India Brown Ale

hope i am posting this in the right place....

what is the official classification for India Brown Ales?

Hey Kip.....
Not sure what the classification would be, I looked in the BJCP, but I didn't see anything specific..... not sure if you have it or not, but here's the link just in case. Maybe you can tell by what you have in it, etc. Seems like it would be a special, since (by what you've named it only) it sounds kinda like a crossover of an IPA and an English Brown? Sounds good, though, whatever it is  ;D

http://www.bjcp.org/docs/2008_Guidelines.pdf

Hope that helps. (thought they were comin' out with a new one last year, or have I missed it?)

Thanks.
I is a store bought kit calling itself an India Brown Ale but the description made it sound like a mix of the 2.
Of course, unless i missed it, there is still no official classification for Black IPAs either...

Yea, both the Black IPA and India Brown have yet to be included as a defined style within BJCP.  You might find better descriptions in the GABF descriptions and some larger clubs have drafted rough guidelines for newer styles. 

We used some Maltose Falcon guides for Black IPA last year when that was a "to be brewed" style at our annual competition. 

Try looking under the name Cascadian Dark ale, or India Dark Ale. It is still an emerging style and the the guys who define the style guidelines still haven't come up with a final description of this style. Basically whether it's a variation of an IPA, a hoppy Brown ale, or it's own style. I was able to find a probrewer profile for it once, but have since lost it. Cascadian Dark ale I know is defined by use of northwest hops, piney, earthy flavor and aroma. Malt shouldn't be astringent or harsh, dark roasted malts should be limited to 2% of the mash. Flavor should finish with caramel or chocolate notes with emphasis on the hop flavor.