IPA course correction

Discussion in 'Pacific' started by BuckeyeOne, Aug 31, 2014.

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  1. BuckeyeOne

    BuckeyeOne Initiate (0) Mar 9, 2008 Washington

    As it appears that the last of the 3-Way IPA has hit the shelves, I thought it apropos to post my thoughts on the course of IPAs over the last few years. I for one was never a big fan of 3-Way, as I found drinking one not dissimilar to drinking a can of orange juice. As more and more brewers continue to push the envelope on hopping and dry-hopping, things to me seem to have gotten out of hand and the quality of our PNW IPAs have suffered for it. And the recent introduction of new hop varieties (e.g., Mosaic, Tahoma) has only further muddied the water - no pun intended. While I think experimentation and variety are great, I think the craftsmanship of our IPAs has suffered.

    Here's my point: I'm getting so tired of drinking IPAs, pale ales, and session IPAs that are so heavily hopped and dry-hopped that they can vary so greatly batch to batch. It is so hard for brewers to control for hop quality --- and I get that. But when they don't work to find a good malt to hop balance, they're going to have wild fluctuations in flavor and aroma batch to batch. Also, whatever happened to the bittering stage of brewing? I'm not even sure if some of these brewers are adding hops early. It all seems late addition.

    My wife and I hit Toronado yesterday evening for the Grand Opening and had some really great sours. It was too crowded and loud and we were hungry, so we headed up to Hudson. There we each ordered an IPA before our food came --- my wife ordered a Fort George Vortex and I an American Breakaway. My wife tried both of them right away, as she is apt to do. Her comment was that she was taking my Breakaway because "there's too much going on with this Vortex and it's not good." She was right.

    I'm ready for a course correction on our PNW IPAs back to clean, crisp, dry, balanced, and well-crafted IPAs. I think I'm done with Fort George, Bale Breaker, Boneyard and the rest of these whippersnappers at least for a while. I'm going to be sticking with Boundary Bay (wish it were in cans), American Breakaway, Fremont Interurban, etc. Hell, I had my first SNPA in a while the other day and I was so pleased to drink such a wonderfully crafted, solid beer that I loved for such a long time but kicked to the curb for no good reason.

    Thoughts?
     
    #1 BuckeyeOne, Aug 31, 2014
    Last edited: Aug 31, 2014
  2. BBThunderbolt

    BBThunderbolt Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,846) Sep 24, 2007 Kiribati
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I like Field 41 way better than I like Topcutter, for a lot of the reasons you mention. I think Field 41 is the best IPA made in WA. I've always considered SNPA to be an IPA as well. In general, I find a lot of the NW IPAs to have too much bite on the back end, and, often, so tongue-numbing, that it's hard to enjoy the next beer.

    I have what I call the "burrito theory" of IPAs: When you eat a burrito, sometimes you add a few splashes of hot sauce. If you like it, next time you add a few more. Eventually, you add so much hot sauce, that you can't taste the burrito you started with. Up til now, brewers have been just adding more and more hops (hot sauce) to their beers (burritos). Well, now, they've got new peppers to make into sauces, so they're playing with them. You'll just have to ride they wave until things level off.

    I think you're on the right track, stick with a few long-time regulars that you like, and maybe try a few you generally don't try. Lord knows, we've got enough of 'em.
     
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  3. woemad

    woemad Grand Pooh-Bah (5,601) Jun 8, 2003 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Was the burrito at Casa Que Pasa?

    I do agree with the point you are making. I still like to try new IPAs, but more and more I really appreciate the ones that make drinkability a premium. I especially dislike the DIPAs that are so much like boozy tropical fruit juice that they might as well be pineapple Pruno!

    BTW, nice avatar, Terry. I actually got to see one of those fly a few years ago. Most mass-produced military plane in American history, and we junked virtually all of them almost overnight, making it super-rare for museums even to have them, let alone fly.
     
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  4. Orca

    Orca Grand Pooh-Bah (4,710) Sep 18, 2010 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I see your point, but on the other hand I also really like orange juice and grapefruit juice. ("So drink that," you say. "But I like it in beer form too," I reply.) I say there's a place for all of these beers, and we are all free to choose what we drink or don't drink. I am grateful for the existence of beers like Boundary Bay IPA, Breakaway, Interurban but I'm also grateful that we have beers like 3-Way, Hop Venom etc. Maybe we can all agree that we are awash in beer of all varieties and for all palates, and that is a good thing.
     
  5. BBThunderbolt

    BBThunderbolt Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,846) Sep 24, 2007 Kiribati
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Worst case of food poisoning I've ever had came from one of Casa Que Pasa's "World Famous Potato Burritos". I've got a solid stomach, nothing bothers me, and that sucker made me sick for 3 days. I won't eat there, not even the deep fried stuff. I did go in witha couple friends last week (they can't fuck up beer. Right?), ticked off a couple cheap beers on Untappd.

    The Collings Foundation came through Bham a few years ago with their B-17, and were also supposed to bring their Liberator, but it developed engine problems at the previous stop and couldn't make it. I was gonna lay down the plastic for a ride.:slight_frown:
     
  6. woemad

    woemad Grand Pooh-Bah (5,601) Jun 8, 2003 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    How long ago was the food poisoning? I know from my bro' (It was one of his favorite college food stops-he made a ceremonial last visit when he had to move from Mt.V to Oly a couple of years ago) they changed hands a few years ago, something about the original owners hoping no one would notice they weren't paying their taxes. The old regime did poison a friend of mine who had requested no peppers because she was allergic. For a few hours she had lips to beat any Hollywood collagen princess.

