Hop Churching – IPAs

A few years ago, three of my best friends and I bought 24 different India Pale Ales, took them down to a beach house at the Oregon Coast, and held a blind taste test.

The results were satisfactory enough, with each of us determining which IPAs we favored, but the test was run haphazardly.  I dumped a few ounces of each brew into red plastic cups, each numbered on the bottom, and one of my friends scrambled the order so I’d be blind, too.

There were a number of problems.  The offerings pitted Imperial and Double IPAs, which consist of higher alcohol content and heavier hop and malt profiles, against standard IPAs, which is like comparing a spinach/goat cheese/strawberry/walnut salad with common lettuce.  Additionally, the sheer mass of beers laid out in a row was an assault on our palates, making it difficult to pick out nuances between each taste.

I’ve wanted to try the test again ever since that trip, with better organization and rules, and a few friends in Arizona were willing to participate.  We finally pulled it off last weekend.

The Goal: Determine our favorite standard IPA by blind taste test.

The Tasters: I was the biggest hophead of the bunch.  My friend Jeremy, another resident husband who also works for Bank of America, recently shifted toward IPA fanhood.  Jeremy’s friends Fuzz and Paul joined us.  While they weren’t as familiar with IPAs, they are each beverage geniuses in their own right as the two crucial minds behind the Valley of the Sun’s premier coffee purveyors, Cartel Coffee Lab.

And in a display of selfless love, my wife Mindy offered to pour the samples and serve as a the final judge should the vote be tied.  Now that’s a wife!

The Format: In honor of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, and because I felt it would better showcase each beer individually, we ran the tasting like a tournament: 16 entries, single-elimination, with seedings determined by region of origin and where I predicted they’d finish.  The question with each match-up was simple: which do you like more?  Obviously, personal preferences (some folks like a bitter, hoppy IPA, while others prefer more balance) weighed in, but there were only a few times when Mindy had to cast a deciding vote.

A few notes before I get to the results:

- We defined a “standard IPA” as being below 8% alcohol, and not advertising itself as an Imperial, Double, or fresh-hopped IPA.  This still lead to some major variances.

- I want to point out the limitations of relying on Arizona distributors.  Some phenomenal Oregonian and Northern Californian IPAs just aren’t available down here, including Ashland’s Caldera IPA, Pliny the Elder out of Russian River Brewing, and dozens of other worthy competitors from back home.  Eventually, I’ll hope to hold a grand tournament by bringing some of these beers up north.

I also fully recognize my West Coast bias…I’m sure there are excellent standard IPAs east of Colorado besides Dogfish Head, but I think even the most staunch Easterner would recognize the IPA’s evolution took place in Colorado, San Diego, the Bay Area, and Oregon.

- While all beers were at the same temperature when tasted, I cannot account for freshness, which is important in IPAs.  At least one of the beers was noticeably flat.

- With a field of 16, Many decent and available IPAs were left out, but, to my knowledge, I didn’t leave out anything that would’ve been considered a contender.

Here’s how things went down:

SWEET 16

East Region

#1 Dogfish Head 60-Minute (6% ABV – Milton, DE) v. #4 Punk IPA – BrewDog Brewing (6% ABV – Fraserburgh, Scotland)

Advertising itself as a “postmodern classic pale ale”, Punk IPA was our sole competitor from across The Pond.  Initially, I planned to include Samuel Smith’s IPA as the representative of the India Pale Ale’s British origins, but, frankly, it’s just not very good.  Like, at all.  I’d never had Punk before, so I thought we’d give it a go, and give the UK another shot at winning the Revolutionary War against it’s New England rival.

Unfortunately for the Old Country, this ended up pretty much the same way, with unanimous support for Dogfish Head’s weakest IPA.  It wasn’t all flavor, though.  Maybe it was the trip overseas, or that it had been sitting on the shelf for a while, but the Punk IPA was noticeably flat.  The Dogfish Head didn’t blow anyone away, so maybe a fresher Scottish sample could’ve pulled the upset.

