West Coast IPA Thread

To me, Pliny stands out among dipas for it's real crisp quality. Blind Pig doesn't stand out from the competition as much. But the fact that RR ipas are still leaders 20 years on is massively impressive considering how much the market for hops has changed over.that time. RR is exhibit one on the difference between hypestars and legends

 

Just picked up fresh Gator cans yesterday from the source. 7-22.

 

At this point I pretty much try everything henhouse and ghost town has to offer, regardless of style.
Those 2 are my favorite regional breweries that aren’t super big.
(SARA is my local brewery, and RR is legendary of course)

 

I'll agree with most everything but the quoted material. The competitions' offerings for single West Coast IPAs seem to be contracting rather than expanding. In a world with FAR too many average at best hazies, BP does stand out for my preferences as a beacon of known West Coast IPA deliciousness (and R2H56 for that matter now that it's packaged again).

 

Amen to that, ghost town is my favorite new to me brewery of the year. Great work with hops, liberal employment of rye, clean ass lagers, beer menu clearly driven by brewers/beer lovers. I am very much looking forward to being able to visit some day

I just mean BP compared to other single west coast offerings. I've been drinking a lot of ubahdank from new glory and hexagenia from fall river and they are both in the same league as BP for me. Pliny earns its premium price over the competition in the dipa field, I don't think the same is true for BP. I haven't had R2H56 in a long time so I can't speak on that one. Never ever upset drinking RR hops though, that is for sure

 

Just cracked open an Inhume from GT as I read this. It’s good not amazing, but the look is all west coast.

 

I’m in agreement with RR being a gold standard for west coast hops. Pliny and Pig are classics for good reason and Row 2 is the epitome of what a great hoppy beer was 15 years ago and holds up amazingly well against any contemporary Example of the style. But IMO Happy Hops is the most underrated. It might be my favorite RR hoppy beer.

 

Oh I love fresh Hexegenia...hoping to get some this weekend after a full moon dayhike of Shasta. But that beer falls off quick for my preferences, whereas I feel BP has better 'staying power'. Again these are all #FirstWorldProblems, and truly a luxury right now.

Curious, my buddy is up in Arcata and I sent him over to Redwood Curtain. He said they had a bunch of hoppy offerings, many I'd never tried or heard of before now. How's their (RC) hoppy game these days?

 

Its solid but inconsistent. I just had some Galactic Forest last night and what has been one of my favorite beers from them in the past is super thick and sweet this batch, for instance. I'm drinking a new one right now, Paging Dr. Pyne, and it's super bright and very enjoyable. They dont really put out any "bad" beer but their hoppy stuff is definitely inconsistent and its hard to know what you're getting when you cant taste first. Definitely your best choice for local hops though and they give the malt/hop bill for each beer on the menu so you can at least pick based on your known preferences.

And yes, it is incredibly luxurious to be able to debate whether Russian River makes far and away the best hoppy beer around or if they just make the best hoppy beer around by a hair . These are even better than #Firstworldproblems, these are #WestCoastProblems

 

The Pizza Port/ Beachwood collaboration is what you would expect it to be: West Coast IPA goodness. Definitely worth grabbing

 

I'd give every brewery besides sn and north coast that we get up here for access to those two breweries regularly

 

Also, apparently, today is National IPA Day...so you know the drill

 

Drink a yeast bomb with lactose and fruit?

 

I’m like 3 wcipa’s and counting. They’re mostly from a Vermont trade though.
But they’re 1) clear and 2) beer, and so looks good.

 

Pizzaport/Beachwood Collab Beach Retreat is the killer of the year. I will drink 145,987.

 

This one is killer good. Opened for my last pour yesterday’s session. So very clean and fresh. Not heavy on carbonation as on some fresh PP cans. Oh but that aroma and taste right up front. Wow! This one is a must right now when it’s freshest. PP & BW are known for some of the best west coast ipa’s. ESBC would be my another choice for me. And also some of the cheapest prices for OC/LA area. You cannot beat PP’s $ on a “6pk”. This is what west coast clear & clean ipa’s should be all about. I’m thinking I should grab another fresh 6pk but don’t know how long the cans will stay fresh?

 

Yesterday’s NIPADay: P4P > Good of the Public > Beach Retreat. West coast all day long.

 

2 other very good wcipa are newish from Eppig, Nightlife (all Nelson) and Buoyancy Control. I don't know their distribution reach to beyond SD county but I've not had anything but good to great beer from them.

 

Clearly need this beer in my life!