best IPA ever?

In rec.food.drink.beer cg wrote: : : 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. :

Have you ever tried a 120 minute that has been cellared for 3 years? It's a completely different beer at that point. The syrupy, cloying sweetness disappears, the bitterness mellows, and the beer becomes something more akin to a barleywine with a flavor profile not unlike Samichlaus.

my current (daily) fav, is Wet Mountain IPA (Bristol Brewing, Co Springs, CO). formerly, my favorite was Avery Brewing's excellent IPA (Boulder, CO)

Breckenridge Brewing, had a small batch IPA ("471"?) that was good also.

by way of comparisms, CA IPA's: Stone Brewing's Ruination Ale is very tasty;

Racer 5 is good, ditto for Big Daddy, and Anderson Valley's IPA. and there was an IPA by a Huboldt, CA microbrewery that quite good also, and another microbrewery north of Marin (Lost Coast. Fort Bragg, CA?)

Now, if I could only find some of Victory's brews in the COS/Denver/Boulder/Fort Collins areas; I had fond memories of their Hop Devil ...

Just had the Hop Devil the other night at a bar called "Hop Devil" in NY.

I think I prefer the Troegs Hop Back though. The hop flavor is full and rich w/o being overly bitter. Of course, I'm lucky enough to mostly drink it on cask.

Humbolt Brewing IPA Nectar, and it is delicious.

and another microbrewery north of Marin

Could be Lost Coast Brewing in Eurkea. They make the Indica IPA which is just ok IMO. There's also North Coast Brewing, but they don't make an IPA that I know of. Generally, North Coast kicks Lost Coasts ass most of the time.

The 90-Minutes I've had have all be saddled with an overwhelming fruitiness - to the point of being distracting. The 60-Minute is much more what I'm looking for in an "IPA."

Victory had an IPA on this past Saturday when I drove up to grab a keg of St. Boisterous. Didn't try it, though, as they were pouring Boisterous and Ron's "Triple Pils" - imagine a more assertively hopped, somewhat drier version of Boisterous.

Hard to pin down my favorite IPA, but I have fond memories of quaffing pints of Scarlet Fire at Big Time and then finding it on tap at Latona the very next night.

What he said, on both counts.

Of course, it's been a few years since I've had either, so things may have changed.

-Steve

I always liked Bert Grant's IPA, although friends said it was not that great. Despite the fact the guy that took over the brewery after Bert died drove the place into the ground, I can still get the stuff. I think he sold out to someone, but the recipe appears to be the same.

Also like Town Hall, LaConner, Diamond Knot and Bells Harvest Ale.

I think the 60-minute is unbalanced toward the hop, even for an IPA. Not that I'd turn it down if offered a pint.

I'd try to imagine, but it'd just make me jealous.

Celebration Ale probably does it for me, due mostly to the sentimentality factor.

Word is that Victory will be in Colorado sometime this summer...

_Randal

I heard you the first time, and I'm happy to be proven wrong in this case. Cheers.

Speaking of which, where's the best place to get some Pike's, considering they're still around? I live in San Francisco and wouldn't know where to start looking for a 6-er.

I always loved the Bert Grant's Porter, but I never found his IPA particularly memorable. Of course, I haven't touched his beers since the late 90s, so my crits might not be all that relevant for today.

I am of no help on that in Seattle area Pikes is only a little harder to find than Bud

We don't get the same range of well-hopped beers in Wisconsin that it seems you can on the coasts, but my favorite hop-babies that we can get locally:

1) Dogfish Head 60 Minute (lush, florid, long, bright, open) 2) Sierra Nevada Celebration (the last batch in particular was broad, supple, and beautiful; not as monolithic as in the past). 3) Dogfish Head 90 Minute (a good, bracing, stiff one). 4) Bell's Two-Hearted Ale (was my fave till the DfH 60 came into town). 5) Victory Hop Devil (solid, enjoyable) 6) Goose Island IPA (a really well-rounded and satisfying IPA from Chicago) 7) Anderson Valley Hop Ottin' (pleasant & flavorful)

IPA's that I've had here but haven't bought again very much because they just haven't been slammin' or enchantin' enough or maybe I should try them again include some great ones, by most measures, including 3Floyds Alpha King, Rogue Brutal Bitter, and Red Seal. I will, though, run out and get the Racer 5, thanks to the recommendations!