    Small world. Collings showed up a few years ago with the B-24, but no B-17, for the same reason. I'd talked my Dad into making the 2 hour drive up here and that's what he wanted to see, so there was an old curmudgeon-pout factor to deal with for the rest of the day!
     
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  7. Orca

    Orca Grand Pooh-Bah (4,710) Sep 18, 2010 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    BTW this is the best "let's rethink IPAs/worst food poisoning experience ever/vintage WWII aircraft" thread I have read in a long time.

    As for me, I got some bad sushi in Seoul on my way to India via layover in Singapore, and got violently ill while still airborne... in every way possible... and not in the lavatory. Also had a pretty nasty experience that I will never forget after idiotically drinking the water that was served on an overnight boat right from Istanbul to Izmir, Turkey.

    My favorite plane is still the P-51D. I know, it's pedestrian, but it's got beautiful lines and sounds wonderful. I also have a soft spot for the B-17 and the P-38.
     
    #7 Orca, Aug 31, 2014
    Last edited: Aug 31, 2014
  8. BuckeyeOne

    BuckeyeOne Initiate (0) Mar 9, 2008 Washington

    I dunno...they are kinda dime a dozen these days.
     
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  9. Orca

    Orca Grand Pooh-Bah (4,710) Sep 18, 2010 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    You're right. Thanks, Michigan BAs.
     
  10. BuckeyeOne

    BuckeyeOne Initiate (0) Mar 9, 2008 Washington

    You win the internet today and it's only 11:30!
     
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  11. woemad

    woemad Grand Pooh-Bah (5,601) Jun 8, 2003 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Back to the IPA portion of this theoretically IPA-oriented thread, I'm a little bummed out about your 3-Way experience (try that one out of context!), cuz I've got a can of that on-deck as we speak.
     
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  12. woemad

    woemad Grand Pooh-Bah (5,601) Jun 8, 2003 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    In the PNW, we're nothing if not diverse!
     
  13. osubeav2003

    osubeav2003 Zealot (574) Nov 12, 2013 Oregon
    Trader

    To each their own. I have had multiple cans from multiple batches of 3-way and loved all of them. A lot going on- Yes. A lot of good stuff going on- yes. All people do not have the same tastes. Drink what you like. I have some beers that many find staples that I don't care for. Try once yes, buy again no.

    P.S. If you are gonna lay off the Hop Venom and RPM, the kegs will last just a little bit longer for others to try/enjoy.

    Again- Drink what you like. Cheers.
     
    mrgabe likes this.
  14. woemad

    woemad Grand Pooh-Bah (5,601) Jun 8, 2003 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Having tried it now, while it was a citrusy IPA, it seemed a well made and well-rounded example of that kind of IPA. It certainly bore no relation to my experience with Left Coast's Hop Juice, which was like being hit over the head with a shovel made of pineapple and grapefruit.
     
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  15. BBThunderbolt

    BBThunderbolt Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,846) Sep 24, 2007 Kiribati
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    12 years ago. And the old owner had trouble paying his taxes cuz the money was busy going up his nose. I've got a friend who works there and she won't even eat there.
     
  16. BBThunderbolt

    BBThunderbolt Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,846) Sep 24, 2007 Kiribati
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Nothing pedestrian about the Mustang. When I hear the word "guitar", I picture a Gibson Les Paul. When I hear the words "muscle car" I picture a 69 Ford Mustang. When I hear the word "airplane" I picture a North American P-51D. Damned attractive airplane, and there's one based here Bham that I see flying around fairly regularly. I did the walk-through of the B-17 when Collings was here, and it's amazing how small they are. The B-24 carried more weight, and flew a lot of the hairy missions in Southern Europe. Plus, I love the book Catch-22, so, yeah Liberators! I wonder if they ever accidentally bombed any breweries and changed the course of German IPAs?
     
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  17. squaremile

    squaremile Initiate (0) Aug 25, 2007 Oregon

    The OP is the beer forum equivalent of "back in my day we walked uphill to school both ways in the snow."
     
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  18. ballardbeer

    ballardbeer Pundit (779) Nov 10, 2013 Oregon

    new sours vary greatly too... do you want a course correction for those as well?

    it's obviously a different style of IPA coming out that some people really enjoy. maybe they need to be categorized differently, but i don't think there needs to be a "correction". you list a bunch of IPAs that you enjoy better. why not just enjoy those and avoid the heavy-hopped IPAs? :confused:
     
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  19. Orca

    Orca Grand Pooh-Bah (4,710) Sep 18, 2010 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Germany never colonized India, but they did dabble a bit in Africa. I think the German equivalent would have been a TPA: Tanzania Pale Ale. But then, German East Africa (of which Tanzania, formerly Tanganyika, was a part) ceased to exist at the close of World War I. So sadly, even had such a beer existed (which I'll now page @jesskidden to confirm or deny), your B-24 likely could not have influenced its evolution by bombing German breweries 25 years later, inadvertently or otherwise.

    P.S. thanks Wikipedia!

    [​IMG]
    STAY ON TOPIC... STAY ON TOPIC...
     
    #19 Orca, Sep 2, 2014
    Last edited: Sep 2, 2014
  20. Kurmaraja

    Kurmaraja Initiate (0) May 21, 2013 California
    Trader

    In Tanzania you're going to see Safari, Kilimanjaro, the offensive Ndovu, Tusker, and maybe some foreign export stouts if you're lucky. Sadly, no TPAs.
     
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