Bold collaboration (with Norway’s Lervig) brewed with abundant Ethiopian coffee and black patent malts picks up lightly resinous Simcoe-Amarillo hop char as well as piney dried fruiting. Ascending coffee-sugared carafa roast elevates black molasses-dried espresso milking and sweet vanilla snip above tertiary dark cherry, plum, pineapple and yellow grapefruit remnant.

Interpolating a Cascadian Dark Ale (a.k.a. Black IPA) with sour saison yeast and earthen barnyard funk, far-reaching farmhouse brew allows dark-roasted mocha malting, pine-charred hop bittering and spoiled citrus piquancy to set the tone. Raw molasses tarring embitters chocolate-roasted coffee bean backdrop. In the distance, dry bourbon and burgundy undertones emerge alongside a smidgen of mildewed peat soiling.

Surly-brewed canned version from shared recipe (with Texas’ Real Ales and Indiana’s Three Floyds Brewing) is stylistically as good as it gets. A complex Imperial Stout/ IPA-styled Cascadian Dark Ale, its expansive flavor profile combines rich mocha nuttiness with brisk citric fruiting. Initial coffee whimsicality, dried cocoa bittering and mild caramel latte creaming deepen dark-roasted chocolate malting over pine-charred hop roast. Sweet orange peel zest sprinkles grapefruit, pineapple and lemondrop illusions just below the brown chocolate-y surface. Well done.

Enchanting French-roasted Amaya coffee beans provide bitterswseet anchor for expressive tan-headed mahogany-bodied dark ale. Aggressive roasted hop char contrasts sweet hazelnut-pecan-almond conflux. Raw molasses bittering and thick anise oiling increase intensity at the midst while tropical citric wisp nips at the prominent mocha richness.

Magnificent full-bodied black ale bests stylistic competition with its richly creamed mocha theme and sublime floral-bound fruited nature. Dark-roasted black chocolate malting allows nutty coffee, cocoa nibs and molasses tones to flourish above ashen piney hop acridity (and fresh evergreen aromatics). Orange-peeled grapefruit rind bittering affects subtler pineapple-papaya-mango-kiwi tropicalia as well as laidback black cherry, tangerine and navel orange smidge. “Fear the Dark,” indeed!

Well-balanced Cascadian Dark Ale underscores coffee-roasted dark chocolate bittering with piney molasses sugaring and caliginous dried fruiting. Black patent malting picks up minor anise-fennel snip as ascending orange-dried blackberry, blueberry and boysenberry fruiting sweetens the unflagging mocha decisiveness.

Cool devilish artwork outdoes nebulous ‘black ale’ styling, but not by much. As expected, dark-roasted chocolate seeding and subtle tropical fruiting embittered by piney beechwood char above toasted hop spine. Apple-skinned grapefruit, pineapple and mango undertones pervade plastique black licorice remnant and slim herbal passage, leading to a wavered charcoal-burnt chocolate fondue finish.

Slick lactose-sugared imperial stout hybrid (bottled by Thomas Creek) blends grain-roasted mocha into pomegranate-juiced dried fruiting. Dark chocolate, burnt caramel, day-old coffee, espresso and black licorice illusions gain molasses-like sinew. Tertiary blackberry, black cherry, red plum, prune and raspberry tartness magnified by sour pomegranate adjunct.

Challenging Belgian-style dark ale (described as a black ale) powered by creamy chocolate-covered raspberry rasp and dry grain-roasted cacao chalking. Syrupy black chocolate drapes ancillary strawberry, blueberry and bruised cherry illusions while contrasting extracted vanilla bean bittering. Phenol hop-charred astringency creates charcoal-like acridity. 

On tap at Shepherd & Knucklehead, brisk pine-spruced IPA fruiting of fulsome medium-bodied hybrid infiltrates grain-roasted mocha malting and gruff charred-hop bite. Pineapple, plum, blackberry and black cherry illusions gather ’round grapefruit rind bittering as the dark chocolate notes start to gain momentum.