What IPA is your "par"?

Sculpin or Two Hearted, but got to be fresh!

 

From the general to the specific and a good choice!...

 

NEBCo Sea Hag.

Local, readily available, always fresh, and priced right.

 

Deschutes Fresh Squeezed. But, since Surly is distributed to Iowa now, Furious is neck and neck.

 

A scratch golfer is one who has a handicap of zero. A handicap is used to bring a given golfers average down to par, or better. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_golf

 

Odell ipa for me.

 

Seems like all these answers are of really great IPA's. When I think of "par" (the term the OP used) I think of something that isn't specifically impressive. I'm not a golfer, but are people impressed with par? I'm impressed with Torpedo (and it gets a rating of "world class" on this site), so I wouldn't call it par.

However, the OP also said which IPA do you use as the standard to judge all others by (again, perhaps this is what par actually is, and I am confused). To that, I say, yes, Torpedo is my answer is as well. Torpedo is delicious, affordable and widely available. If your IPA can't perform in all three categories, or if it can't completely blow my mind in one of those categories, then step outta my world.

 

Union Jack, Torpedo and Sculpin.

 

I think I'd have to go for Stone IPA for my par IPA. A good example of the style and good for intros as to what an IPA is supposed to be but not necessarily my favorite or best thing ever. Just on par.

 

Project Dank

 

Even if I was buying beer at a filling station convenience store in some remote don't blink or you'll miss it town here in Oregon they'd at least have something from Sierra Nevada, Deschutes, or maybe even Lagunitas. No need to settle for anything worse than par around here. That said, my standard is Laurelwood Workhorse IPA. I'd gladly drink it anytime. In fact, I think I'll go buy some now!

 

To make par you have to be pretty darn good. Maybe not best in the world, but fairly proficient nonetheless. That's how I approached this topic, in any event.

 

I think I gotta go with Lagunitas IPA. Nothing outstanding by any measure, but just a good, solid, run-of-the-mill IPA that I always seem to enjoy. I would say Goose Island IPA is in the conversation as well.

 

Stone IPA is my par. AleSmith IPA is probably my hole in one

 

Living where I do I would have to say Avery IPA. If I lived in an area where I could get Two-Hearted, then Two-Hearted would be my par.

 

Smuttynose "Finest Kind" IPA

 

This would have been my baseline back in college, or perhaps Weyerbacher Hops Infusion. But now days, i guess it'd be something like Troeggs Perpetual or Smuttynose FinestKind. Something pedestrian, but still unique enough not to have a generic profile.

A lot of folks on here have put up some other pretty reasonable answers.

 

Head Hunter for me.

 

I don't think "par" is the right term, but I think that SN Torpedo and NB Rampant are a good benchmark for price, availability, and quality. I can get them everywhere, they are priced very well, and taste great. There are better and hoppier IPAs out there, but they tend to cost more and are harder to get.

 

Ah, I see. Well in that case, I'll go with Torpedo for sure.