Any good East Coast IPAs available on the West Coast?

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by BeerBeast, Jun 4, 2013.

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  1. mjryan

    mjryan Maven (1,485) Dec 22, 2007 Minnesota

    Generally speaking, I respectfully disagree. I've been all over this country, drank a lot of great beer, and have found them remarkedly similar for the most part. Blind test three IPAs brewed on the east coast, three from the Midwest and three from the west coast sometime. It helps to not know what the beers are going into it. Try and pick out wich region each is from. You might be surprised by the results. Though, beer is always best closest to the source.
     
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  2. BeerBeast

    BeerBeast Pooh-Bah (1,967) Oct 9, 2012 Florida
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    That may very well be the problem, that I have been unable to find fresh versions of the East Coast entries I have tried.
     
  3. Kadonny

    Kadonny Pooh-Bah (2,582) Sep 5, 2007 Florida
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    If he is in NH, Smutty should be all over the place. Hell, down here in PA we see it all the time....and super fresh no less. The freshest I ever had it was a keg dated 6 days old. What a fantastic keg that was. Just watch dates and have him get it as fresh as possible and you'll love it. If you are about bitter, that beer is bitterest!
     
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  4. Orca

    Orca Grand Pooh-Bah (4,441) Sep 18, 2010 Washington
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    Well, one good reason would be to get as much of your beer into as many hands (and markets) as possible. This is why Sierra Nevada, Stone, Lagunitas, New Belgium, Green Flash and probably a number of other Western breweries I can't think of right now are sending a lot of their beer east (and even building breweries there), but far too few Eastern breweries are expanding their footprint west. Another reason would be to correct the widespread misconception that the best IPAs the East Coast has to offer are 90 Minute and Hop Devil.
     
  5. cavedave

    cavedave Grand Pooh-Bah (4,145) Mar 12, 2009 New York
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    My reply was tongue in cheek, but not the first time my sardonic nature isn't obvious.

    Since I know some local brewers I do wish them bigger success, but at the same time bigger success might mean I have a harder time getting their beer, and might have to pay more for what I can get. I do hope them wide enough success so the whole country can taste what we now do as well or better than all.

    That said, I do love West Coast style, always have, and it was that style that led to our brewers stepping up their games. Lunch supposedly is based upon Vinnie's exact recipe for PTE, which he gives out freely.
     
  6. Orca

    Orca Grand Pooh-Bah (4,441) Sep 18, 2010 Washington
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    I knew you were being a little facetious/sarcastic, but you're right, I did misunderstand the underlying intent of your post a little bit as well.

    After posting my response, I took a look at the top-rated IPAs and DIPAs on BA (100 beers total). Out of the ones produced by East Coast breweries, not a single one makes it to my state. Can you say the same of the West Coast beers on those lists? So while I'm absolutely certain that some amazing beers of this style are being produced on the East Coast, can you really blame us out here for being ignorant about it? East Coast BAs have a distinct advantage, in that they can judge more beers from more parts of the country for themselves, rather than having to take on faith the word of a bunch of locals.

    And believe me, I understand your point about the double-edged sword of success. As far as I'm concerned my favorite local breweries are doing just fine, thank you very much, and I'll be perfectly happy if they decide not to try to spread themselves too thin.
     
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  7. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,181) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
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    I am not a logistics/statistics guy so maybe you could help me out here.

    My hypothesis is that the Eastern part of the US (let’s say all of the states that border the Atlantic plus maybe some interior states like Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee) represents a pretty big market (I am sure you can get the population from Google population data). I would think that the shipping costs/logistics would be much cheaper to simply service this Eastern market. Shipping beer (and ensuring proper refrigeration and product turnover for freshness) to the west coast would be much more expensive. If I was a brewery owner (e.g., owner of Ithaca Brewing Company) I might be tempted to solely concentrate on the Eastern market for cost/ease issues. Does that make sense to you?

    Cheers!
     
  8. Orca

    Orca Grand Pooh-Bah (4,441) Sep 18, 2010 Washington
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    Yes, I'm aware that population density is higher in the East than in the West. Take a look at this thread for some population numbers I put together by BA region—if you divide the country roughly in thirds the East has 132 million, the Midwest/Great Lakes has 67 million, and the West has 103 million. So from a business perspective it makes more sense to expand from west to east than vice versa.

    But I've also argued in several threads that, with a few notable exceptions, the demand for West Coast beers in the East is probably greater than the demand for East Coast beers in the West. If you look at the states with the lowest ratio of people to breweries, many of them are in the West. So the market is already saturated (relatively speaking), with yet more new breweries opening up every year. Just follow the money. I'm sure these West Coast breweries wouldn't be sending their beer clear across the country (let alone opening new breweries there) if they didn't think it would sell. It seems that most East Coast breweries are less confident they could manage to gain a foothold in Western markets, and I would agree with them.
     
  9. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,181) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
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    Perhaps you have a ‘better’ answer to your question that mine:” If you look at the states with the lowest ratio of people to breweries, many of them are in the West.”

