Beers You Can Actually Buy: IPAs

Periodically, someone informs me that, "Every time I look for beers you review, I can't find them," so I have decided to start a regular series considering some of the better products that are widely available in the markets I generally cover (Ontario and Quebec).

The criteria here, generally, will consist of brief notes on regularly available beers in these markets.  Though I may mention seasonal products with wide releases, these also tend to be some of my preferred choices in these categories.

Though you may not fancy yourself a fan of the styles mentioned in such a given post, I strongly encourage you to try some of these products throughout the series since doing so will acclimate your palate to newer tastes and will ensure that your dislike of the style at least conforms to its stronger representatives - though if you appreciate others that is certainly fine too!

I will begin with India Pale Ales due to their immense popularity (as probably the most widely consumed ale category amongst beer geeks - new and old, initiates and connoisseurs alike).  Though some find American IPAs too bitter, as I once did, many find them great from the get-go as a craft beer introduction while others (myself included) come to appreciate them immensely over time.

The history of IPAs seems to contain some truths and exaggerations, but there is general agreement that they were more aggressively hopped Pale Ales for export to the warmer colonies, originating in England in the Eighteenth Century.  They have since been embraced by the American craft beer movement who has pushed the style with bolder hops varieties (of higher alpha acid content) and even double and triple versions of the style with a more substantial malt backbone, even more hops (to combat the resulting malty sweetness), and a higher ABV (resulting from the increased fermentable sugars).

Rather than writing off a beer as bitter, try to ask yourself how this bitterness presents: is it earthy, fruity, citrusy, piney, resiny, floral?  Some of the stronger, more well-regarded IPAs (and beers generally) tend to offer a complex flavour evolution that presents waves of different expressions of the hops flowers.  Many examples are dry-hopped or even wet-hopped (with dry or wet hops added again after fermentation) to add additional (primarily olfactory) expressions to the beer.

Quebec:

Though Quebec was long devoid of many strong examples of English (and American) beer styles, the scene is evolving with the times and two of my absolute favourites are now available regularly in the province.

1) Rigaud, Quebec microbrewery, Le Castor's, organic Yakima IPA (6.5% ABV, 90 beeradvocate, 99/100 ratebeer) is a marvellous example of the style and currently tops ratebeers listing as the best IPA in Canada.  It offers a simply magnificent nose reflective of the citrus spectrum of the style, while the taste offers some toasty notes and a fine resiny, lingeringly bitter finish.  It is available in finer deps in Quebec for between $6.50-$7 (plus tax and deposit) for a 650ml bottle.

2) Regular readers know of my love affair with both Montreal/St. Jerome brewpub Dieu du Ciel AND its American IPA Moralité (7% ABV, 92 beeradvocate, 99/99 ratebeer) collaboration with Vermont brewery The Alchemist.  Moralité periodically hits taps throughout Montreal and in draught (and cask, mmmmm) tops the bottle, though the bottle is a now regularly available delight nonetheless which wafts a brilliant orange-tangerine citrus nose and hits the palate with a similar, though more grapefruit-centric quality.  It is my personal favourite Canadian IPA.  Six-packs are now available wherever DDC products are sold for around $14-$15 plus tax and deposit.

3) Montreal brewpub La Succursale's Angus IP "AAA" (7 % ABV, N/A beeradvocate, 90/80 ratebeer) deserves an extra shout-out in my opinion as a highly-drinkable, if un-bottled, brewpub-only option of noteworthy enjoyment, though it is a notch below the tops on this Quebec list.

Ontario:

Ontario boasts wider brewing of English beer styles than Quebec, for obvious reasons, though I do believe the top two Quebec examples above have now trumped my home province's IPAs.  That said, the breadth of English-inspired brewing and scope of LCBO importing make numerous solid options available for Ontarians and visitors.

1) First, two special shout-outs deserve mention here as worthy of the praise.  The first is Toronto brewpub Bellwoods, whose bottles are only available at their own bottle-shop or draught in the bar, though their IPAs, Cat Lady and Roman Candle, and their DIPAs Witchshark and Boogie Monster are delights.  None are always available but some of them always seem to be!  Go, enjoy, you won't be disappointed!

2) The second special mention goes to long-time Toronto brewing masters Great Lakes, who lack a regular IPA but seem to always have a solid seasonal or one-off IPA available (noteably Lake Effect IPA and Robohop DIPA for me personally) and they frequently appear at the LCBO.

3) Though not brewed in Ontario, BC brewery Central City's Red Racer IPA (6.5% ABV, 95 beeradvocate, 98/99 ratebeer) is consistently rated as one of the top in Canada and wafts grapefruit notes par excellence with some resinous characteristics as well.  This is a bold and highly drinkable delight and it comes in a can (bonus, despite the haters: no air and no light to preserve the fragile IPA) at a mere $2.45 (tax and deposit included)!

4) Flying Monkeys Smashbomb Atomic IPA (6% ABV, 89 beeradvocate, 98/98 ratebeer) is another citrusy delight with some grapefruit and rind aromas, and a rind-and-pine bitter bite.  Well praised, and well worthy of it, and priced at a mere $13.25 for a 6-pack (tax and deposit included) at your nearest LCBO.

