Top region in the U.S for IPA/IIPA/APA

the midwest/great lakes region. Fat Heads is my favorite brewery for hoppy beers. Not to mention GL Chillwave and Bell's Two-Hearted and Hopslam.

 

They do a blonde and a winter warmer, but neither are canned. Bale Breaker also made a saison for a beer dinner in Ellensburg in 2013. They've never made it again nor do I know anyone who tried it.

 

I haven't had many of the big name IPAs/DIPAs outside of New England (A few of the big names, I have - Pliny, Hopslam, Jai Alai). If there are regions that can consistently compete with the brews the OP mentioned regarding quality and the variety of breweries they come from, then that's great. But personally, I feel zero need to look outside of New England for kick ass IPAs/DIPAs.

 

all that tells me is that a region with a large population concentration ranks and reviews their beer more than others.

Beeradvocate is a great site for beer knowledge, but you find out pretty quickly about local hype especially with IPAs & DIPAs. After going through the trouble of aquiring Zombie Dust, Heady, Fat Heads, King Sue, pipeworks, ghandi bot, etc. I quickly realized there was nothing magical going on. All very solid beers, but there is only so much that can be done in the IPA wheelhouse. I pretty much roll my eyes when I see the pictures of trunks full of Heady or Zombie dust at this point. There is beer just as good being brewed all across the county.

 

Hell, the best DIPA I have ever had is brewed in a small college town, gets released once every other month, and there is a 1 bottle limit at the 5 shops it makes it to in Portland. It barely has any reviews on this site.

 

Yeah, I check their website now and then to see if anything else will make it out of the taproom, alas, no/not yet.

 

Its hard to argue against the Sticky.

 

Shhh...

Oh, and we may or may not have that elusive beer on tap tomorrow...

 

They do!! To my great state!!!

 

I have traveled the world and ended up in Ohio. My answer is based on plenty of experience.

 

The Kiln Series, Ales for ALS Session IPA, Bubbas Brew (rye) and the two Fresh Hops have made it to Seattle, but the pumpkin, blonde (was at WA Brewers Fest) and winter warmer haven't come over Snoqualime Pass.

I've been to the brewery three times, it's really worth a visit.

 

Wherever I'm from. Hands down.

 

Had the Blonde at Fathers Day fest. Nice beer.

 

I have notice that New England have become the New York Yankees on beer sites. I've seen constant bashing towards the beers, especially from people in the Midwest.

Give it a rest people. There's great beers everywhere and the less tourism comes to New England for beer, the better.

 

"Bashing"??? Really, Dude? Sounds like someone is a bit over excited.

 

While I love Topcutter, Field 41 is so drinkable. Lower ABV but still great hop flavor without overpowering you with hop bitterness. Not that I don't like to be overpowered sometimes with hop bitterness but Field 41 just seems to be the perfect balance between a typical IPA and Pale Ale. I would still call it an IPA though.

And why are we talking about these crappy, crappy Washington beers like they could possibly stand up to the more well known IPA/IIPA/PA brewers in Cali, NE and Midwest? Everyone, just ignore the ranting of crazy NW "beer lovers". Nothing to see here, move on.

 

Also Bear Republic and Lagunitas.

 

Bissel Brothers. LOL. Never heard of them until now.
Great IPAs are everywhere. Stupid thread. Every region wins.
Just drank some Voodoo Hoodoo and Victory DirtWolf. Pennsylvania RULEZ!
#IPA ALL DAY EVERY DAY

 

British Columbia,
Washington State,
Oregon,
California, the WEST is the best !!

 

Pinch a nerve there, eh? Hard to say when somebody sounds excited trough a computer screen. Trust me dude, you're typing to the wrong guy. I'm not even originally from New England.

The reason I mentioned the bashing it's because I have seen quite a few posts of people from the Midwest ripping the beers because of the "hype".

That is all......Carry on.......

 

No nerve here; you're the one who started ramping things up, Dude.

 

Can't speak much for places outside of the midwest, but between the ipas coming out of michigan, Indiana, and illinois I have to vote midwest. Mainly because this is what I have easy access to. That being said, I had a Pliny the elder and I felt it was overrated. Solid beer, but not the best of the style

 

Yes yes, the New England area is currently the conductor of the IPA hype train. I wonder where it will make it's next stop.

Good beer is in the eye of the beer holder. Especially when the style is the most popular style in craft beer by a metric boatload.

