IPA

[James Boston]

Having never tried the beer that so many here speak highly of, I went to the only local store that makes an effort to stock good beer and bought some IPA last night. All they had was McEwan's. It was pretty good, but nothing spectacular. How does that stack up against other brands?

[Vote4Pedro]

Bud Light > IPA

[Victor]

im a big ipa (or any pale ale) fan but i dont remember ever trying mcewans. the best kinds are from microbreweries so your options are generally limited by area.

a good nationwide pale ale is sierra nevade. i would suggest that.

[Victor]

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Bud Light > IPA

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why are u posting?

[partygirluk]

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Bud Light > IPA

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Do you know that '>' means greater than?

[BruinEric]

I wouldn't be surprised if your greatest challenge is that many smaller breweries don't distribute in Alabama.

You'll find a lot of folks at beeradvocate.com who like "Double IPAs" which are hoppier and maltier. Go there and browse by style. Or try ratebeer.com for a database that's easy to browse.

Here in California, some leading IPAs are Alesmith IPA, Stone IPA and Bear Republic's Racer 5. All are consistently ranked highly by professional and "general fan" reviews.

IMHO, freshness takes a normally delicious IPA and makes it spectacular. Last week, I had an IPA that was kegged less than a week prior and the floral notes of the hops were out of this world delicious.

All IPAs are hoppy and fairly high in ABV. There are lots of variations on the style. Have fun!

[fluxrad]

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Bud Light > IPA

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Do you know that '>' means greater than?

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I believe his point was that IPA's are overrated.

I would tend to agree with that point.

[Vote4Pedro]

Thank you, my post wasnt very clear

[SmileyEH]

Harpoon IPA is one of my favorite beers. It's only about $6 or $7 for a 6pack, and very good. Because it's not extremely hopped it's a great introduction IMO. Definitley check it out if you can find it.

-SmileyEH

[wacki]

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I believe his point was that IPA's are overrated.

I would tend to agree with that point.

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too bitter for my taste.

[LargeCents]

[ QUOTE ]
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Bud Light > IPA

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Do you know that '>' means greater than?

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I believe his point was that IPA's are overrated.

I would tend to agree with that point.

[/ QUOTE ]

Different horses for different courses. A light beer is sufficient when you are out clubbing or kicking a few back after a softball game, eating pizza. If you are out for a decent meal and having a quality steak, an ale is the only way to go. Next time you go to your local steakhouse, take their best IPA with their best steak and get back to us.

[bholdr]

You might want to try some IPAs from the northwest, here's a good seattle times story (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/pacificnw/2003/1116/taste.html) about IPAs and the nothwest style.

Check out the Anderson Valley IPA
Pike IPA
Pyramid IPA

[jakethebake]

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Pyramid IPA

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I like IPAs, but this one gives me the shits.

[LargeCents]

[ QUOTE ]
Having never tried the beer that so many here speak highly of, I went to the only local store that makes an effort to stock good beer and bought some IPA last night. All they had was McEwan's. It was pretty good, but nothing spectacular. How does that stack up against other brands?

[/ QUOTE ]

I think I tried McEwan's once a few years back. As for IPA's go, it was about the worst in memory. It seemed like it had zero flavor. Maybe I got a bad batch.

I also recommend looking for your nearest microbrewer. Sometimes you can talk to the brewmaster himself if you come in during the day. Often you can sample the different styles of beer they have available..

Another option is to make you own beer. It's about as simple as baking a cake, just stir up the ingredients and let the fermenter do the work. IPAs seem to turn out very well in homebrewed batches. I've had terrific luck with my own homebrews. Just stick to the recipe, don't start adding crap like chocolate or oak chips, leave that to the professionals.

[James Boston]

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I also recommend looking for your nearest microbrewer.

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Loc: Alabama

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Negative Ghostrider.

[Victor]

fwiw cleveland has an awesome microbrewery called great lakes brewery.

it has, among many good beers, an outstanding pale ale called burning river.

not that any of you will ever be in cleveland.

[bronzepiglet]

I love Victory Hopdevil. They have it on draft in Pennsylvania and a few neighboring states... so you might not be able to get that, but it's heaven if you can. Bottles aren't as great, but still a distinctive flavor. It's pretty well known in the Northeast as a great IPA. I would think you'd be able to get it in bottles at a fancy beer place almost anywhere.

[Skjonne]

If you want something spectacular, you should try this one:

http://www.greatdivide.com/thebeers/images/bottles/hercules22ozbtl_100px.jpg

[treeofwisdom7]

i have a pack of IPA redhook . DAM THATS BITTER.

GO BECKS!