#2 Big Sky (6.2% – Missoula, MT) v. #3 Sweetgrass – Grand Teton Brewing (6.5%, Victor, ID)

Maybe these aren’t all that east, but the Total Wine by our house ran out of Bell’s Two-Hearted Ale, which I predicted would’ve been a strong contender.  Still, I liked the Great Basin match-up here, mainly because someone at a beer store here once snobbily recommended Sweetgrass to me, and I didn’t like it at all.

I was vindicated, as Big Sky won easily.  More on Montana’s premier brew in a bit…

Colorado/Arizona Region

#1 Odell’s IPA (7% – Fort Collins, CO) v. #4 Ranger – New Belgium (6.5% – Fort Collins, CO)

The battle of Fort Collins pitted one of the nation’s largest microbreweries against its upstart neighbor.  Odell’s is my favorite standard IPA, and I consider it the best brewery outside of Oregon, so I predicted it would make a long run in this tournament.  I’d never tried New Belgium’s new attempt at the IPA, but I did not expect much.

Over Fuzz’s apoplectic cries of injustice, and in one of the hardest picks I had to make, New Belgium pulled the first round’s biggest upset at a score of 3-1.  In my defense, I waffled on this choice and regretted my decision shortly after it was made, but something about Ranger made me lean its way.  It’s possibly my favorite beer may have been usurped, but I’ll have to drink bottles side-by-side to know for sure.  Both, at least, have great design.

#2 Avery (6.3% – Boulder, CO) v. #3 Victorian IPA – Sonoran Brewing Company (6.2% – Phoenix, AZ)

Avery makes my favorite imperial IPA, so I figured their standard would be high quality.  I figured right, because Avery’s offering is layered and complex, and I figured it would breeze into the second round against an Arizonan beer.

But I didn’t count on Victorian IPA being very, very different.  Like, not an IPA different.  Like, Belgian different.

“Tastes like rancid orange juice,” Paul complained.

Probably because it was so different, we voted Arizona’s sole sample on to the next round. (Well, Paul didn’t.)

San Diego Region

#1 AleSmith IPA (7.75% – San Diego, CA) v. #4 Stone (6.9% – Escondido, CA)

I figured the San Diego region would be the most closely contested, with Stone as the largest brewery in the region, and AleSmith as the most critically-acclaimed.  While AleSmith won this round, there was serious discussion over how interesting Stone tasted.  At 7.75%, AleSmith was the strongest beer on the board, and perhaps Stone would’ve fared better with their Ruination IPA, which sits at 7.7%.

#2 West Coast IPA – Green Flash Brewing (7% – Vista, CA) v. #3 Big Eye – Ballast Point (7% – San Diego, CA)

These samples were so similar, I guessed it had to be one of the San Diego brackets.  Ballast Point was given the edge by the tiniest of margins, though, and after much deliberation.

Northwest/Northern California Region

#1 Union Jack – Firestone Walker Brewing Co. (7.5% – Paso Robles, CA) v. #4 Bridgeport (5.5% – Portland, OR)

Seeding one of my hometown breweries against a tournament dynamo like Union Jack was painful, but, again, Arizona’s distribution doesn’t give me much to work with.  I figured Bridgeport would crash and burn, but I also felt it deserved a spot in the field: Bridgeport is Portland’s oldest craft brewery, and their IPA helped spark the West Coast’s devotion to heavy hopping.  Maybe Bridgeport’s subtle English-style IPA could wage an upset.

No.  Union Jack won unanimously.

#2 Racer 5 – Bear Republic Brewery (7% – Healdsburg, CA) v. #3 Red Chair NWPA – Deschutes Brewing (6.4% – Bend, OR)

Oregon’s only other entry, the experimental Red Chair “Northwest Pale Ale” out of Bend, eked out a win against Bear Republic’s very good, but fairly standard, Racer 5.  It should be noted Red Chair, like Victorian, probably earned some points for simply being different.  The newest Deschutes seasonal was originally released as a 22 oz. IPA as part of the Bond Street Series, but has since made its way into 6-packs, and makes for excellent cost-effective brew.

ELITE 8

East Region

#1 Dogfish Head 60-Minute (6% ABV – Milton, DE) v. #2 Big Sky (6.2% – Missoula, MT)

Few people have done as much for the world of craft brewing than Dogfish Head founder Sam Calagione.  Calagione is brewing’s resident huckster, an ambitious promoter who’s been the subject of New Yorker profiles, radio interviews where he’s known to antagonize uppity oenophiles, and dozens of other media appearances.

