No catchy picture for this one. Its a long post.
Brickstore Pub on Saturday October 10th is hosting its first “Hop Harvest” Fest. All 25 taps will be featuring IPAs. Here is a little back-story on the India Pale Ale, in case you never fully knew the style. If you were going to draw up a family tree, the Pale Ale would be the father of the IPA. Pale ales were denoted by the use of pale malt, circa 17th century. The pale ale style has changed over time, and by the mid 18th century coke fire malt was used to produce a beer that was actually paler than its predecessors.
Now, I tell you about pale ales to lead to this. George Hodgson Bow Brewery is attributed to the world’s first IPA. This IPA was a pale ale as described above, that was well hopped, termed October Beer. (See posts about origins of names and style.) This October beer was meant to be cellared for a year or longer. The East India Trading Company (think high school history class,) exported Hodgson’s beer to India — which survived very well on the long trip, thanks to the hoppy nature of the beer acting as a preservative. Ultimately after business deals going bad with Hodgson, other breweries began producing this hoppy style of pale ale, and the demand for an “India Pale Ale” was born.
There’s your history lesson. Knowing the style helps you appreciate your beer. So here is a cheat sheet of the line up of the 25 IPA’s to be featured on Saturday —
Smuttynose “Big A” — Double IPA (DIPA) 9.2% ABV. Part of Smutty’s big beer series. Seasonal release.
Moylan’s “Hopsickle” — DIPA, 9.2% ABV. Tomahawk, Cascade, Centennial hops. VERY hoppy beer, Novato, CA.
Avery “Maharaja” — DIPA, 10.2% ABV. Columbus, Centennial, Crystal, Simcoe hops. Caramel malts. Produced Mar- Sept. Maharaja in Sanskrit means “Great King.” Boulder, CO.
Lagunitas “Hop Stoopid” — DIPA, 8.2% ABV. Hop content unknown. Brewed with Hop extracts, not whole hops. Lagunitas quoted “So hoppy it will take the enamel off your teeth.” Petaluma, CA.
Sierra Nevada “Harvest Ale” — IPA, 6.2% ABV. First Brewed in ’96. Centennial & Cascade wet hops. Brewed same day hops are picked. Chico, CA.
Left Hand “Warrior” — IPA, 6.6% ABV. Wet hopped w/ Warrior Hops. Left hand balances with strong malt backbone. Crystal, Pale, & 2 Row. Seasonal Offering. Longmont, CO.
Bells “Two-Hearted Ale — IPA, 7% ABV. Hop content not published, but home brew recipes for Two hearted all use Centennial hops. Kalamazoo, MI.
Victory “Harvest Ale” — American Strong Pale, 7.7%. This is NOT, and will NOT be available in GA according to Victory Brewery. 3 hop varieties. Downingtown, PA.
5 Seasons Prado “Hop Gasm” — IPA, 7%. Brewmaster Kevin McNerny previously of Sweetwater Brewing’s first creation at 5 Seasons. 5 different hops, including Simcoe & Amarillo. Atlanta, GA.
Stone “Sublimely Self Righteous Ale” — American Strong Ale, 8.7% ABV. By taste, I call this a black IPA. Originally Stone’s 11th Anniversary Ale. It was so popular, it was re released again as Sublimely. It is no longer made, or sold. This is your one shot deal. For me its liquid gold. Escondido, CA.
Green Flash “West Coast IPA” — IPA, 7%. Simcoe, Columbus, Centennial, Cascade. A rare find in GA! Be one of the first to try this on tap. San Diego County, CA.
5 Seasons Westside “Hop Bomb Express” — Crawford Moran’s Dry Hopped, Raw hopped IPA rendition. Recently offered cask style at Westside. Very hoppy and rare opportunity. Atlanta, GA. (SEE PREVIOUS POSTS about Hop Bomb.)
Sweetwater “Wet Dream Special” — Special Version of the latest in the Dank Tank – Wet Dream, a Double Red. More info to follow. Atlanta, GA.
Terrapin “Big Hoppy Monster” — DIPA, 8.7% . Whiskey Oak Aged!! Warrior, Centennial, Cascade, Ahtanum, dry hopped w/ Simcoe. Lots of malts in this too — including 2 Row Pale, and Munich. Athens, GA.
Great Divide “Fresh Hop” — Pale Ale, 6.1% ABV. Wet Hopped Pale. Hop content isn’t documented, but grapefruit is present. Denver, CO.
Red Brick “Zingo Pop” — DIPA, ? ABV. Brewmaster Dave McClure’s experimental brew, on Sabco homebrew equipment. Zingo Pop is a name Dave uses when he’s not sure what to call it. Atlanta, GA.
Moon River “Swamp Fox Rosemary IPA” — IPA, 7% ABV. Centennial, Chinook hops. Dry hopped with Rosemary. Moon River will be at Decatur Beer Fest. Savannah, GA.
Bear Republic “Racer 5” — IPA, 7% ABV. Columbus & Cascade Hops. Multi Medal Winner @ various fests. Cloverdale, CA
Hebrew “Lenny RIPA” — DIPA, 10% ABV. Barrel aged version of Hebrew’s DIPA. Warrior, Cascade, Simcoe, Crystal, Chinook, Amarillo, Centennial, and dry hopped with Amarillo & Crystal. “Obscene amount of hops” San Francisco, CA & NYC, NY
Coast Brewing “Hop Art” — IPA, 7.7% ABV. Nugget, Amarillo, Cascade hops. Caramel Malts. Bottled by hand. Unfiltered, Unpasteurized. Rare Georgia find! North Charleston, SC.
Upstairs!!!!
Stone “Cali — Belgique” — Belgian IPA, 6.9% ABV. Columbus, Centennial. Dry hopped w/ Chinook. IPA w/ Belgian influence. Thus the name draws from Dutch &French Belgian. IPA w/ Belgian Yeast strain. Limited release year round. Escondido, CA.
Het Anker “Gouden Carolus Hopsinjoor” — Belgian IPA, 8% ABV. Hallertau, Saaz hops. Mechelen, Belgium
De Leyerth Urthel “Hop It” — Belgian IPA, 9.5% ABV. European Hops. Pilsner Malts. Hoppy, spicy, fruity. Ruiselede, Belgium.
Houblon Chouffe — Belgian IPA, 9% ABV. Tomahawk, Saaz, Dry hopped w/ Amarillo. Unfiltered. Unpasteurized. Achouffe, Belgium
De Ranke “XX Bitter” — Belgian IPA, 6.2% ABV. Brettanomyces yeast. Wevelgem, Belgium.
Great Divide “Belgica” — Belgian IPA, 7.2% ABV. American & European Hops. Belgian Pilsner malts. Denver, CO.
Changes can occur any second… be sure to check back!
Returning from a 2 year absence – it’s Left Hand’s Double Sawtooth Ale, now dubbed Chainsaw Ale. Chainsaw Ale is a bigger, bolder version of their year round ESB release. Chainsaw isn’t an ESB, but classified as an American Strong Ale.
Remember Left Hand’s Snowbound Ale? It’s a spiced seasonal ale Left Hand released around Christmas time each year. Well Snowbound is no more. Left Hand is officially no longer producing spiced ales. Much of the thought process is that Christmas Ales, and spiced ales don’t seem to have much appeal after the holidays.
