I love getting punched in the face by Arrogant Bastard but I don't believe it's a true IPA.
Best marketing campaign ever, though.
Good IPA's?
- Thread starter CloneGuy8
- Start date
Best marketing campaign ever, though.
To me, Todd the Axeman is the king of the IPA's. So much flavor but it is at a high price point.
I'd also like to point out that TG Golden Nugget is really good.
Not exactly a microbrew but Boston Beer Company's Sam Adams Hazy IPA is very good.
Odell's IPA and Red IPA deserve mention also.
Tried some Iowa IPA's over break, they're getting better. If you can get "Breakside" or "Sticky Hands" from Oregon, you'll see what the fuss over Oregon IPA's is all about. (Oregon State University actually offers a Fermentation Sciences minor which I credit for the IPA quality in the state.) Breakside won "Brewery of the Year" in 2018 and a Silver Medal in the N. American IPA category.
Bell's Two Hearted and Dogfish Head 60 min IPA were the beers that got me into IPA and are still my go to.
Right now I'm waiting for Bell's Hopslam to drop locally to see how it turned out this year.
I also keep a bottle of 120 min DFH around for special occasions. It's a rare IPA that does better as it ages.
Right now I'm waiting for Bell's Hopslam to drop locally to see how it turned out this year.
I also keep a bottle of 120 min DFH around for special occasions. It's a rare IPA that does better as it ages.
I can't help but chuckle at the misinformed backhandedness of this comment.
I'm not a big IPA fan but I do like Pseudo Sue plus I don't mind helping support the Field Museum.
I don't know how widely it's distrubuted yet but SingleSpeed makes a couple pretty good IPA's too.
Say what? Some of the best IPAs in the world have been cranked out by Toppling Goliath. I've never heard any fuss over Oregon IPAs. It sounds like Oregon might be catching up to Iowa finally.
And if that's the case, why post in this thread? OP is asking about IPAs. If you don't like them, gtfo.
Not sure how available these are in the DSM area, but some minnesota IPAs I like:
Hooey - Lupulin Brewing
Mirror Universe - Fair State
Fulton 300 - Fulton
Sky-Five - Bauhaus
Flavorwave IPA - Indeed
Hooey - Lupulin Brewing
Mirror Universe - Fair State
Fulton 300 - Fulton
Sky-Five - Bauhaus
Flavorwave IPA - Indeed
Voodoo Ranger Hazy IPA is a good one that you can find a lot of places.
For a while I thought I didn't like IPAs due to bitterness, but then I leaned the key is 'which hops?', since due to them IPAs can vary so drastically from citrusy or pine/resin-y etc.
I was surprised to find I prefer the Imperial IPAs. I thought the Imperial would mean more bitter, but imperial also means higher ABV%, which in turn means a bit more sweetness to balance the bittering of the hops.
Along those lines, I like the Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA, Summit Saga, and used to really like the New Belgium Rampant, but I believe that has been replaced by one of the ranger/voodoo ranger line. These are hoppy but seem to me very well balanced - malty-hoppy not thin-hoppy.
I was surprised to find I prefer the Imperial IPAs. I thought the Imperial would mean more bitter, but imperial also means higher ABV%, which in turn means a bit more sweetness to balance the bittering of the hops.
Along those lines, I like the Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA, Summit Saga, and used to really like the New Belgium Rampant, but I believe that has been replaced by one of the ranger/voodoo ranger line. These are hoppy but seem to me very well balanced - malty-hoppy not thin-hoppy.
Bells Two Hearted
Founders All Day
Victory Hop Devil
3 Floyds Alpha King
Not sure if these are available in DM, but they’re on heavy rotation at my house.
Founders All Day
Victory Hop Devil
3 Floyds Alpha King
Not sure if these are available in DM, but they’re on heavy rotation at my house.
Bells 2 Hearted
Elysium Space Dust
King Sue (if you can find it)
Deschutes fresh squeezed
Elysium Space Dust
King Sue (if you can find it)
Deschutes fresh squeezed
The first 3 are absolutely some of my favorites. The Midwest is where it's at for IPAs.
Which hops does make a difference, but bitterness has a lot more to do with when the hops are added. If you do a big addition of any hops at the beginning of a 60 minute boil, it's going to produce bitterness. Everything else gets burned off in the boil. The big trend in IPAs now is to add just enough at the beginning to give the beer the bitter balance it needs, then just add the big portion of the hops in from 10 minutes on, even adding after the boil is out and whirlpooling. IT's the late additions where you see the true character of the hops allowing more flavor and aroma and less bitterness. Then dry or wet hopping after fermentation is where you really notice a difference in hops.
I've actually experimented with different hops at 60 minutes, but finishing the IPA with the same hops at 10, 5 and flameout. There is a slight nuance, but if you adjust for the same amount of bitterness at 60 minutes, there isn't much difference in which hop you use. I pretty much just use magnum now for my bittering hop. It's alpha acids are pretty high, which is where the bittering comes from, so a nice light addition of those gives me all the bitterness I need, without using a whole lot of hops.
I've found that using low alpha acid hops to bitter can leave an unpleasant aftertaste for me. I think it's because when I would use, say an ounce of Magnum, I would have to use close to three ounces for the same effect from a low alpha acid Cascade that I have.
Sorry to go so long, but if you really want to look into IPAs that would fit your style, look for those that do a lot of late additions, whirlpool hops and big dry-hopping.
This is a good list. The Fulton 300 is fantastic. I forgot about that one. So much Mosaic.
I really like the Sky-Five too. It is different than anything else I've tried and I just can't quite describe how it's different.
