I really miss West Coast IPAs, especially on draft!

What dates are you seeing? I almost grab a sixtel of dankful from Exton Beverage the other day, great beer. Also love Bine from Root Down, got a few 4 packs recently from Lionville, which is always a nice surprise

 

I miss draft.

 

You're telling me. The love for WCIPA around here is reaching near zero, I'm afraid. Nearly all of the West Coast IPAs on shelves here are 4+ months old. Nearly all of the Stone is out of code. I haven't sold a single Stone variety pack all week. Lagunitas hardly moves.
I've sold maybe two cases of Born Yesterday in the past two weeks. That beer used to fly off shelves; completely sell out within days.
Double Jack hit shelves in six packs, three weeks old, (the fresh FW I've ever seen around here!) for $11.99, and I've sold exactly one pack in the past two weeks. That beer used to be considered a whale!
I'm sure other areas of the country are different, but around the WCIPA has been almost completely usurped by NEIPA and milkshake IPA. It's sad.

Amen. This beer was a breath of fresh air. My favorite WCIPA in recent months. It made my day when I bought it. I drank almost the whole six pack in one night--and regretted it the next morning!

Blizzard of Hops is good, but as an unfiltered wheat IPA I consider that to be closer to a NEIPA. Perpetual IPA is more of a classic, bitter American IPA. (Sorry to geek out; I'm a big Troegs fan! )

 

I have to disagree here. Blizzard of Hops is pretty bitter/hoppy and clocks in at 80 IBU. Outside of the slightly unfiltered look I don't see any similarities between it and an NEIPA. And I am a good judge too, as generally speaking I don't really care for bitter IPAs anymore so when I drink one I know it

 

No, turn that around... the love is gone because all the WC IPA's are old.

For whatever reason, by the time Sierra Nevada, Stone, or whatever, hits the shelves around here it is invariably already at least three months old. I assume it's a distribution thing? Either other regions are getting first pass on it and it only gets shipped to the northeast after it's been on someone else's shelf or the distributor is holding it on pallets in warehouses until it's been properly aged.

I don't think I have ever seen a Sierra Nevada product in a NH supermarket that was less than three months old. God knows, I'd love to try one.

 

Am I wrong in suggesting a readily available IPA from your own backyard? Wouldn’t Sweetwater IPA work in the WCIPA style? And it’s damn good...

 

OK, let's blame the consumers then! I mean I'm in ground zero for WCIPA and I'm confronted with a ever growing stack of 4 x 16 oz cans of the hazy. I largely switched over to lagers during the warmer months. Celebration and Dankful have been great now that it's cooler but I still crave some variety. Anchor and SN porter compliment these beers and the cooler weather as well so I shouldn't complain.

 

I guess I'll have to revisit it, as that sounds like it would hit the spot right about now.

P.S. What are your thoughts on Haze Charmer and Lucky Holler?

 

@Hoos78 Sweetwater suggestion is solid, I like their IPA and Extra Pale Ale. In addition to several mentioned above, Lagunitas IPA is worth grabbing. Also, not sure how far you are from Tennessee, but 3 Floyds is now distributing there, and they have several great IPAs and also "Pale Ales" like Zombie Dust that you may like. May want to ask your local brewers as well, they may have seasonal releases or perhaps steer you towards a good local offering.

 

Its funny, Blizard of Hops was clear when it first came out. I also don't understand why its a Holiday offering, seems more like a spring IPA to me

 

I’m just curious, for your store what would be a few examples of a beer/brewery that is turning over beer very quickly in volume sales? 2 cases sold of Born Yesteday in 2 weeks seems pretty good for today’s retail scene of options for similar beer style as BY. 4 years ago nothing was like BY on store shelves so it was in high demand. Only reason I ask is because it seems that most of the over abundance of 4 pack beers don’t exactly fly off store shelves either, because of high price and shelf competition, but if you know of the couple that seem to move in greater volume and quickly, I’d be interested to know.

 

Three month old SN is plenty good, especially if it's one of the bottle conditioned styles. They aren't brewing NEIPAs that fall apart within a month.

 

If you live in Wicked Weeds distribution area, Pernicious is a great bet as well, around here it’s always fresh.

 

That stinks, I'm usually fortunate enough to find most nationally distributed beers less than 3, usually less than 2 months. I guess that's a benefit of living in the most densely populated state. Product moves quicker...

I don't care about dates on my favorite SN, Bells, etc. if they are at less than 3 months. People can disagree but I just bout 2 month old fresh squeezed that I'd take any day over fresh 15$ (lets be honest its usually more than that) hazy ipas. So sometimes I do blame consumers, a lot of people would see that and automatically say "eh it's old, no good," jokes on you consumers, more cheaper better beer for me.

Another thing hazy ipas have contributed to...peoples perception of how fresh a beer has to be. Of course I'd rather drink beer as fresh as possible like all, but I also try to ground myself in reality when it comes to nationally (or close to) distro'd beer.

 

Yeah, well, Mr. Freedom himself flew home from the University of Tampa last night and he's quarantining down in my basement until the end of the week when he can get tested again.

 

Is New Belgium Voodoo Ranger (regular) West Coast? It’s moderately bitter / not hazy.

 

Lots of folks. AB acquisition doesn’t necessarily mean national distribution. No Wicked Weed in Ohio. I think there are still more markets that don’t have Wicked Weed than do.

 

Foothills Jade does the trick for me.