt exploding on the tongue. The 8.1% ABV was immediately identifiable as well, with a rush of booze clouding over what I was hoping would be the hop hints. The endnotes were even stranger, with a deluge of bittersweet chocolate malt pounding against a trickling of a slightly dense hop touch. It tasted like a porter on steroids, but not quite a stout either. Absolutely unique in the flavor presentation.

Certainly one of the most perplexing beers I have ever sampled, Black Scratch Fever presented the mystique I’d been hoping for all along with the black IPA. After I finished the glass, I tried to convince myself that I wanted another. It certainly was a dark beer, and it was most definitely different, but the endnotes were almost too strange a combination to beckon me toward another glass. This was a nice treat and something I’ll remember for quite sometime, but maybe not a beer I’ll be dreaming about when I head back west in a week. Regardless, if you find a black IPA on the menu at your favorite bar, don’t pass on it. It may be as mysterious as you think.