I consider myself fairly experienced with IPAs and I've recently discovered "Racer 5" by Bear Republic.
I think it's the best IPA I've ever had, foreign or domestic. Only one that comes close is the now-defunct Pike Brewing Company IPA, formerly of Seattle, Washington.
LaConner IPA, Stone IPA, and Boundry Bay Imperal IPA get my nod, but if I ever see a Racer 5 I will give it a try. And when did Pike Brewing Company IPA go away? It is still at my local markett last I looked
Didn't know Pike Brewing was closed. Are you sure about that? Seems like they're still in business (pikebrewing.com).
My current favorite is the Pelican IPA. The brewer also made an unfiltered limited batch IPA call "Dirty Bird" which was even better, though I don't know if Pelican is going to offer that one again. Terminal Gravity also makes a great IPA, as does Caldera.
Sometimes LaConner puts fresh hop pieces in their IPA, also one of my favs.
Pike's disappearance will come as a complete surprise to the various staff, including management and brewers. Considering that I've been out drinking beer with two of Pike's brewers on different nights in the last five days, they're going to be especially bewildered.
Pike is very much alive and with us, thank you very much.
Yup, I immediately thought of Alpha King when I first read this thread. Definitely an IPA if you're in the Stylisto camp. I'm drinking a Hercules Double IPA right now. Great beer, and its little brother Titan IPA is also a very nice example of a (regular, American-style) IPA.
I like it fine. I had some Racer X a while back up at their pub, and it was even finer.
I'd put in a word for AVBC's Hop Otten, a very successful bottled IPA; Sierra Nevada's Celebration Ale (a bottle half-consumed on my desk as I type); and Speakeasy's Big Daddy (draft only; they haven't really figured out how to bottle it yet).
60 Minute is a good enough beer, but the 90 and 120 aren't worth the time or money. Dogfish Head does a couple of beers really well, but their
90 & 120 just highlight the fact that they're a one-trick pony. You can only go so far with abusively hopped, syrupy beers. Of course, the American beer drinking public is largely stupid, so they'll likely continue to produce the 90 & 120.
The best IPA is the one you like the most. It won't be the one that somebody else prefers (at least not usually). Excellent IPAs over the past few years include Alpine Duet, LaConner IPA, Big Time's Scarlet Fire, Victory IPA, SN IPA, Russian River IPA, etc., etc. . . IMNSH, Dogfish Head doesn't even come close.
While I consider the 120-minute an underattenuated mess, I findthe 90-minute to be a very nice combination of firm malt backbone and American hop flavor and bitterness. Nothing syrupy about it.
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