Although I love trying some of the super hoppy ones and some of the crazy stuff, these are my top 3 as far as smooth, perfection, every single time. Sculpin IPA.... Ballast Point, San Diego Brewery... This beer will change your life. Great in a bottle, even better on tap. Stone IPA, Also from San Diego (Sorry to list two from there, but they really have a solid local brewery scene out there. Outstanding stuff).... But Stone IPA is silky smooth and available at most decent beer shops even on the east coast.... And this was introduced to me last year, and I have really been digging it. They only do cans, but I guess that is a weird SE trend in the beer scene... But these guys make a ton of great beers, but their IPA is my favorite of their whole line.... Again, I have tried dozens if not hundreds of IPAs over the years, but the above are my top 3. If Sculpin IPA was the only beer I ever consume for the rest of my life, I would be very content with that.... When Sculpin first came out, it spread like wildfire in San Diego... We were selling it for like $9.00 a pint and we would blow through 2 kegs a day. I mean, people would come to our spot just because we had it. They would have paid $20 a pint for it. I mean, I think there is cocaine in it or something... I have never seen a universal response to a beer like that. There were smoking hot blonds just taking down pints of this stuff every day. I have never seen chicks drink IPAs, and this is no light one. If you haven't tried it, find it. They sell it at some of the higher end places. I found it in a Wegmans in VA.
Ohh and yes, Dog Fish head makes an OUTSTANDING IPA, 60, 90 and the 120, but even the lower grade IPA is super heavy to me. After a couple of them, I just get that syrupy feeling. I will throw back one or two and then lighten things up a bit. Great beer, but only in doses for me.
Getting wasted off of pints of good quality IPAs is bad news. 2-3 IPAs, then it's miller lite time for me to jog through the rest of the evening.
$250 at brickwall sounds awesome. Court jester in freehold is downtown next to fedirici's... Been there forever but the recently really stepped up their craft beer game... Other day had 8 ipas on tap... Head hi, 07728, union jack, southern tier, limbo, 60 min, stone ipa and arrogant bastard I give props to surf taco jackson they go out of their way to gave some nice ipas always
Westbrook is best in SE but top 3 .....respect respect Hot chicks drink sculpin its a fact Ditto if sculpin were only beer i ever drank for rest of my life.... Okay lets do It
Yeah, exactly. That is why I listed my favorite 3. I could fly through a six pack of any of those IPAs and still throw down a burger and fries afterwards with room to spare. And give the light beers the whole night off.
Great points, however, while a seasoned beer drinker, with a mature palette, may be able to discern the subtleties amongst a fresh IPA and one that has been sitting for a month, saying that the "stale" IPA is unfit for consumption is hogwash. I just drank a can of Heady Topper I had last night, which I purchased in March and, while not as good as when it was fresh, was still delicious. A stale IPA is still better than the swill being peddled by Bud, Miller or Coors. I do think there is a point where an IPA would be nearly undrinkable but I have not had personal experience in hitting that point. On another note, a lot of the beers mentioned in this thread are excellent. Locally, Carton 077XX, Kane Head High and Sixpoint Resin are phenomenal.
Damn, I forgot about firestone. Great beer. The guy that owns the Brewery in CA actually has a really nice restaurant in Western MD. Not sure why, but he does. It's call "Firestones"
They must have a location somewhere in Balto Co. I have been in a wine shop there that is literally identical on the inside.
Look for my beer soon, if you get a lot of Westbrook down there. It should be called the Old Cockfosters, if we get the label approved. It isn't an IPA, but it is a damn fine traditional English old ale. We barrel aged it for about 14 months.
Dogfish Head house yeast, which is used in half their beers, has a bubble gummy flavor/aroma. They also use a mash bill and schedule that allows higher residual sugar in the end product. So your palate is pretty good, because you are picking this all up. Good beers, but not as refreshing as the drier IPAs out there.
Who is your distributor? Lee or Southern Eagle? The westbrook guys actually came down to Hilton Head to meet with me and we did a tasting. They went all out, I loved there stuff, so they are now featured on Hilton Head in a few places. I think they made their way into one grocery store, but it's still pretty hard to find otherwise. Let me know once your stuff releases, I would love to try it and do anything I can to help. Not sure how limited your production is or if you are are even ready for a heavy distro, but let me know bro. let a brother know.
In general, if properly store in a fridge and out of direct sunlight, the IPA should remain fresh for 3 months.
It is a Westbrook beer, so it should be distributed by Advintage. They are my close friends and I brew with them from time to time. I brewed a white IPA called The Raver last year. This winter, I am trying to brew an English brown.
Got it. The Advintage rep is who came down to see me initially. Good dude. He even brought me a bunch of Stone IPAs cause he knew I liked em. Stone comes out of Advintage here too. He tried to push some wine on me too, but I had zero space on the list and had to leave it intact for Wine Spectator reasons. Is your brew going to go through the westbrook distro channels? Or is it a small production? Meaning, am I going to see it on their general distro list, or would I have to ask for it. I also brought on their Thai Wheat and the One Claw. There aren't too many "local" choices going through general distro channels, other than the Palmetto Labels outta Chucktown, the Westbrooks, and then the Sweetwater... But I don't really consider Atlanta local. I created a "Locals Only" menu with all day happy hour for anyone who resides in the county. Tried to stock it with as much local stuff as I could, but on the beer side, there aren't too many choices. I really only had access to Lee and Southern Eagle (Bought out Pearlstine). I didn't even know Advintage existed until he came through one day. Sucks though, everything we get comes out of Charleston Distro, so we only get a truck once a week. Lots of trips to **** ****.... I could hit Savannah with a rock from here, but they don't cross state lines with the booze.
You may have to ask for it. It was only a 12 barrel batch, so it will be considered a seasonal/one-off.