To me, though, Dogfish Heads beers have always smacked of gimmickry.  That’s not a bad thing, since the Delaware-based brewery has churned out some of the most interesting beers in the country, but Dogfish Head doesn’t seem to do any one thing particularly well.  While Calagione has become the face of craft brewing, part of me feels he’s stepping over better brewers to gain that title.

Take, for example, Dogfish Head 60-Minute’s defeat at the hands of Montana’s Big Sky IPA.  The count here was unanimous, but an odd label and lack of marketing keep Big Sky off the traditional map.

Colorado/Arizona Region

#3 Victorian IPA – Sonoran Brewing Company (6.2% – Phoenix, AZ) v. #4 Ranger – New Belgium (6.5% – Fort Collins, CO)

Once again, Victorian’s fruity undertones made it stand out, and Arizona was on to the final four.

The other night, I finally had a chance to compare Ranger and Odell’s side-by-side again, and I’m amazed I chose the former.  While Ranger has an early hop burst, Odell’s has much more depth and finish.  That blind tasting will forever haunt me.

San Diego Region

#1 AleSmith IPA (7.75% – San Diego, CA) v. #3 Big Eye – Ballast Point (7% – San Diego, CA)

Not surprisingly, AleSmith’s high alcohol content and marvelous balance pushed it on as San Diego’s representative in this tournament.  AleSmith’s marketing, with simple painted-on labels and straightforward beer names, convey their sense of craft.  San Diego’s best brewery doesn’t get fancy…they just get the job done.

Northwest/Northern California Region

#1 Union Jack – Firestone Walker Brewing Co. (7.5% – Paso Robles, CA) v. #3 Red Chair NWPA – Deschutes Brewing (6.4% – Bend, OR)

Despite a strong showing in the first round, Red Chair was overwhelmed by Union Jack, and Oregon officially bows out in favor of a region typically regarded for its wine-making.

Final Four

East v. Colorado/Arizona

#2 Big Sky (6.2% – Missoula, MT) v. #3 Victorian IPA – Sonoran Brewing Company (6.2% – Phoenix, AZ)

This is where Victorian IPA’s variety fizzled out.  Despite its strange appeal, all the tasters finally faced facts: Arizona’s cinderella just wasn’t an IPA.

“Maybe we should let them know they’re not actually making an IPA,” Jeremy pointed out when the samples were unveiled later in the evening.

While Big Sky had an easy round here, its deliciousness cannot be understated.  Big Sky also made the most surprising appearance at my first blind tasting years ago…I purchased it on a whim, and it out-performed almost every other standard IPA.  Like Butler, Big Sky now faced a championship matchup with a traditionally strong Californian IPA.

Northern California v. Southern California

#1 Union Jack – Firestone Walker Brewing Co. (7.5% – Paso Robles, CA) v. #1 AleSmith IPA (7.75% – San Diego, CA)

In a faceoff of juggernauts, Firestone Walker emerged the victor, edging out AleSmith in a 3 to 1 vote, with Jeremy as the lone dissenter.

CHAMPIONSHIP

#1 Union Jack – Firestone Walker Brewing Co. (7.5% – Paso Robles, CA) v. #2 Big Sky (6.2% – Missoula, MT)

With the vote tied at two apiece, Mindy was forced to cast the deciding pick.  Perhaps she was swayed by her family’s connection to Paso Robles, but more likely she just knew Firestone Walker had the better IPA, and Big Sky’s incredible run was over.

Union Jack is an incredible IPA, balancing a high hop profile with a sublime maltiness, and it has earned a spot next to Odell’s as my standard IPA purchase (when we can afford it).

The Awards

BEST OVERALL BEER – Union Jack – Firestone Walker Brewing Co. (7.5% – Paso Robles, CA)

MOST UNDERRATED – Big Sky (6.2% – Missoula, MT)

MOST OVERRATED – Odell’s IPA (7% – Fort Collins, CO) ¹

BEST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK – Red Chair NWPA – Deschutes Brewing (6.4% – Bend, OR)²

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In our next feature, we attack the Belgians…