The quintessential NW IPA

Laurelwood Workhorse. For me the everyday working mans PNW IPA.
And inexpensive.

 

Hop Venom

 

I second laurelwood workhorse! Every time I visit Oregon and Washington I have to bring a case home. It is also in my top 5 of all time.

 

Workhorse is the classic NW IPA. Not the absolute best ipa in the PNW- but in my opinion best representative of the region. Cheap, dank, bitter with just enough malt backing.

Other than that you should drink the best IPAs we have on draft - Boneyard and Barley Browns.

 

I doubt you will see it but if a bar has Salem Ale Works (SAW) Stumphumper IPA on get some for me its a great PNW IPA

 

lucile or workhorse

 

Workhorse is amazing! Laurelwood's Green Mammoth is an incredible IIPA that seems like Workhorse with a kick...great option if you're looking for more abv. I've also found Deschutes Fresh Squeezed to be right up there too. Better on tap than in a bottle. I'm also a fan of Breakside's IPA and Lompoc's Pamplemousse IPA for other full on NW IPAs.

 

Workhorse is definitely a great pick. I did a blind side-by-side with Sculpin a while back, and to my palate Workhorse was easily the better beer. Georgetown Lucille is also great, as mentioned, and generally underrated.

 

I dont see anything to get excited about in fresh squeezed. Its very very malty (which contradicts the logo completely) and to me is pretty light on the hops. Apparently I have been told its the hop aroma that makes this beer, which I barely get....10.49 for a sixer too, I give that beer a major pass and indeed say stick with workhorse as probably the best example of what a PNW IPA should taste like. Its great.

 

Fort George Vortex. Dry, unfiltered bitter goodness in a can. But Workhorse is indeed a great choice as well.

 

I'm in the area from Minneapolis. We've been to a bunch of spots in Portland, Hood River, and Bend. Although I don't know if I'd consider the 4 beers that I had at Boneyard yesterday as NW ipas (one of which was a pale ale), they were by far the best I've had.

 

Breakside IPA, for me, says NW IPA. My favorite year-round IPA in a bottle.

 

I'm focusing on the title of this thread and have thought about it over the last couple of days --- IMHO, the quintessential NW IPA is Boundary Bay IPA. It's not my favorite, or even the best, NW IPA but it best fits the definition of quintessential.

 

Then you'll be happy to hear we arent too far away from it being in 6-packs....along with the pilsner i believe

 

WARNING: this post is PDX centric

Can we define NW IPA and can we define quintessential? I might be pushing a little deeper here but Im curious as to what everone thinks is a NW IPA.

Ill start. Using the classic hops to malt balance scale I think there is general agreement that the following IPA regional styles exist :

West Coast: hop bitterness forward, no malt backing (i.e. Sculpin)
East Coast: All sweet malts, little hop bitterness (i.e. 90 minute)
Middle America: no one knows

Yes I know these examples and stereotypes are grounded in 2003, but I think to determine what a PNW IPA is, we have to have some controls to work off of.

Now I see the the PNW IPA living more in the west coast tradition but with a bit more backing. I think workhorse fits that bill. But so does RPM, and Pallet Jack. So if west coast is a 1 and east coast is a 10 on a lateral hop > malt scale, I think of PNW as being a 3.

Now if we are talking about quintessential meaning classic (not new to the game but always holding its own), that locks out pallet jack and RPM. I don't think anyone would be touting them as a classic just yet.

Edit: Would love to here from some more Washingtonians what they think.

 

Breakside IPA is incredible with their pulled pork bbq sandwich! As a southern bbq man, that's some GOOD bbq

 

Not only happy, but ECSTATIC!

 

Admittedly, I have a bias, but I agree with @BuckeyeOne. To me, Boundary Bay IPA is the template for the PNW IPA. My favorite though, is the Bale Breaker Field 41. (Yes, I know they call it a Pale. but stuff one in your mouth, then try to tell me it's not an IPA.)