Looking for "piney" IPAs

A little surprised that no one has mentioned West Coast IPA from Green Flash. That's the button I hit when I'm looking for a pine reset.

 

I wouldn't use SN PA as a baseline, as it is not as hoppy as an IPA and SN is known for their longer shelf lives due to their bottling/canning methods and QC. But even with this in mind I have had Torpedo at a few weeks old and Torpedo at 60+ days and while the older one was certainly drinkable it was not the same experience.

And I don't mind a little age on my IPAs and with some I feel as if the beer needs a little age to mature and not be as "green" but 45+ days definitely changes an IPA and more so than some other styles from my experience.

 

It's arguably not quite an IPA, but Arrogant Bastard is just about the piniest beer ever made. Liking chewing on pine cones.

 

If you find this 'magical' IPA please report it to us. I sincerely hope you find it but I am not willing to bet you will succeed here.

Maybe an IPA that is not packaged (e.g., draft at a small breweries taproom) will meet your 'standards'?

Cheers!

 

I don;t have specific suggestions beyond what's already been mentinoed, but it you are looking for piney flavor, look for something with Chinook or Simcoe hops.

 

It’s always 8 months old here.

 

Have you drank Loose Cannon? I'd think that fits the bill. Also IPAs from Flying Dog would as well for local options. Also typically available piney IPAs are Sierra Nevada Torpedo and Stone IPA.

 

And especially the Spruce Tip version.

 

I had to travel to DC for work for several years, and Churchkey north of the White House was my favorite craft bar, primarily because of their wide selection of cask condition pours, although they had most other styles as well, some on draft the rest bottles or cans.

Due to the Rona, their bar is closed, but their beer and other items are available for pickup or delivery out of four locations including Bethesda.

https://www.nrgprovisions.com/

Maine Lunch, Maine Woods & Waters, and Melvin 2 X 4 are beers that you should try based on their current selection. You should definitely try to hit their bar if they are ever allowed to reopen.

 

I just had some I finished off, early June bottling, still tasted great to me. Hope you agree! Enjoy.

 

Given where you live, this probably won’t be available (perhaps a trade), but Garrison Imperial IPA from Halifax, Nova Scotia is excellent in this regard. Like you, I love that piney taste/aroma.

 

Really enjoyed this thread and looking forward to the west coast tasting event.
I got some great recommendations here. SN Torpedo is always one of those beers in front of me all the time but one that I seem to skip over. After reading this thread and considering I love SN pale ale I will grab some next time for sure.

 

I haven’t had a piney IPA that didn’t border on soap as of late. I don’t know if hop producers are breeding for a slightly stronger AA or what. Sometimes they come on too strong and lose the nuance due to user (brewer) error.

I love piney notes, but I also think that earthy and musky notes can help accentuate and reinforce that aroma.

Which is why I think Columbus hops need to be utilized waaaay more in IPAs now. People underestimate the flavor-binding power of a tasteful, restrained use of the savory, earthy, pungent Columbus to make the others really pop.

As many have said, Chinook will definitely deliver the sappy resin, but the careful blend of many of these classic C-hops do the trick and add extra resinous dimension. It seems those old dogs are hardly utilized anymore by modern breweries.

 

Pliny is piney...

 

I get the same soapy taste sometimes, but so far I've noticed it only with spruce ales. I don't drink them often enough to figure out how widespread this experience might be between different brewers' spruce ales or different batches, etc.

The Spruce Ale from Short's is an example. Sometimes it gives me a Pine-Sol taste and sometimes not. Maybe that taste is influenced by food that I'm eating or some other factor that is unique to me, but your post tells me that it's not exclusive to me.

 

Lightbulb!

At last year's HomebrewCon in Providence, RI I brought some of my homebrewed Spruce Ale which I shared with Stan Hieronymus (since he wrote the book: Brewing Local: American-Grown Beer). As we were drinking the beers together I asked: "What flavors are you picking up?" and he responded "I am picking up soap". I was surprised to hear this since nothing in this beer is in any way reminiscent of soap flavors. Really interesting how each individual palate responds.

Cheers!