some damn good IPA's out there

[Hugh Conway]

Saw that and was thinking alright, another rotator! Wait, "spiced" WTF? Decided to pass.

It's not over the top bad Christmas Ale spiced, it's more an IPA with a hop/spice aroma and a hop/spice finish. Some black tea thrown in too. Different, not bad... not a pure IPA

[schuss]

damn great way to finish a day of this ...


with this (didn't have any time to pick up Torpedo or Big Swell cans for summit beers)

Divided Sky is a sweet spot.

Torpedo was always the least favorite of Sierra's offerings for me. Speakeasy is good stuff, though I understand why Schralp isn't a huge fan, as it's not for the floral hopheads.

[Benny Profane]

The new Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye IPA is quite nice. Always impressed at the quality of the beer this pretty damn big brewery with national distribution achieves.

[The AD]

Different, not bad... not a pure IPA

Yeah, that's about right. Certainly not the best in their rotator series, but it was OK.

[FreakofSnow]

Had a 6 pack of Chainbreaker IPA from Dechutes this week. Tasty zesty IPA, might be better than their Inversion (but obviously totally different).

[Captain Awesome]

Drinking some Deviant Dale's right now. It's a fantastic amalgamation of Dale's and Gubna, and I think it may be greater than the sum of its parts...

[Ted Striker]

Don't really know why, other than the stigma of shitty beers in cans, but I've been skeptical of the micro-in-a-can trend. Tried a Caldera IPA in a can last night. Changed my mind.

[RockChalk]

Keg=giant can

you gotta pour that into a glass.

[SchralphMacchio]

Drinking some Deviant Dale's right now. It's a fantastic amalgamation of Dale's and Gubna, and I think it may be greater than the sum of its parts...

Ooooh, will look out for that at Whole Foods. That's a great can to pack for Hippie Golf or BC skiing!

[Ted Striker]

Keg=giant can

you gotta pour that into a glass.

Heh, good point.

[splitter]

Technically not an IPA, they call it a Danish ale, but probably deserves a spot in this thread...

[fool]

Made a trip to Ithaca a few weeks ago and had an awesome time, and not just for the beer. But I had some tasty PA/NY local IPA's at The Chapter House - a "grad school bar" - and then had an awesome time at Ithaca Beer Company. Kind of an awkward setup - they're doing a fair amount of construction right now to revamp the tasting area - but great people, pretty good beer, and they pretty much let me sample/drink to my hearts content. (I then ended up eating dinner with the employees at Northstar, an awesome gastropub). I know it's been discussed already, but their Flower Power (their IPA for you non-local folk) is/was delicious. Oddly it was the first time I had tried it, but it was very good. I'm going to try and buy a case or two before I move away from NY. If you get a chance checkout Flower Power and/or the brewery, great times.

Heady Topper continues to grow on me: hoppy but a long lasting hoppy flavor as opposed to a big hit and then decreasing flavor (if that makes sense). It's probably my favorite beer of all time now, just damn tasty. I'll miss it when I'm out of the northeast. But I'm heading to the Bay Area in mid-may and looking forward to checking out all the local brews out there.

[Ted Striker]

Nice place you've got there splitter.

[Bobby Stainless]

Caldera IPA is dank.

[splitter]

Nice place you've got there splitter.

Thanks. We just live in suburbia, but we are 25 minutes from highest year round pass in the sierra and 10 minutes from great trail running with the dogs. 2 summers ago I knocked out a wall in the kitchen, built a breakfast counter, framed in some french doors into the office and then opened up a door into that room from the hallway and added a closet to make it a bedroom. The goal was to have the living area back there near the newly opened up kitchen. Then we had a baby and needed a bunch more room for playing, swings, etc then we had in the back.

So after all that remodeling of the kitchen and what is now become a big dining room, we are back up front where it all started...

[BraddA]

Finally popped for four of these:


I'd say malty black first, big hops and bitters second. But is was great, and I got 'em for $9.99 and not $12 or $14 or whatever they usually go for.

[BraddA]

Its about that time of year!

[MJbumper1121]

My top three: Odell Brewing Co. IPA, Avery Brewing Co. IPA, Fort Collins Brewery Rocky Mountain IPA

[gatorboy]

On the way back from Chicago, stopped at Three Floyds. YUMYUM.

Dreadnaught
Alpha King (PaleAle)
Arctic Panzer
Zombie Dust

I've got extra

[fool]

I'll be in the Bay Area for the next week spending time with family, doing a three day ski trip, and hopefully checking out the local beer. If anyone wants to grab beers somewhere (SF, Oakland, Berkeley, etc.), first beer is on me. I think I'll be doing a day of brewery tours on Saturday as well. Would anyone differ from Schralph's recommendation of Bear Republic, Russian River, Lagunitas, and Moylan's? Any other must-do breweries? And finally, does anyone have any awesome breakfast/brunch places in Healdsburg (or perhaps Santa Rosa) that we should do before the hop-attack? I'll almost certainly hit up Drake's sometime during the week, so I probably won't include that on Saturday's liver-killing fest.

[Shogun]

fool- If you're in SF you need to take a tour of Anchor Steam Brewery if possible. It's the original american craft brewery and has a long history. I'm not sure if you'll need a reservation or not, I'd give em' a call before hand.

Out of the others you mentioned, can't miss Lagunitas. Hands down some of the tastiest brews made.

[BraddA]

^^^ However you feel about their beer, the Anchor Brewing tour is a blast. You will need a reservation.

[Name Redacted]

I think that I drank almost every IPA, Double IPA, RyePA, Black IPA, and Belgian IPA in San Diego County and surrounding areas this past week. I was literally pissing hops at one point. I think my favorites were from Pizza Port, no surprise there. Stone coming in close second and Green Flash holding it's own. I've always heard that SD was a great beer town but now I am sure of it. Very fun to immerse yourself in the beer scene down there and if you ever get the chance, I recommend it.

That said, I ain't drinking an IPA for at least a week. I think I have hops growing in my liver.

[fool]

Argh! Anchor Brewery's reservations are all filled up for the next week...might try to go see if there are some no-show's though.

[Hugh Conway]

don't believe you need reservations for the Lagunitas Brewery tour and they run it on some weekdays. only pisser is the food selection at the restaurant is kinda poor.