THREE IPAs IN A BIG WEEK FOR IPAs

I’ve been talking a big game with regard to India Pale Ales of late, but have I truly been walking the talk? This week, I was. First up on the docket was one I’ve probably had at least a dozen times in my drinking career, but one that I’ve never “critically evaluated” before. ANDERSON VALLEY BREWING’s “Hot Oppin IPA”, which they advertise as being “as hoppy as it comes” is, to my extreme disappointment, anything but. And I love everything else this brewery touches (Boont Amber and Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout are nectar of the gods), but this one is decidedly mediocre. I found it to be crisp and easy-tasting, yet it seemed to me that it needed to be whomping my palate and making my taste buds explode, and all I got was a nice beer buzz out of the deal. The color is golden amber, trending toward golden (no!). Might even be some honey in there somewhere, but man, I wish there had been more of something. Let’s give it a 5/10 and call it like we see it, all right? Next up this week was another perennial on taps here in the San Francisco Bay Area, LAGUNITAS BREWING CO.’s IPA. I had roughly the same reaction to this one, though I know for a fact I’ve been refreshed by this beverage on many, many occasions while out seeing bands or wherever the hell it is I go. Very mild and less than overwhelming, this IPA could really stand to be infused with another batch of molten hops and given something to increase the bitterness. Then again – these guys probably know what they're doing. This is on hundreds on taps in town, and it’s not made for the beer snobs, it’s for the common man, albeit the common man who won’t drink from a corporate brewer. Purely as a liquid system coolant, I definitely can’t argue with it, and therefore I’m bumping it up above Anderson Valley’s entry to a nearly respectable 5.5/10.

Our last IPA this week – though there’s always this evening – was from SPEAKEASY ALES & LAGERS. Their “Big Daddy IPA” was my favorite of the three, yet not by much. I’m seriously not that difficult to please – witness my frothing reviews for IPAs by MOYLAN’S and BEAR REPUBLIC the past couple of weeks. This one goes up to 6/10. While lighter in color than the other two and just as mild, it has this incredible smell of pine and citrus, and it left an aftertaste that actually had a tiny bit of bite. Still, I got it at a club, rather than a beer drinker’s bar, and it’s starting to make sense that they’re not gonna throw a firebreather like Moylan’s on tap in a place where mere mortals might drink it. But I’m going to mentally bookmark this one for future research. Since HEDONIST BEER JIVE is now up to an average of 40 readers a day (thanks!) – any other IPAs that have blown you away, and any that I (and others) should avoid?