Tag: IPA

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Top 5 IPA’s


Happy #IPADay!

Last month, I tallied some figures about my first 1,000 beers that I have rated. So you know that my highest ranked IPA was the canned version of Punk IPA from BrewDog and that my favorite DIPA was the Kern River Citra.

Here are the other IPA favorites of the last two years…..
Russian River Blind Pig – better than PtY and more plentiful
Hair of the Dog Blue Dot – when fresh this has a great bite to it
BridgePort Hop Harvest – 2009 was a great year. Looking forward to 2011
Mikkeller Single Hop Nelson Sauvin – grape and IPA. And it works!
Mammoth IPA 395 – super spicy and herby.

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Get your Hops on!

71

As in 71 IPA’s in under one roof in Redondo Beach. A tremendous number brought together by the industrious Martin Svab and the Naja’s crew.

Here are some photos from the event.

the base of all hop bombs
the menu, well part of it
Iron Fist throws down the Gauntlet
Strand & Cismontane in the house

I sampled the Gauntlet from Iron Fist, the new Black IPA from Strand Brewing and Drake’s Symposium IPA. And I wish I could have had more.

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Karl Strauss – Coastal Reserve series

I really enjoyed the Vanilla Porter that KS came out with and the BIPA is a style that I enjoy as well. Toss in the New Zealand hops and I am in.

“Blackball is a Belgian-inspired India Pale Ale with a robust West Coast hop profile. Belgian ale yeast, coriander, and Curacao lend a fruity and spicy character for an ale bolder than your average IPA. A blend of New Zealand and Cascade hops add a vibrant floral aroma and clean citrus hop bitterness that lingers through its crisp, dry finish. Drink up while it’s young, heavily hopped IPA’s are best enjoyed fresh.”

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SVEA

It is fascinating to see how American brewers are influencing old school Europe.

Case in point…..

The brewery says this about their new offering, “We send our approach for the Svea IPA. As your growing thirst is leaning towards more bitter levels, we have carefully selected a set of noble hops, for you to enjoy on every suitable occasion.”

Now even a venerated brewery like Struise is upping the hop ante.

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P to the T and the Y

For those who love the elusive Pliny the Younger, here are the details according to Russian River …..

We are releasing Younger at our pub in Santa Rosa on February 4th. When the pub receives it’s allocation, those kegs will be allocated to last for exactly 2 weeks. Therefore, we may run out at the pub each day, but will have more the following day for 2 weeks. It will be available in 10 oz. glasses only- no growlers or bottles to go. This will allow more beer enthusiasts like you, as well as our regular customers, to enjoy some Younger this year! And we won’t see it on Ebay!

Following are the markets to which we will send Younger (same as last year):

San Francisco
East Bay
North Bay
Southern California
Seattle, WA
Portland, OR
Colorado
Philadelphia, PA

I will celebrate the start of PTY season with a nice Blind Pig a great IPA that I don’t have to fight through a crowd to get.

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Ocean 77

No it is not the latest in the George Clooney caper movies. It is a sequel of sorts or a side project for the mad brewers at BrewDog.

They have two beers ready, an IPA and a Stout. Pedestrian for people who stuff beer into taxidermy but the twist is that this is a private label type thing. These two beers will be a store exclusive. What store? Tell me if you find out.

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Hoptimum

Sierra Nevada is fast becoming the big IPA game in town and today (in limited release) comes a Beer Camp Brew sure to please the lovers of bitterness.

Here is what the brewery says about it …“A group of hop-heads and publicans challenegd our Beer Camp brewers to push the extremes of whole-cone hop brewing. The result is this: a 100 IBU, whole-cone hurrican of flavor. Simply put- Hoptimum: the biggest whole-cone IPA we have ever produced. Aggressively hopped, dry-hopped and torpedoed with our exclusive new hop varieties for ultra-intense flavors and aromas.”