Dear Replicator,
I love BYO and I read every issue. I did, however, take exception to your July-August 2010 article, “Birth of a New Style,” discussing “Cascadian” dark ale. Such a beer, Blackwatch IPA, was an original offering from, now departed, Greg Noonan at the Vermont Pub and Brewery in Burlington, Vermont. Have you tried the Smuttynose Brewery’s tribute beer, “Noonan”? I beg you to consider running a Replicator article on this beer.  
Michael Burdick
Burlington, Vermont

I must admit, I could have done a better job of researching the true beginnings of this type of beer before finalizing the July-August 2010 article. I have since verified that the first version of a black IPA was brewed at Vermont Pub and Brewery. Hopefully this article will serve to honor Greg Noonan. 
   
Smuttynose’s owner, Peter Egelston and his sister, Janet opened the Northampton Brewery in Northampton, Massachusetts in 1986, and later the Portsmouth Brewery in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. In 1993 Peter attended an auction of the bankrupt Frank Jones Brewing Co. (also in Portsmouth) and agreed to purchase the entire brewery. This was to become the Smuttynose Brewery, which opened in January of 1994.
   
Smuttynose Brewmaster David Yarrington’s homebrewing roots date back to his college days in the late 1980s. He worked at 20 Tank Brewery in San Francisco, California then helped open Tokyo Brewing Co. After that he moved back to the states and completed the Master Brewer program at UC-Davis in 2001. He soon joined Smuttynose and has been there ever since.
   
“Noonan,” a black IPA, was created as part of Smuttynose’s “Short Batch” series, which are their limited edition, experimental beers. They felt a good way to honor Greg’s memory would be to create a beer very similar to Black Watch. The main challenge with this beer is to achieve the black color without imparting the acrid grain astringency. To subdue the heavy roast flavors, the dark Carafa® II malt is not mashed with the rest of the grains. Instead it is added to the top of the mash just prior to sparging. A combination of Magnum and Columbus hops contribute an elegant and refined bitterness that parallels the reduced astringency. The result is a light bodied, non-acrid, very dark beer with plenty of flavor and aroma.          
   
Now, Michael, Greg’s contribution to brewers everywhere lives on.

Ingredients
6.6 lbs. (3 kg) Briess light, unhopped, liquid malt extract
1.5 lb. (0.68 kg) pale ale malt 
12 oz. (0.34 kg) Belgian aromatic malt (25 °L)
10 oz. (0.28 kg) crystal malt (60 °L)
4 oz. (0.11 kg) black malt (600 °L)
1.0 lb. (0.45 kg) Carafa® II malt (450 °L)
    (** follow special instructions) 
11.3 AAU Magnum hops (0.81 oz./
    23 g of 14% alpha acid) (75 min.)
7.5 AAU Columbus hops
    (0.5 oz /14 g of 15% alpha acid)
    (30 min.)
3.75 AAU Columbus hops
    (0.25 oz. /7 g of 15% alpha acid)
    (20 min.)
3.75 AAU Columbus hops
    (0.25 oz./7 g of 15% alpha acid)
    (10 min.)
7.5 AAU Columbus hops
    (0.5 oz./14 g of 15% alpha acid)
    (0 min.)
Glacier hops (1.0 oz./28 g of 5.5%
    alpha acid) (dry hop, 7 days)
Nugget hops(1.0 oz./28 g of 13%
    alpha acid) (dry hop, 7 days)
1⁄2 tsp. yeast nutrient (last 15 min.)
1⁄2 tsp. Irish moss (last 30 min)
White Labs WLP 001 (American Ale) or
    Wyeast 1056 (American Ale) yeast 
.75 cup (150g) of corn sugar for priming
    (if bottling)

Step by Step
Steep the milled grain in 2 gallons (7.6 L) of water at 154 ºF (68 ºC) for 30 minutes. Remove grains from the wort and rinse with 2 quarts (1.8 L) of hot water. **In a separate saucepan combine 1 lb. (0.45 kg) milled Carafa® II malt with 1.5 quarts (1.42 L) water at 130 °F (54 °C) for 3 minutes. Remove grain and add this black liquid and the liquid malt extract to the wort and boil for 75 minutes. While boiling, add the hops, Irish moss and yeast nutrient as per the schedule. During the boil, use this time to thoroughly sanitize a fermenter. Now add the wort to 2 gallons (7.6 L) of cold water in a fermenter and top off with cold water up to 5 gallons (19 L).  Cool the wort to 75 ºF (24 ºC). Pitch your yeast and aerate the wort heavily. Allow the beer to cool to 68 ºF (20 ºC). Hold at that temperature until fermentation is complete. Transfer to a carboy, avoiding any splashing to prevent aerating the beer and add the Nugget and Glacier dry hops. Allow the beer to condition for 1 week and then bottle or keg. Allow the beer to carbonate and age for two weeks.

All grain option:
This is a single step infusion mash using 9.25 lb. (4.19 kg) 2-row pale malt and an additional 0.5 lbs. (0.22 kg) pale ale malt to replace the malt extracts. Mix the milled grains with 4.25 gallons (16.1 L) of 174 °F (79 °C) water to stabilize at 154 ºF (68 ºC) for 60 minutes. **Add 1 lb. (0.45 kg) of milled Carafa II malt to the top of the mash. Sparge slowly with 175 ºF (79 ºC) water. Collect approximately 6.5 gallons (25 L) of wort runoff to boil for 90 minutes. Reduce the 75-minute hop addition to 0.75 oz. (21 g) magnum hop pellets (14% alpha acid, 10.5 AAU) to allow for the higher utilization factor of a full wort boil. The remainder of this recipe and procedures are the same as the extract with grain recipe.