IPA Beer Fans

[SJhawkins]

I will admit I just love a good cold beer, always have.

A family member got me on the IPA train a couple of years ago. At first I could not drink a IPA, had to darn near force one down. Fast forward to today and it's my goto beer by a long shot.

Best value, I really enjoy Serria Nevada's Hazy Little Thing and Big Little Thing, find them on sale often for around $14 a 12pack. If I were to pick between the two, think it would be the Hazy.

Elysian Space Dust is another tasty common one, had one of those for the first time recently. The name is just weird for some reason in my mind so never tried it, well been missing out, good beer.

Lots of local brews to choose from so that has been fun too.

Anyone have a good IPA they would like share thoughts about?

 

[CardsFan]

I like an IPA once in a while. Space dust is pretty good. My son and his buddies try a lot of the local (Chicago for him) beers and IPAs.

What I did learn from him, if you like an IPA, but want a little less hoppy, try a New England IPA. Does not need to be made there, it is just the type of brewing. I find them tasty, less hoppy but still flavorful.

 

[Trailwalker]

There are so many different types of IPA. My wife is a fan of hazy IPA. I like variety in my IPA's, but my favorites are locals that don't have wide distribution. Radiant Haze from Toppling Goliath in Iowa is a highly rated IPA and probably has distribution in your area.

 

[SJhawkins]

There are so many different types of IPA. My wife is a fan of hazy IPA. I like variety in my IPA's, but my favorites are locals that don't have wide distribution. Radiant Haze from Toppling Goliath in Iowa is a highly rated IPA and probably has distribution in your area.

Had Pseudo Sue from them, that was good, definitely would try a Radiant Haze, will see if I can find it, if not could be a road trip.

As a side note, in the same town this beer is made, if you need a decent USA made roto cooler check out Kenai coolers, same people that make Grizzly Coolers in Decorha IA.

 

[indiajust]

Freshness is critical, brands irrelevant. Heady topper changes flavor by the week.

It gets piney and bitter, loses all the floral complexity. Connoisseurs profess flavor by the day, but I suspect some snobbery involved.

Style is critical. My taste varies with the season. I rarely drink IPA in the winter, preferring porters and stouts, half and half. Summer finds me weizen and hefe if its hot I head to pils. Fire pits, falls, chills, spring, ... Ales and IPA are my plan, especially dry hopped.

 

[audreyh1]

I love the floral hops smell, but not so much the bitterness.

I’ve had some Belgian and German non IPA beers that had the floral perfume without much bitterness.

 

[tulak]

I love a good IPA. I prefer West Coast style
IPAs and don’t care for hazies.

My current favorite is pFriem IPA.

My only issue with IPAs is the higher alcohol content. I wish we had a better selection of session IPAs in the US, which have less alcohol.

 

[ExPatKiwi]

I got back into homebrewing last year after 35 years since using the Coopers kits, Australian IPA, Stout, and Aussie lager are great. Www.diybeer.com

 

[Winemaker]

I have enjoyed Heady Topper, and have made it's clone. Man, a lot of hops goes into that brew. And while I don't particularly like any fruit in any beer, I loved a blood orange IPA by TropiCannon. It is not made by itself anymore, but in a Citrus brand, but not the same.

 

[old medic]

My favorite IPA is Dog Fish Head 90 Minute IPA, but its not cheap around $14 a six pack.
They also make a 120 Minute IPA thats super tasty.... But at $10 a bottle and hard to find its defiantly a special occasion beer.
Voodoo Ranger from New Belgian is my next pick.

 

[Stormy Kromer]

I enjoy an Ale.

My favorite IPA is probably Two Hearted Ale. (The one with the trout on the label).

Being a Minnesota guy I'm also partial to Summit. My favorite is the original Summit EPA, I prefer it to an IPA.

 

[Mark1]

...

My only issue with IPAs is the higher alcohol content. I wish we had a better selection of session IPAs in the US, which have less alcohol.

Yes, the alcohol content does tend to be higher, so at home I just blend it down with Bud 55 (2.8%) or non-alcoholic Edge . The problem with this approach is that it hard to do at the tap houses and breweries, when your out with friends.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

I've been drinking IPA's for a long long time and first brewed one circa 1989-90 (a kit, but then eventually went all-grain). I haven't brewed for the last few years, but have done 60+ batches in previous years. Lot's of good mentions in the tread, and there are so so many choices out there these days!

Some of the classics for folks to try that I've brewed clones of include Sierra Nevada Celebration, Bells Two Hearted (already mentioned), Dales Pale Ale (not labeled as an IPA but pretty darn close), Ballast Point Sculpin IPA. These are all quite tasty and when I was brewing a lot and buying grains/hops in bulk with friends, washing yeast, etc. I was able to get the per 12-oz beer cost on these under 50 cents.

Further on the classic USA IPA front, one must try some Ballentine IPA. While the original recipe was lost over the years, and who knows what else has changed in terms of yeast, grains, water, it is still fun to taste/drink a true classic.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

Founders of Grand Rapids, Mich, makes a decent session ale they call All Day IPA. In Wisconsin, New Glarus' Moon Man is a hoppy ale that delivers IPA taste and mouthfeel with 5% alcohol. At $14 for a 12-pack it's one of my favorites.

 

[sengsational]

If someone says "I like IPA's" that's not enough information nowadays. It was fine before the west coast IPA was concocted, as there was one IPA, and it was the British one, and nothing like the west coast IPA. Then the west coast IPA exploded onto the scene, Pliney the Elder was big, and lots of people loved or hated the style. And lots of pale ales at the time had a big hop bill, and the IBU race was on. Especially in the homebrew community, there were lots of severely unpleasant IPAs.

