Not a huge fan of Hop Valley. But this is an awesome idea Only seen in Plaid Pantry..so maybe Just for this chain?
Sorry was a bit tipsy when i made this thread. But I was genuinely impressed with the idea. I had the Wes Co and have to say it was a very good WCIPA.
Hop valley was an awesome brewery when they started out. I always felt like their sale to Miller sort of locked them in place. Their beers stayed decent but everything new they did felt like it was based on "market research" rather than coming from a brewer with a vision. Stash Panda remains one of the better fruited ipas I've had though
When I lived in Eugene (from 2013 to 2016), I thought they were a local gem. Innovative, with a good solid core beer lineup, I thought they easily rivaled Ninkasi at the time. "Gem" isn't the adjective I'd use to describe Hop Valley now
I bought a mixed 6pack of their “imperial” IPA’s while up there this last weekend. Unfortunately each of the beers included was underwhelming.
I thought that was generally true when I lived in Eugene as well. There was one dipa they made that I thought was pretty good (alpha centauri binary), but otherwise I tended to gravitate to their IPAs. Most of their DIPAs were otherwise excessively sweet, malty and boozy I thought. I'm sure things haven't improved since back then.
I just saw these last week at a local Fred Meyer (Kroger) so they're definitely not just a Plaid Pantry exclusive but I agree that the concept is cool and I'd love to see more options like it packaged. I don't buy Hop Valley very often but I also feel their IPAs are much better than their DIPAs and ones like Alphadelic and Bubble Stash are sometimes nice options when my palate is in need of that old-school piney/citrus, strong bite, and dry finish that they bring. Cheers!
As a Eugene resident, this is pretty much how I feel: If I can only get it on draft at one of the 2 pubs AND it is not an IPA, then it was worth the trip down the street. Recent Brown Ale was magnificent, and the Nitro Stout is yummy. What's sad is that Alphadelic and Alphacentari were my favorite IPAs out of any in the PNW before they sold.
