The quintessential NW IPA

Does distribution play into quintessence? Boundary Bay may be hard to nominate if it's not readily available in all of the NW.

Workhorse does seem to check all the boxes: more malt presence than San Diego/West Coast style but still very clearly hop-forward, plenty of late addition and dry hopping for explosive fruity aroma, wide distribution (bottles and draft) in the NW so the whole region can enjoy, a good BA score but no real hype or reputation outside the region.

If Pallet Jack, Boundary Bay, etc. approach the availability of Workhorse, the debate changes, but I think you need to he able to walk into a grocery store and have a reasonable chance to buy the quintessential PNW IPA.

 

As long as Boundary Bay is being discussed, I'll throw Elysian Immortal and Fremont Interurban into the mix. All three are reasonably similar and pretty easy to find (at least north of the Columbia River), and distinct enough from other IPA styles as to earn the NW distinction...

 

I was kind leaning more towards definition #1 here, as opposed to #2: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/quintessential?s=t

So, no I don't think distro is much of a factor. There's plenty of beers on every side of whatever mountain range, river, or imaginary line we're using, that could be a contender for this title. For example, while Kulshan Bastard Kat is a great beer, it's got a much lighter body than what I would consider "typical" for PNW IPA. I see a fuller body than what the SoCal IPAs have as more representative. I can't consistently get Workhorse up here, doesn't mean it's not an excellent candidate.

 

any specific recommendations for someone who loves Centennial hops? (prefer bottle/can availability)

 

Another vote for Breakside IPA best I've ever had. Vortex and 3 way by fort George are right up there too

 

I'm going with Top Cutter by Bale Breaker. Their distribution is slowly trickling into Seattle now but most of their beer can be found on the eastern side of WA. Runner up would be Hop Venom.

 

Breakside was my last stop in Portland. Their IPA was awesome. For the people who really like that beer, if you ever make it to Town Hall Brewery in Minneapolis, you will most likely enjoy their Masala Mama IPA.

 

To be honest, I don't really like the typical NW IPA... "they" seem to have some off flavors (imho).

With that said,

I love RPM, Workhorse, Goodlife Descendent (sp?), Fremont Cowiche (sp?), to name a few. To me these don't taste like your other NW IPAs.

 

More explanation needed...

 

Any of you Workhorse fans done a side-by-side taste test between the 12oz and 22oz bottles? I've heard the 12oz batches (brewed at Redhook) use a slightly different hop profile than the 22oz batches coming out of Laurelwood.

 

I can't speak for @sukwonee, but to my palate anyway, the first three beers he listed are a tad sweeter and more citrusy than what I consider to be a typical PNW IPA... not sure what "off flavors" he's talking about, but I'd say that a PNW IPA is a bit more floral whereas most of the ones he listed are a little more citrusy/juicy, and closer to SoCal IPAs. Compare Workhorse or Descender to Boundary Bay or Immortal (which I haven't done, so take all of this with a grain of salt) and see if there isn't a difference... Personally I like them all though so...

 

All I'll say is that Redhook is doing a damn good job brewing Workhorse. Very nicely balanced. Not overly bitter or malty. My favorite 6 pack IPA at the moment.

 

So, I went back to my untappd and pulled some examples. Stoup Session IPA, Beaktweaker, Naked City IPA, Birdserker, Hi-Fi Brewing IPA (redmond calling?), two tun IPA (yuck), if i am remembering these correctly, all had Weird off herbal, flowery and/or peppery notes.

In my opinion, RPM, Descender, and Workhorse are all very bright, grapefruit, citrus, and fruity with a bite than herb-y, (some are even) peppery, flowery notes I get from most PNW IPAs, Red PAs, etc. I also loved the newest batch of Blue Dot.

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for the clarification...But none of these would I consider even approaching the definition of quintessential, in either definition meaning classic or best example. Seems like you chose new and small breweries and extrapolated them to represent a much more rich history of PNW IPAs. What about Boundary Bay IPA, Bridgeport IPA, Full Sail IPA, Deschutes Inversion, Elysian Immortal, Rogue Yellow Snow or Brutal Bitter, etc.? These (and a few I'm sure I'm missing) are the first and classic examples of PNW IPAs. But, as I said much earlier, I think the quintessential PNW IPA is Boundary Bay. Skip intentionally went out to brew a PNW American IPA (as opposed to an English IPA) with PNW hops and I think he succeeded in a big way and that beer has stood the test of time.

 

Okay - I see and I agree with your point.

I have tried Boundary Bay IPA, but I honestly cannot recall how it compared to other IPAs. At least, I don't have a bad memory of it though, so I guess I am okay with PNW quintessential IPA =) I just remember painting my basement walls while drinking Boundary IPA and DIPA. I will definitely give it a shot again (I wish they stamp bottled on dates).

I also cannot recall Bridgeport and Full Sail IPA (I just remember they were just meh) but Inversion and Immortal - I am pretty familiar with and these definitely do not have that flowery or herb-y flavor profile I was describing above.

 

I like your examples of PNW classics, but to your other point almost all american IPAs are brewed with PNW hops - so I don't think we can really use that to differentiate.

 

I think he meant the use of specific hops that NW brewers were among the first to use, such as the big "C" hops.