Another Save the Date


60+. That is how many IPA’s that Mohawk Bend will have on offer for their 4th iteration of the L.A. IPA Festival. The bitterness starts on Saturday, March 4 and continues the on Sunday, March 5, 2017.

MARCH 4: THE MAIN EVENT
The judges start tasting and voting at 9:30am with awards at 4pm. In between and after will be large crowds and sharp elbows so plan accordingly and make sure to vote for your favorite in the People’s Choice poll.

MARCH 5: TASTE OF THE IPA FEST
This is the day that I usually attend. I can arrive and grab a seat and select from the flights on offer all day. Of course, the winner is usually long gone as are many other beers, but there is still a strong showing of IBU’s to choose from.

10 oz tastings are $5 and you can buy the custom glassware for an additional $5.

Double Duck and Double Cover

photo from Angel City.
photo from Angel City.

The Angel City Warehouse Collection has a new addition. And it is a big one. 80 IBU’s and 12% ABV, this is either Triple IPA or Imperial IPA but then again Double Double makes as much sense in this crazy IPA world too.

Duck and Cover Double Double IPA blends Warrior, Citra, Centennial and Cascade hops to create tropical flavors with a “resinous hop aftertaste”. Making it much more potent than past Warehouse releases like their Peach Berliner Weisse.

2500 IBU’s

Now that the highest ABV battle is pausing (thankfully) a new battle front is opening with Alpha-fornication.

This is what the brewer, Peter Chiodo has to say about it, “Clocking in at 2500 IBUs and 13.3% ABV, Alpha-fornication proves that sometimes people climb mountains just because they’re there. And sometimes, Beer Geeks will try anything on a dare. The hoppiest beer we know of was a meager 2007 IBUs, so we bested that and then some. We Flying Monkeys see extreme beers as the continuing evolution of Craft Brewing and the expansion of Ontario beers. It’s not just a contest of bravado to see who can make the world’s strongest beer (even though now we’ve got the world’s hoppiest one covered); it’s a movement – a movement to showcase the craft and how complex and versatile beer can actually be.”

Named for the alpha acids, or the compounds in the hop plant that are the source of hop bitterness, Alpha-fornication is brewed through highly creative and complex manipulation of the high alpha acid hop varieties, Warrior (17% AAU) and Centennial (11.5% AAU). A hop-steeped wort re-circulated through an additional “Hop Vorlauf” punches up the insane intensity of this brew to a stupefying 2500 IBUs. Keeping with the concepts of extreme brewing, the 13.3% ABV of Alpha-fornication adds bigness to this beer.”

I am not so sure about this one. Maybe a small taster will be enough but I do like the end of the press release that talks about the series that Alpha-F is part of, “Created as part of the Flying Monkeys’ Everest Experiments, a series of extreme beers showcasing the complexity and versatility of artisan brewing, the Flying Monkeys are actively engaging the expanding minds and palates of Ontario’s craft beer drinkers.”