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Fav IPA beer


BeeR
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Just had the Ruthless Rye and thougt it was okay, but hubby loved it. He hates hoppy beers and I think that's why he liked it--not so hoppy.

I thought it was about avg on the "hoppy" scale. I'm somewhere between you two about this one. Like it fine but nothing amazing IMO. Not as different from other IPAs as I expected, though I could tell a diff and maybe expected too much there.

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Thanks.

 

I saw a beer menu on line from the bar I hung out at in my 20's and listed Hopslam. I always go there when I am back, so we'll see if they actually have it in stock. For those of you in Cincy, the bar is Arthurs in Hyde Park.

 

Well, I kinda figured this....my bar got the Hopslam in on tap in mid Jan. and was out of it in a day and a half.

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Stone Ruination. Hands-down the best IPA on the market. Buddy of mine just showed up with some double dry-hopped from the brewery, and it is amazing. Some of the best floral notes combined with sweet malt I have ever had. If you can find a bar serving it, run there. I don't think they bottle the double dry-hopped version.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I will admit that there are tons of these that I havent tried and I have barely scratched the surface on IPA's but it seems that every time I try one they are awful. They taste like tobacco spit. Once I tasted Smithwicks I never looked back. Sometimes my Smithwicks guy is out and I try an IPA and I never like them :shrug:

Edited by whomper
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Dogfish 75 minute - wow did they hit a sweet spot. The drink-ability of 60 minute with the better balance, sweetness and hop character of 90 minute. Had some on tap in NJ a couple weeks ago, awesome stuff if you can find it (which I cannot locally).

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Dogfish 75 minute - wow did they hit a sweet spot. The drink-ability of 60 minute with the better balance, sweetness and hop character of 90 minute. Had some on tap in NJ a couple weeks ago, awesome stuff if you can find it (which I cannot locally).

 

Bought a 22 oz bottle of this a couple weeks ago. Very Tasty.

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Was in the Seattle area this weekend for an unfortunate family matter and was asked to make a meal on Sunday. Picked up some Elysian IPAs at the Whole Foods, Idiot Sauvin, Jasmine IPA, and I forget the third, but it seemed like their Flagship IPA. Immortal? Something like that.

 

At any rate, I was really fired up to try them and, honestly, wasn't blown away. I think I liked the flagship the best, followed by the Jasmine, but thought the Idiot Sauvin was just bitter without the aromatics I'd expect, especially from Nelson Sauvin hops.

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Got some Deviant Dales 16 oz Tall Boys (basically Dales Pale on steroids) and Terrapin Hopzilla double IPA (hops are really grapefruity and nicely balanced for 10%), two awesome ones from the brewers of 2 of my favorite pales.

 

Actually, if someone wants to do a trade for one of their incredible beers you can only find locally, I highly recommend the Hopzilla. Terrapin is blowing away the other breweries in the Southeast in terms of new beers and quality (and are really cool dudes too, like you'd expect from a brewery named after a Grateful Dead song)...

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Speaking of IPAs, I'm getting pretty effing sick of the herd mentality. We only have four taps and at least one of them always has some sort of one-off or unique deal, so I need to be careful about being redundant with the other three handles and try to cover as many bases as possible. Of course, given the popularity, I'll always have some sort of IPA-ish beer on tap (and, typically, it's not just IPA-ish, but actually a beer labeled as an IPA). Seems that's not enough for some. Right now, for instance, we have the Victory Headwaters Pale. Which, besides being about as delicious as it gets, may as well be an IPA. In fact, I'm rather certain that it's hoppier than almost any traditional English IPA.

 

At any rate, when people ask what our IPA on tap is, the servers are instructed to say we have the Victory Headwaters Pale which is pretty hoppy.

"Is it an IPA?"

"Technically it's labeled a Pale Ale, but like I said, it's pretty hoppy for a Pale Ale, so if you like IPAs, you'll probably like this. It uses 100% Citra hops and is really bright."

"I drink IPAs. You don't have an IPA on tap?"

"The closest thing we have is the Headwaters, but if you like IPAs, I bet you'll love it. It's actually hoppier than some IPAs"

"You should have an IPA on tap. I guess I'll just get a bottle."

 

Effing idiots. So, basically, you don't give two craps about what the beer tastes like, you just want it to say IPA, because that's what all the cool kids are drinking.

 

So, I have two choices if I don't want to continue to endure this crap.

1) Never serve anything that resembles an American IPA unless it actually says "IPA" in the name.

2) Waste two of my three tap handles on two beers that are really similar at the expense of actually offering some distinct choices so I can feature a delicious beer like Headwaters and still keep a precious-freaking "IPA" on tap.

 

It's like Pinot Noir all over again. Everyone wants to order Pinot, but the Pinots that sell best for us are the ones that taste like Syrah. People just want to think they're drinking Pinot because that's what the cool people apparently drink.

 

 

So I finally got to try the Victory Headwaters Pale Ale on draft tonight and you are right it is delicious. However, I would say that it is far from being "almost an IPA." It is a hoppy pale ale but if someone is newish to craft beer and got into it because of the IPA craze and that's what they like then they might be disappointed with it as a substitute.