    Permit me to offer up this statement: the Western beer market is already ‘saturated’ by local craft breweries. Does it make sense for an Eastern brewery to enter a market that is already ‘saturated’?

    Cheers!
     
  10. Orca

    Orca Grand Pooh-Bah (4,441) Sep 18, 2010 Washington
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    See the last sentence in my post.

    But the main point I'm trying to convey, going back to my first response to cavedave, is that I seem to hear a lot of griping from East Coast and Midwest/Great Lakes BAs about how their IPAs aren't given credit for being on par with West Coast (particularly California) IPAs. This whole thread started with a guy asking if any good East Coast IPAs are available on the West Coast, and the general consensus from responses is that there aren't, and if he wants to try them he'll have to trade for them.

    So yes, a lot of West Coasters have this idea in their head that breweries to the east of us aren't making good IPAs, which of course is rubbish. But unless a few really good East Coast breweries manage to expand west and compete in this market, this misconception will persist. I'll give any beer from anywhere a fair shot, but to be honest, the East Coast IPAs I have tried that are available locally (90 Minute, Hop Devil, Hop Wallop, probably something from Southern Tier) haven't been anywhere close to the best I've had. Frankly I get the feeling that for the most part, we're getting the dregs the East Coast doesn't want.
     
  11. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,181) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
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    “ …(90 Minute, Hop Devil, Hop Wallop, probably something from Southern Tier) haven't been anywhere close to the best I've had. Frankly I get the feeling that for the most part, we're getting the dregs the East Coast doesn't want.”

    I would offer a few comments:

    · Firstly, none of the beers listed above are favorites of mine
    · I have posted several times that I think that Hop Devil is a ‘poster child’ for what is termed an East Coast style IPA; it is very balanced between the malt and hops.

    So, you West Coast guys get the beers from the East Coast breweries that are willing to distribute to the West Coast (Dogfish Head, Victory, etc.). I would certainly not use the word “dregs” for these beers; they sell pretty well but if what you want to drink are West Coast style IPAs, those particular beers aren’t it.

    I have a preference for West Coast style IPAs with some of my favorites being: Ithaca Flower Power, Fat Head’s Head Hunter IPA, Firestone Walker Union Jack, Stone IPA, Bell’s Two Hearted, etc.

    My ultimate hoppy beers (but they are hard to get even for us East Coast folks) are Heady Topper, the IPAs/DIPAs from Hill Farmstead.

    For the West Coast folks who want to taste some of the non-East Coast style IPAs that are brewed on the East Coast you have two options:

    · Trade
    · Beer vacation (preferably with stops at Ommegang and the Vermont Breweries during the fall when the trees change their colors)

    Cheers!
     
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  12. cavedave

    cavedave Grand Pooh-Bah (4,145) Mar 12, 2009 New York
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    It's even more than that, and the thing is a few breweries making that sort of quality have grown large out west, really not more than a few. They built on their success out west to expand east, it was the only direction they had left to go.

    And even more than that, it is the same situation here in the east as the breweries out west now making the incredible quality, such as Boneyard, and Alpine, and others we all can name, require trades. Most folks, maybe even most BA's judge our beers here against Sucks and Hop Stoopid and Mongo and Hop 15? We have to trade for the quality of Bad Boy, Kern Citra, Cowiche Canyon, Hoppy Birthday, Notorious, Hop Venom, Pliny the Elder (except some Pa. folks), etc..

    Truth is I hope we all get access to all the great ones we all, pretty much, are blessed to have locally, especially as this will mean success to all the best brewers in the country.
     
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  13. ThirstyFace

    ThirstyFace Initiate (0) Jan 11, 2013 New York

    You're a cocky moron
     
  14. dawg1969

    dawg1969 Initiate (0) Aug 9, 2010 Florida

    CCB fresh Jai Alai is very good. Just picked up 2 more six packs canned 6/15/13. Very fresh!
    Sixpoints Resin DPA aint that bad either.
     
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  15. sacrelicio

    sacrelicio Pooh-Bah (1,826) Feb 15, 2005 Minnesota
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    This thread reminds me of the east coast/west coast hip hop wars of the 90s.
     
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  16. BeerBeast

    BeerBeast Pooh-Bah (1,967) Oct 9, 2012 Florida
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    But with fewer shootings!
     
  17. cmmcdonn

    cmmcdonn Initiate (0) Jun 21, 2009 Virginia


    I think it is a one-off, but it did make it out west at one point. I live an hour from the brewery, but oddly enough the only place I've had this beer was in LA.
     
  18. westcoastbeerlvr

    westcoastbeerlvr Grand Pooh-Bah (3,751) Oct 19, 2010 California
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    Why, thank you!
     
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  19. BeerBeast

    BeerBeast Pooh-Bah (1,967) Oct 9, 2012 Florida
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    Where did you find Flying Dog Citra in LA? Can it still be found in SoCal, or is it long gone?
     
  20. Orca

    Orca Grand Pooh-Bah (4,441) Sep 18, 2010 Washington
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    ...so far...
     
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