IPA's of O.C.

If we expand this out to Pizza Port SC, Beachwood, and El Segundo; yes, OC wins, and a ranking isn't even needed.

 

Tongue Tickles is king!

 

Knucks has been inconsistently brewed since Bootlegger's two main brewmeisters bolted for Left Coast a year or two ago.

 

If you guys haven't tried Tongue Tickles DIPA I would highly seek this one. I picked up 2 bottles at Noble's brewery and it is suppose to be out in stores this week. The only place I've seen it is at Stearns so far. I may end up back at the brewery to pick up a few more bottles. At $9 a bottle I thought it was a little pricey, but after the 2 bottles I think it is worth the 9. I'd rather buy and drink Tongue than anything from Knee Deep. Not saying that Knee Deep's IPA are sh!te. They are decent. But for the price, I'll pass. I hope Noble keeps the Tongue year round. And hope they release Royality in bottles again and soon. Would be nice to see Nobility too. Big Whig is a decent ipa and BreakAway is good for a pale ale.
So the OC is seeing a huge improvement in the craft beer industry from a few years ago. Valiant may be a few years out. And Julian from BWBBQnB(yes I know it's not OC, but close enough) putting out more awesome beers every month. We are now a legit craft beer city/county.

 

Have they dramatically improved recently? I tried tasters of all of their beers last Christmas at the brewery and have had a few pints of their beers throughout the year when they showed up in San Diego, and nothing I've had would cause me to place them in the same class as Beachwood or PP SC. Solid beers, but definitely not in the top tier of the IPAs we have available in Southern California.

 

They have put out several new IPA's this year. All solid (IMO). I think their Blue House has improved from its first release. Grand Hill and Hop Tanker are both DIPA's and also solid. But Beachwood is SoCals best.

 

That was my question though - are they doing anything that rates higher than solid? Maybe it's a matter of semantics, but I could name a lot of breweries who make solid IPAs, and I wouldn't place any of them at or just behind Beachwood, or even mention them in a conversation about the best IPAs OC has to offer.

 

I would not place them above Beachwood, Noble or bootleggers in the SoCal area. But their beers have improved and are putting out some great beers that I would buy occasionally. My goto beers that I keep stock on a regular basis are Enjoy By, Beachwood's IPA's, Alpine, Kern, Pliny, etc. Others that I will fill in are Smog City, Bootleggers, Noble, El Segundo. So I would say that El Segundo has been putting out better beers than a year ago. If you haven't had any of the new Segundo beers lately then you need to pick up some bottles from them and give them another shot.

 

El Segundo is going great IPAs. Hop Tanker and Grand Hill are delicious. I'd rank them Beachwood, Noble, El Segundo, and then Bootleggers

 

I really enjoyed the beer but was a bit surprised by the $9 price tag. I think it was $7.50 on tap for 12oz which is also somewhat steep, especially by Noble standards. Their draft prices are usually great.

 

Agree. Pricey for 12oz. I just got a 2oz sample. Liked it and grabbed 2 bottles. I forget if they have growler fills at the brewery. Wish they would take unmarked growlers. I'm headed south to Sun Diego (casino area) this Sunday and I'll probably stop in Noble for a couple more bottles of this delicious beer. Unless Total or WF get some bottles in today or tomorrow.

 

I love Hop Tanker and Two 5 Left, I think they're better than solid. I'd probably still rather have Beachwood's stuff, but it's pretty close. And I think their other IPAs are nice too, Grand Hill, Blue House, White Dog, and Citra Pale (which basically counts). Both Hop Tanker and Two 5 Left are pretty fresh right now, I'd recommend giving them a try if you see them around and are so inclined.

 

muh fuggin Two 5 Left is tits.

Drinkin a Tongue Tickles right now. First beer from Noble that has impressed me

 

They've improved a lot in the past 6 months or so. Hop Tanker, Grand Hill and some of the recent batches of White Dog and Citra have been awesome.

 

Gotcha, thanks, I'll give them another shot if I see some bottles around and/or when I'm up there at Christmas.

 

Go find some Naughty Sauce!!! Be impressed again!

 

Last time I had Naughty Sauce at Beachwood I didn't think it was that great. I had their English 101 on nitro at Mohawk and that was really good

 

My fave is Grand Hill, thats a very well made IPA.

Cheers,

 

Had Tongue Tickles recently... was "meh" at the place I had a pint. Not a fan of Knuckle Sandwich (too malty and soupy.. not dry enough) at all but that IPA Bootleggers makes called So Co IPA is one of the best I've had. Not sure they make it that often, but they should. I will drink ANYTHING Taps makes. They are the best brewery in OC, and in our entire area they are neck and neck with Beachwood.