some damn good IPA's out there

[roark]

Boneyard Notorious on tap last night... damn good.

[beer30]

Boneyard Notorious on tap last night... damn good.

Dude, dreaming of Boneyard out here in Jhole!!

[Name Redacted]

Man, I used to drink at Barley Brown's in Baker City back in the day when I had an ex who was from there. Those guys know how to skin a hop. Pallet Jack (GABF gold medal) kills it. If you are ever driving between Portland and Boise and need a hop bomb, stop in Baker City for any number of great examples of style. There's also a Baker city brew pub, which I have never been to, but did pretty well in the medals this year and got "Very Small Brewery of the Year".


Here's a list of the winners, IPAs and otherwise:
http://www.greatamericanbeerfestival...ition/winners/

[~mikey b]

Napa Smith Hopageddon

[~mikey b]

Abyssmas party tomorrow night - 36 bottles of 2012 Deschutes Abyss on hand

[SchralphMacchio]

Drakes Son of Headzo 24th Anniversary Imperial Small Ale - not technically an IPA, but more IPA than not. Fantastic. 9.7 abv but only 30 IBU, some really nice hopped elements but not so malty for an Imperial strength ale. Can't wait till the 25% 25th Anniversary Headzo comes out next August. John Gillooly has done great things for this label.

And Aroma Coma is still available in bottles - they must have done a ton of production this year!

[~mikey b]

Would you grab me a few Aroma Coma and hang onto them? Can't get here.

[SchralphMacchio]

Sorry Mike, they had a bottle limit of 6 and the ones I bought are all allocated :/

I think they will be out of Aroma Coma this week. There wasn't much left in inventory.

Really loving the Son of Headzo growler I bought.

[~mikey b]

No worries lad!

[schuss]

Sorry Mike, they had a bottle limit of 6 and the ones I bought are all allocated :/

I think they will be out of Aroma Coma this week. There wasn't much left in inventory.

Really loving the Son of Headzo growler I bought.

Schuss needs beer. Please halp.

[SchralphMacchio]

I'm not due in Wallingford any time soon ... I pretty much do zero work with that office now. Darnit.

[~mikey b]

Bear Republic Cafe Racer 15 double
and
Tioga Sequoia Batch 250 imperial

[ScumbagSteve]

Alaska IPA isn't bad but nothing special. Had Gubna from tap for the first time, damn good. Also just finished a sixer of Upslope IPAs, eh.

[guroo270]

I couldn't seem to find it after I went on a massive binge on Silverton Brewery's Ice Pick Ale (IPA) a few years back, but that shit was damn tasty.

[Power_Sauce]

Breakside Wanderlust IPA just came out in PDX. It's pretty damn good.

[bushman]

My keg of Surly Furious comes today just in time for the weekend. Stoked.

[BobbyBill]

Was randomly in Yakima recently and came across Balebreaker Brewing's Top Cutter IPA...outstanding! Brewery is located next to a hop field.

[~mikey b]

BURN NIGHT!



Nothing is fucked here.


Hey I've got to go to some sorta theme party for a woman we know and I'm looking for some ideas. Each couple is supposed to bring a food item with a wine and beer pairing. I skipped out on her last party cuz it was a BBQ class and party. Fuck that I could teach that. I hate the theme crap but she's a great friend so fuck it. I'm in charge of appetizers and IPA. Easy enough for me, but I wanna know what ya got for ideas. Unfortunately somewhat limited on beer selection compared to the big city, but I'm not opposed to driving a bit to get something special. Krystal will probably want a big fat old vine zin too.

[schuss]

OK, so tahoe area right?
I'd say Racer 5, Knee Deep Simtra and maybe some Pliny or Denogginizer? Hit up schralp, he'll know what's in stores right now.

[bmg97]

dogfish head ipa 90 is pretty tasty. Cousin turned me on and I'm liking it.

[Hugh Conway]

fresh cooked dungeness. a loaf of sourdough

Stone enjoy by/Cafe Racer X/Racer 5. pairs well with zin too.

[~mikey b]

Appetizer. Was thinking crab dip actually.

Fresh crab for supper tomorrow night! Excited.

sftc over for supper tonight - he gets cow

[SchralphMacchio]

crab dip and IPA? This is all conjecture, but I'd look at a high acidity beer with "drier" pale barley malts and less of the heavy stuff like caramalt or rye.

Funny enough, I finally had a Sante Adarius 831 over the weekend, and it kind of matches that description well. Dry pale malts, strong bittering hops, and a bit of that "cat piss" acidity found in white wines. Well made beer, and not my style due to a crisper mouthfeel (I like a hint of resin/syrup/caramalt tied to a dank nose and citrus taste) ... but honestly it seems like it would do well with crap dip!

My thought process is that with creams and fats (as you might find in a dip) you tend to want high acidity to punch through the fat that coats your tongue (this is generally my approach to wine pairing) and then you want the finish of the beer/wine to add to, and not steer you in a different direction from, the flavor of the food. So, with something like crab dip, you are not going to have very strong savory flavors - much lighter than something like lamb - so for example you might not want a funky lavender-tasting IPA to pull you off of a food that doesn't already have a provencal tarragon kind of thing going on in the first place.

But to be really honest, with something like dungeness crab I'd sooner pair an American farmhouse-style saison that has a hint of peppercorn. Slight hint of Brett and tartness to punch through the fat, grass to complement the crab, brighter flavor profile to go along with any lemon zest qualities, and peppercorn to finish off the complement.

But, it's late, and I'm really just hungry and blowing smoke out of my ass since I've never really tried doing a beer and food pairing. Have fun!

[mtnjam]

Lot's of good IPA's making their way through Boise

Just had a 12-13-13 Stone IPA, really good if you can find it, nice mellow buzz

The Payette IPA is really good as is the other local IPA from Sockeye.

Leafer Madness from Ontario (Beer Valley) is intense but good if you can find it.

Hoppy Bitch is good, but a little over the top.

As for beer in Boise, I haven't been to TableRock for quite a while since they switched brewmasters so I'm not sure what is good there anymore. Definitely don't like The Ram's beer. I'm still not sure how they win so many awards with that swill. 10 Barrel is, well 10 Barrel. I've always liked Highlands Hollow's beer especially the FiegWild. Sockeye, well their IPA is outstanding. Crooked Fence is pretty good. There's now plenty of small start up breweries around that I haven't tried yet, but hearing good things about. If you get to try Initial Point IPA, give it a go.

[Crass3000]

not sure if Toppling Goliath from IOWA has been mentioned but they are pretty well regarded. Not my favorite but I can get growlers, Fairly highly regarded on Beer Advocate. Really seem like their IPAs get good rating just cause of rarity. They are sort of an up and coming brewery though. Psuedo Sue is a Citra hop and is pretty popular. I think it needs some background hops though.