is surly abrasive still a thing? Surly used to be one of the top breweries but don’t hear anything about them these days. I once ordered a case of abrasive in 2015 and really liked it.
Pliny I remember when you had to travel to Santa Rosa to get it. You would see people walking out with the maximum amount of bottles (12 I think). Next stage Pliny showed up in stores and was limited to 2 bottles a visit. Now it is widely available (always refrigerated) with zero limits. Lucky us. Having said that I don't get it that often and when I do reach for a bottle of RR it is more likely to be Blind Pig. Pliny still retains GOAT status for IIPAs.
I know I’m late to the party on this one but for me it is heady topper. There is NO other beer like it, it is its own animal and still, to this day is. I’m not sure the same could be said of the other regular votes and that to me is why heady is king in the world of DIPA.
I'd take Bigfoot (one of the original hoppy 'n' very strong craft-era ales) over any craft double, triple, or imperial "IPA."
Dont drink double ipas much anymore but aside from some of the ones I clicked “like” on this thread, Surly Abrasive is one I remember enjoying.
So I’m considering DIPAs between 8-10% ABV. My perfect 5’s are HF Double Galaxy, Aslin Double Orange Starfish, Laser Raptors and Stellar Paralax (asterisk… from Aslin OG location / pre 2020 brewed). Just barely not a perfect 5…. Tree House Haze.
Love Heady and Pliny, and also a local named War Elephant from Rushing Duck, and a beer from Alpine called Bad Boy as well. I guess it's a four way tie.
Gun to my head? I'm shouting "wolverines!" and then singing the Stars Spangled Banner until the moment of sweet release.... Short of that, I'm going with Pliny, DFH 120, and Heady.
I used to feel this way about Heady (my original review from 3/2012 is still up), and so frankly it annoys me when I read posts like yours. We get cans of HT periodically, and the last few drops I was so unhappy with the version we received I stopped buying it. The beer tends to sit around when we do get a drop, as the version we're seeing out here is nothing special. To me, it now tastes like any other hazy IPA/DIPA... better than some, not as good as others. When I first had HT in 2012, my impression of HT would have matched your description almost exactly. I was a total HT fan boy. I don't know what the problem is with the HT we're getting out here now (its not a freshness issue), but its nothing like the beer I would go out of my way to buy in 2012, and happily trade for when I first moved back out West in 2013. And I find that very, very annoying.
John, was there anything specifically 'off' in these last few drops? For example, was the flavor profile 'different' from your prior drinking experiences? Cheers!
The last couple of times I tried it out here, there was considerable citrus and tropical fruit, but with some astringency and a bit of aspirin on the finish. It had a bit more fruit than your typical hazy ipa, but that was offset by the aspirin and astringent finish. I'm not sure I'd call it a flaw, but this is not the HT I drank back in 2012. That version had a lot of the better chatacteristics I associate with high quality WCIPAs (pine, dank earth... that sort of thing), along with considerable tropical fruit, citrus and decent bitterness. HT has a national reputation. Better retail outlets set purchase restrictions the first couple of drops ( 8 or 9 years ago), but that's no longer the case. Apparently, several stores reduced their allocation the past couple of drops, as cans were sticking around for several months. I think that's just weird. We don't get more than one or two HT drops a year... I feel like it would and should fly off the shelf if it was still as good as the beer I used to purchase whenever possible when living back east. Call me crazy Jack, but I honestly wonder if we're getting the same HT you all have access to back East.
You are "crazy"! Only kidding. I am not a regular consumer of Heady Topper but in the past I too experienced a batch (my four-pack) of Heady Topper that was very different from my previous versions and I started a thread to discuss this batch: https://www.beeradvocate.com/commun...r-your-heady-topper-to-be-catty-weedy.652987/ There is a recent thread entitled "What's up with Heady Topper?": https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/whats-up-with-heady-topper.680501/ It sure seems to me that with Heady Topper there is batch (or yearly?) variation. Please feel free to call me "crazy". Cheers!
Pliny now that I have had it and then a gap to Ruination, and Heady. Dark horse candidate is Asylum from Lake St. George.
On Pliny... had it August of last year, picked up a few (week-ish fresh) in a San Diego Whole Foods on a work trip, made it my "hotel beer"... it is an great/excellent westie. On Heady/Focal... had them both when my BIL muled me back a 4 pack of each October of last year. I preferred Focal to Heady, but both are excellent. I'm the worst "what is the best" askee as I always want something "new". I don't keep old reliables in my beer fridge. I pine for the days of "strip enamel of your teeth" WCIPAs. Green Flash Palate Wrecker, etc. Probably before my palate got accustomed to it.