 

The hype train is moving to the midwest.

 

Pacific Northwest, of course!

As for best part of Canada, I'd say BC. Quebec is up there too. The Maritimes are a disappointment, and that's where I'm from, even if I live in BC now.

 

West coast wrote the book on big, beautiful ipa, I'd gladly stack up Washington, Oregon, California, and Idaho/Montana against any other region of the U.S.

 

Best region in the US for IPA/APA: Vermont or Toronto.

 

Let's be honest. America as a whole is brewing incredible pales throughout the country. No one on this board is without access to a world class pale if they put a little effort into it. No need to the longest dick contest that seems to constantly appear on this forum. Lets enjoy the fact that we have so many drinking options. Here in Chicago, I can barely try all of the pales making their way onto the market and I'm impressed by almost every one I try. I'm sure it's that way throughout the country.

 

Pshh, our NW IPAs are like 8" long with beer can girth (obviously), wayyy bigger than anyone else's IPAs.

 

Don't disagree on the first three obviously, but do Montana/Idaho really bolster the west's position at all?

 

This is how we represent in NYC

http://www.beeradvocate.com/communi...-release-of-24-oz-wide-mouth-silo-can.220796/

 

Stop by Wooster and try JAFB's IPAs. Simply amazing for such a small brewery in a small town. One of the great little known brewpubs.

 

I really don't think its a question the Northeast corridor hold it down for IPA/DIPA also with the emerging scene in southern New Hampshire with guys over at StoneFace and Tod Motts (Brewer of Kate The Great/Harpoon IPA and Many others) Tributary brewery in Kittery Maine, Soon we may even be on the board for RIS' but for stouts its not a question that is held by the midwest. It is good to note, as someone else did, 6 of the top IPAs on this site are from New England and 7 DIPAs are also from New England.

 

On a local level yes, they're still focused on taproom sales rather than distribution so that's why I listed them last. A drive through either state will rack up fantastic ipas, iipas, and pales that never quite make it out of the taproom. West coast is west coast for me, and montana and idaho both brew with the hopped up, alpha obsessed mentality of west coast brewers.

 

San Diego. Easy.

Great IPAs are made all over the country, but in San Diego the concentration of high-quality IPA is very dense. You have so many great, world-class IPAs being made in a comparatively small area. And so many of the SD IPAs are trailblazers within the style.

When it comes to blind taste testing conducted by educated beer judges (World Beer Cup, GABF etc...) San Diego wins the most medals for IPA and DIPA by far (not just for one year, but every year going back decades). I know that not every great IPA is even submitted to these events, but it is something to go on. If it isn't a blind taste test, then bias reigns.

Again, great IPAs can be made anywhere. But in SD, IPA is the driving force in the beer culture. As a style, it is likely more popular than other regions. As a numbers game, SD has the advantage.

As a professional brewer that has been making beer in SD for ten years, I am certainly biased, but the unbiased blind judging confirms my statements.

 

All that means is the winters are so damn long in New England that BAs have nothing better to do than sit around inside where it's warm, drinking beers and rating them.

 

Well, some of the most talked about, and sought after, IPAs on the west coast right now come from a small place in Wyoming: http://www.thaijh.com/

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/24056/

 

I have a couple of points to add to this discussion.

First, the great IPAs from all of these regions are just straight up different. Sip of Sunshine tastes nothing like Dreadnaught which tastes nothing like Pliny. Two-Hearted is very different than Sculpin or Breakside IPA. This is part of what makes traveling the country, or the world, as a beer guy fun to do.

The other thing that's been hit on only tangentially here is availability. The fact that none of the great NE beers are available in NYC or Boston, at least on a semi-regular basis, is a major downside. A trip to rural Vermont is a great thing to do, but even when I lived in NJ it happened only rarely.

On the other hand, if you head to Chicago, San Francisco, San Diego, or Portland, you are swimming in all of the best their respective regions have to offer. The fact that these beers are still considered great, in the absence of the aura of mysteriousness, says something in my opinion.

 

There was a Melvin's beer on tap at NWIPA for their Killer Beer Week event last weekend. I don't think it was any of the ones listed on their website, I believe it was a Citra IIPA, and I'll be damned if it wasn't my favorite one in a group of ridiculously good IPAs that included Fort George/Block 15/Boneyard 3-Way, which until that point stood as probably my favorite beer. Fuck, living in Portland is awesome.