The popularity of IPAs meant that about every commercial release had to have "IPA" in the name. So now we have distinct styles that really are so far away from the original style that generalizing across all current styles that contain the three letters makes little sense.

 

[audreyh1]

Do folks know the history of India Pale Ale? Hops acts as a preservative in beer, and to make the grueling 6 month journey in barrels from England to India they loaded it up with hops to increase the “shelf life”. It was supposedly too hot to brew it locally in India at the time.

That’s the easy story. The real one is way more complicated. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/India_pale_ale

 

[Midpack]

Even though they were/are all the rage, I wouldn't drink IPAs at all for years, way too hoppy/bitter for my tastes, as the only ones I'd been served were West Coast IPAs.

Now that I know there are distinctions, I actually like New England IPAs specifically Hazy IPAs - often described as hazy and/or fruit forward. But even then it goes brewer by brewer. My favorite is New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Juicy Haze 7.5% ABV. There is also a Voodoo Ranger Juice Force at 9.5% ABV, but I have to go slow with those.

Even though it sounded the same by description, I did not like Olde Sycamore Mountain Candy. Liked Firestone Walker Mind Haze IPA better, but not as much as Voodoo Ranger.

I hope to try Wicked Weed Perni-Haze next. And it sounds like I should try Sierra Nevada Hazy Little Thing and Sam Adams NEIPA, much less expensive than Voodoo Ranger.

 

[audreyh1]

Fortunately beers usually publish IBU (international bitterness unit) and you can find IPAs that aren’t high on that scale. DH recently enjoyed one from Alstadt Brewery in Fredericksburg TX that wasn’t bitter.

 

[braumeister]

Do folks know the history of India Pale Ale? Hops acts as a preservative in beer, and to make the grueling 6 month journey in barrels from England to India they loaded it up with hops to increase the “shelf life”. It was supposedly too hot to brew it locally in India at the time.

That’s the easy story. The real one is way more complicated. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/India_pale_ale

Yes, and as already mentioned, the term IPA has little real meaning anymore due to the plethora of variations available.

One thing that amuses me is that in England I have seen beers called IPA with as little as 3.1% alcohol (ABV), so I would say the term has as little meaning in its homeland as it does here.

 

[ERD50]

Yes, and as already mentioned, the term IPA has little real meaning anymore due to the plethora of variations available.

One thing that amuses me is that in England I have seen beers called IPA with as little as 3.1% alcohol (ABV), so I would say the term has as little meaning in its homeland as it does here.

True, it's such an oxymoron to use the term "Session IPA's" - an IPA is a stronger version of a Pale Ale, a 'session' beer is a lighter version - so it's like saying this is a light-strong beer, or midget-jumbo shrimp. "Session APA" would make more sense.

I've enjoyed APA/IPA for a long time, and I like variety, and I'm also in the camp of those who prefer more hop aroma/flavor with the bitterness kept more on the mild side. Lagunitas IPA, for example, is more bitter than I prefer, but I enjoy it on occasion.

A 'session' pale ale that I enjoy and that was mentioned is Founder's "All Day IPA". Lower alcohol, easy-drinking with a nice flavor/aroma hop, and just enough bitterness. There are other good ones, but that's my 'go to' for the style.

The one style that just doesn't do it for me, and I actively avoid, is the 'milkshake' style. This has lactose added (yeast aren't good at breaking down lactose into alcohol), so it stays sweet. Sometimes, a sip or two is nice, but I can't even drink a 5 oz sample - cloying. But to each their own.

-ERD50

 

[Major Tom]

There are plenty of brews to choose from here in the SF East Bay, with quite a few locations where the beer is brewed onsite. Tragically, I no longer drink very often. I almost wish I did, as many a happy afternoon could be spent in the beer gardens here!

A few years ago, I offered a local hazy IPA, from Fieldwork Brewing, to my best friend, who is quite the drinker. I was enamored, and thought she would be too. To my surprise, she was unimpressed. Fast forward a few years, and she has started hanging out with a crowd who frequent Ghost Town Brewing. I noticed that her tastes in beer have changed. Now, she can't get enough IPA's of all sorts. It just took a while for her tastes to develop.

As for me, I'm a complete lightweight, and look for light beers with fairly low alcohol content. I probably average a beer a month - or less. In sharp contrast to the younger version of me, I have little tolerance for alcohol these days. Growing up with the pub culture in the UK was great though.

 

[38Chevy454]

Count me in as as a pale ale and IPA fan. Since I used to live in California, I do like the west coast style. Prefer that over the more fruity hazy east coast style. But won't turn either one down. A good local brewery here in Cincinnati that has a real good IPA is Rheingeist Brewery and the "Truth" IPA. But there's a lot of good local micro breweries, as well as some of the larger distribution breweries. So I have lots of choices.

I like most any beer type, except for the heavy stouts and the Belgian wheat styles. However many don't like the hoppy bitterness of the IPAs. Different tastes keep the beer flowing!

 

[MichaelB]

My favorite IPA is Raging Bitch by Flying Dog. It’s a Belgian style IPA, and a bit boozy. A nice bitter IPA with a burger and some fries are a match made in heaven for me.

 

[Kabowest]

Julius from Tree House Brewing - mmmm wish I had one now!

Only drawback is, you can only but at the source in MA.

 

[SJhawkins]

Lots of great beers listed in this thread, have tried many of them and some new ones I'm going to give a whirl.

One I did not see mentioned, Bear Hug from Goose Island, more of a common brew I think, at 9.9 need to be a little careful with them, but very drinkable.

Some folks up thread talked about brewing, I did that 25+ years ago, thought about doing it again with some IPAs but decided against it. Would take to long to drink a 5 gallon batch!