The first honourable mention goes to the baseball-inspired, draught-only brewers, Left Field, who regularly ship their magnificent 6-4-3 Double IPA (8.4% ABV, 87 beeradvocate, 88/43 ratebeer) to beer bars in the Toronto area.  This double IPA boasts a more robust ABV and bolder bitterness than 'regular' IPAs, but smooths out both with a piney resinous finish of noteworthy complexity.

Second honourable mention goes to Amsterdam's Boneshaker (7.1% ABV, 86 beeradvocate, 93/86 ratebeer).  A bit more malty with a neat complexity alongside that unfiltered hoppy goodness makes this beer best when fresh, though cans are an IPA drinkers friends and the new tall-cans of this offer 473 ml for only $2.95 making this a best-fresh-and-fresh-for-longer-than-bottled treat.  Check it out too!

Did I miss something you prefer?  Post it in the comments!

Stay tuned for Saisons soon!

Confessions of a Hop-Head

I confess.  I am a hop-head.

I have been a malt-monster and a sour-puss for quite some time, and I have enjoyed many a hoppier product too, but this summer it truly happened.

You see, this summer I had some amazing, high IBU APAs, IPAs, and DIPAs regularly (Hill Farmstead Edward, Abner, and Ephraim, Dieu du Ciel Morality, Heady Topper, Central City Red Racer, Amsterdam Boneshaker, Left Field 6-4-3 Double IPA, Great Lakes Robohop, Stone Ruination, Firestone Walker Union Jack, etc, etc).  Yeah, I also bought and got deliveries of many an imperial stout and sour too, but they are just getting better with time while those hop-centric brews deteriorate by the day.

Thus, I spent my summer drinking these while they were best, while they were fresh.

And this is how it hit me: I have both a cupboard and a cellar full of beer (plus a few in the fridge) - seriously I have lots of beer - but I am out of IPAs and I look around and think, "Shit, I have nothing to drink!"

Sure, I could pick up Le Castor Yakima IPA easily enough (a solid enough beer) or Dieu du Ciel's Penombre (Black IPA) as what I'd deem the best of my current, not seasonal, options here, but that high end.  Oh man, that high end.  There is much in Ontario to the West of me, much in Vermont to the South, but right here, right now, it sure feels dry.

Again, I realize the extent of it with my anticipation for the pending seasonal bottle release of Dieu du Ciel's Morality.  And I realize, that though I have beers I would say I prefer overall - numerous sours and imperial stouts, and a few others - those are specialty beers.  For me, though I remain a malt-monster and a sour-puss, even the best of these beer styles need the right day, the right mood, the right temperature, but even if I'd rank some (not too many) beers higher, I could drink Morality or Edward or Union Jack or Ruination any day, any time.

These have become, for me, everyday beers.  Beers I wish I could always have on hand - fresh - for that beer on a Saturday night at home... for any Saturday night at home.

DDC: make Morality a regular product, or even, Dunham make your hoppy Pils a regular product.  Either of these could eternally tide a fella over in these hard times!  I mean, I may still love my maltiness and acidity, but truly, I am a confessed hop-head in withdrawal.  Donations gladly accepted! ;)

Alexander Keith's Hop Series: An Exciting Prospect?

As an avid craft beer enthusiast and anti-macro beer guy generally, one may find my tempered excitement at the idea of Alexander Keith's Hop Series products bizarre.  And it is!  Though I have yet to try them and won't be seeking them out intentionally, my tempered excitement is fuelled by the following logic:

I am excited that upon those rare occasions when I end up at a bar not of my choosing, when the options are 9 kinds of macro-brewed lagers that are all essentially the same beer with no alternatives, I may in this pending future have what may amount to a vaguely tolerable alternative.

That, however, isn't the crux of my excitement.  To me, it means macros are realizing something: people want more flavourful beer and I doubt this is a market they can compete in.  However, in the process of trying to compete, I think the macros are paving the way for their loyal legions to discover a gradual shift towards more hop-forward products that could only expand craft consumption and, inevitably, production.  By this I mean, they risk introducing the Keith's faithful to flavour and, as happened with me, this is a step towards bolder tasting beers.  Perhaps I am being overly optimistic, but it just may be that this series will actually advance the interests, the market, and the evolution of the craft beers I love.

Ironically, at the same time this launch is taking flight, a Slate article has arrived denouncing craft hops primacy.  Ironic though this may be, I thought I'd simply add that what this article gets right is that nuanced craft flavours abound and we'd benefit from an expanded selection that includes, say, sour more frequently (implied in the article by the nod to wild yeast).  Yet, one of many things I find it gets wrong is that many craft beer enthusiasts love a variety of flavours and styles (malt-forward, hop-forward, sour, tart, funky, etc and not simply hops-only) and that it is scarcity of product that creates the pursuit at times.  It isn't a market of hops-monolith, even if it is predominant, and many of us appreciate the existent diversity and path to it that this article seems not to notice.

Though I truly do love both hop-forward IPAs and sours, I seek out sours since solid IPAs are so readily available while solid sours are so rare.  But in another market - the one from not so long past, perhaps, dominated as it was by the bland - we'd all be seeking our bitter-fix.  We need not temper our hops insanity; rather we must expand our horizons and taste explosions further!  Hops and its perpetual evolution is but one valuable path in that pursuit.  I see it not as diminishing our options but capitalizing on a trend in order to allow the craft beer movement to thrive.