 

Personally I would take a draft over a bottle any day even if I wanted an IPA and all you had on draft were lagers. That may have been a better way to sell it... "We don't currently have an IPA on draft but we do have this wonderfully hoppy Pale Ale that you might be interested in trying. If you're set on an IPA though we do have several options in the bottle."

 

At any rate, keeping one on draft is probably the best option to avoid this issue because I am sure you sell enough of it to justify the handle. I don't see the problem having both really unless having the IPA on draft means nobody is ordering the pale ale. If I could only have two beers on tap it would probably be a pale ale and an IPA but that's just my tastes.

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Stone Ruination. Hands-down the best IPA on the market. Buddy of mine just showed up with some double dry-hopped from the brewery, and it is amazing. Some of the best floral notes combined with sweet malt I have ever had. If you can find a bar serving it, run there. I don't think they bottle the double dry-hopped version.

 

 

I was in San Diego 2 weeks ago and did the Stone Brewery tour. At the end they give you a sampler from least to most hoppy. Started with the Pale Ale, then the Smoked Porter, then Arrogant Bastard, then Ruination. I had to stop at the Arrogant Bastard. . .rip your face off hoppy. I couldn't handle it.

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Not sure if I've mentioned this earlier in this thread, but in terms of my favorite year-round 6-pack IPA right now. As in, not some special wet hop, bad-ass ltd. release. But an essentially affordable one that you can find all the time. Peak Organic IPA is effing delicious. It is exactly as bitter as I want and loaded with really bright citrus elements. That and Hop Notch from Uinta, both of which are a slot cheaper, at least here in NC, than anything not named Sierra Nevada or Lagunitas.

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So I finally got to try the Victory Headwaters Pale Ale on draft tonight and you are right it is delicious. However, I would say that it is far from being "almost an IPA." It is a hoppy pale ale but if someone is newish to craft beer and got into it because of the IPA craze and that's what they like then they might be disappointed with it as a substitute.

 

Personally I would take a draft over a bottle any day even if I wanted an IPA and all you had on draft were lagers. That may have been a better way to sell it... "We don't currently have an IPA on draft but we do have this wonderfully hoppy Pale Ale that you might be interested in trying. If you're set on an IPA though we do have several options in the bottle."

 

At any rate, keeping one on draft is probably the best option to avoid this issue because I am sure you sell enough of it to justify the handle. I don't see the problem having both really unless having the IPA on draft means nobody is ordering the pale ale. If I could only have two beers on tap it would probably be a pale ale and an IPA but that's just my tastes.

 

We'll have to agree to disagree.

 

Given 1) the amount of variation from one IPA to the next, 2) the relatively low gravity, and thus increased perceptive level of bitterness compared to something with the same IBUs but more sugars , and 3) the fact that citra hops are so flamboyant, so you're going to get so much hoppy flavors even if the beer isn't super bitter, were someone to simply give me a glass of that beer and say it was an IPA, even an American IPA, I wouldn't doubt them for a second nor be remotely disappointed with it.

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Stone Ruination. Hands-down the best IPA on the market. Buddy of mine just showed up with some double dry-hopped from the brewery, and it is amazing. Some of the best floral notes combined with sweet malt I have ever had. If you can find a bar serving it, run there. I don't think they bottle the double dry-hopped version.

 

 

Didn't have Ruination, but just put the normal Stone IPA on tap at home last night - not the best I've had but surely not the worst. A bit unfiltered, but that could be sediment from changing the sixtels around. See how it is this evening.

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Deschuttes Hop Henge experimental IPA.....very hoppy, very delicious.

I can't wait to go on my trip to visit family on the mainland in a few weeks in the hopes I can find some Dogfish 75 minute. Anyone know if they have it in Charleston, SC or the Chicago area??

Edited by Kris N
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Deschuttes Hop Henge experimental IPA.....very hoppy, very delicious.

I can't wait to go on my trip to visit family on the mainland in a few weeks in the hopes I can find some Dogfish 75 minute. Anyone know if they have it in Charleston, SC or the Chicago area??

 

 

Even better if you are in the PNW is Hophead by Bend Brewing Co. I just did a blind taste test with friends and I couldn't taste the difference between Hophead and Pliney the Elder--to me they tasted exactly the same. We had seven tasters and I was neutral on which was better, and the other 6 tasters, 3 liked the Hophead better and three liked the Pliney the Elder. The concensus was the Pliney was more complex, but the Hophead was cleaner, but only a very subtle difference in taste.

 

We have 10 breweries in Bend, and the best one is Boneyard, IMO. They are in a trailer and only sell to local bars or in their trailer tap room right now. Make note of it, because they will be big someday. I bought a growler of their Pale Ale and brought to a party down in CA., and it was gone in about 5 minutes.

 

BTW, Loaf, are you back to drinking beer? If so, PM me if you want the Pliney. I am saving a bottle for you. There's only one bottle and I can't get anymore, and I don't know how long I can keep my self control :D

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