Favorite Colorado IPAs?

impossible! (at least for barrel aged stuff, Maha, Dugana, and a few others)

I actually think the basic canned Avery IPA, so crushable on a beautiful outdoor Colorado summer day, is a good example of us under-hyping stuff. I recognize for mass-produced IPAs most people on this board prefer Odell IPA though.

 

That's mostly just me, I think!

I can't be the only one who doesn't care for Citra in IPAs very much. I never really understood the craze for that single hop variety, especially as it isn't an overwhelmingly distinct one.

 

My apologies to @Domingo, I screwed up my response on the fly at work. I meant that question to @themill and my apologies to the both of you as I have realized the error in my ways when @ablackshear pointed out that I should be asking "how come no CO breweries do an all-Citra IPA?" I mistakenly (and stupidly) held Colorado breweries hostage for not brewing good IPA's when in fact they do brew good IPA's, just not a lot of Citra ones. I have taken notes of the few Citra forward IPA's that were mentioned in this thread and will be pursuing them soon!

 

Still hard to get Citra. I see it on the BA forum every day: "need Citra, will trade ____"

As far as the hype goes, Citra is (or was) a rather unique hop variety that tasted/smelled like nothing else. Some of those early all Citra IPAs got the ratings because of this. Are those really brewed better than other hopped IPAs? Or is it just that one particular hop profile that does the trick? It seems that since there are soooo many hop varieties now, the old IPA "style guide" has been ripped to shreds.
Does CO have top notch IPAs? Yeup...as do many states. The hop shouldn't make the rating. The IPA category is like a microcosm of the entire beer world. One hop may not be to someone's liking, but does it make it a bad IPA?

 

Somewhat related to this thread - anyone notice that lemondrop hops are starting to catch on a bit? I've had beers at Avery, S26, and Great Divide using them. While not quite as punchy as citra, I really like the light body and mild tartness they provide. They even have a bit of a noble hop character, even though I think they're a cousin of cascade.

Maybe we'll be on the cutting edge if lemondrop caches on

 

I believe the next Comrade beer is gonna be a lemondrop one. Excited for that! I don't think I've had lemondrop hops yet.

 

I believe Stone Delicious uses lemondrop.

 

Now THAT is a question I can agree with, and no need to apologize, everyone can have their own opinion, as long as it agrees with mine of course.

I have had Zombie Dust and I now know what you mean with the "all-Citra hops" question.

 

It does, and it is pretty tasty.

 

No seriously, nobody in CO is doing SMASH IPAs that are so popular. Where's the pils (or pale)/citra & pils (or pale)/mosaic?

 

I am a homer for TG since I am from Iowa, but if you think that their IPAs are highly rated just because they are rare, then we just have different tastes I guess haha. I don't care that Pseudo Sue is all citra. In fact, I think it's impressive that a pale ale can have that amount of flavor and depth to it (at less than 6% ABV mind you) using one single hop. And I actually prefer Light Speed over it FWIW.

Anyway... to try and stay on topic, I agree with @Mike1512 that I have found some new IPAs to search out in the Denver area. Actually on my way to Station 26 right now!

 

Backcountry DIPA. Love that beer. When will it be out again?

 

I made the road trip to Decorah for PsuedoSue and my gosh did it not disappoint, that and ZD are the reasons why I want Citra hopped IPA's so badly in Colorado! Also, I was able to snake a few Light Speeds, those too are fantastic!

 

I second this notion, I have heard a lot about it on this thread and now I'm really excited to try it for the first time!

 

In fact, my avitar is a pic taken on the porch of Toppling Goliath with a PsuedoSue on tap!

 

Your sweatshirt is dope as hell too...

I will say though that if Citra is your thing, be prepared that Backcountry DIPA is not gonna be like that at all. A malt-forward DIPA for sure.

 

Backcountry DIPA uses mostly citra hops. It shows up here and there, but the distribution is (unfortunately) spotty. Hopefully that won't always be the case.
For anyone heading up to the Casey events - it's right on the way in Frisco. They have the DIPA and their other seasonals at their brewery location very regularly.

 

Which ones did you make a note of to try?

 

Haha thanks man! Gotta rep the De La! Also, that's a bit of a bummer about Backcountry but I still need to try it due to all of the chatter about it in this thread. I was really excited to try some Elevated IPA by La Cumbre in New Mexico but when I found out they were malt forward I was slightly saddened, it was still a very good beer but just not my favorite style.

 

Backcountry, Station 26 and Cannonball Creek, actually gonna hit up Cannonball later tonight.