Ultra-Hoppy West Coast IPAs That Deserve the Hype

ethnic music are quick to lash out at record hop - obsessed American brewing , but that does n’t change the fact that IPAs are by far the most democratic expressive style of beer in this country . And nobody does mega - hopped beers like the kinsfolk in the region that manufacture them : the West Coast . of course , the style ’s popularity has result in a seeming arms race to see who can make the hoppiest beer , and the resolution are n’t always pretty . tartness in beer is often evaluate by a organization called IBU ( International Bittering Units ) , which use a one - to-100 ordered series that ’s less “ hard skill ” and more “ train guessing , ” and can be very misleading . While some work argue your palate may not be able to perceive more than 100 IBUs , that has n’t stop kinfolk from push the boundary .

These beers brazenly attempt to summit Mount Humulus Lupulus and overtake that 100 - IBU doorstep ( with one exception ) and still manage to come out the other side savour like some of the best IPAs you have ever had . Some even bridge the gap and once again become flavorful to the anti - hop - head ’s palate by veering nigher to bittersweet fresh - tweet juice , a cocktail , or effective skunk . These are the best of the West Coast ’s hoppiest beer .

Russian River Pliny the Younger

Santa Rosa , CANamed for the untried nephew of Pliny the senior – the Roman philosopher and natural scientist who discovered hop and was killed in the explosion of Mt. Vesuvius in AD 79 – Pliny the Younger is a fresher , more brash and emboldened small cousin to the more predominant senior . This beer is released just once a twelvemonth and mastery blocks - long lines out of doors of the brewery for weeks . It is perhaps the most sought - after beer on the planet . RR has been brewing it since 2005 , and it is think to be among the first triple IPAs . It ’s a mouth - tearing , acrimonious - beer - cheek - cause beast with a sinus - clearing pineyness that comes in at a bright 10.25 % ABV . It ’s earned its legend .

Boneyard Notorious

Bend , ORFrom Oregon ’s best - selling gearheads and masters of the IPA comes the latest three-fold IPA hop - dud to set up out ofBend , the Beaver State ’s other beer harbor . infamous is potent than Pliny at 11.5 % ABV , and is bursting with record hop aroma and swirling tropical and citrus flavors . Hopheads may be surprised that it ’s only about 80 IBUs , but this faint - incarnate crusher packs a impact you wo n’t draw a blank . ( IBUs are just a state of mind , man . ) In a recent unsighted relishing of double and triple IPAs I help put together , Boneyard Notorious was unanimously the preferent , place even over the infamous Pliny the Younger .

Stone Enjoy By IPA

Escondido , CAStone Brewing Co. ’s Enjoy By IPA was born not to last . It ’s like a decoded mystical content set to self - destruct in five s , but in this case it ’s 30 twenty-four hours . In an effort to spread cognition and delectation of the qualities of fresh beer – specially India pale ales – Stone created a beer that ’s shipped immediately and pulled from the ledge after a calendar month . It ’s break with hop flavor , bitterness , and a glow you rarely get except directly from the generator . It ’s also an clever selling move that has consumer scrambling to purchase the bottles and retailer pressing to push them before time run out . That ’s not to say that at 100 + IBUs and 9.7 % ABV it ’s exclusively a hop - head ’s delight ; released on a regular basis in 37 - day interval across Stone ’s distribution step , it ’s one of the few beers on this leaning that ’s bottled , and has even inspired spinoffs like Enjoy After IPA and Enjoy By Black IPA .

Hopworks Urban Brewery Ace of Spades

Portland , ORPortland ’s HUB brewed Ace of Spades in honor of infamous rock divinity Lemmy – a way more fitting protection to the notoriously iron - livered rock god than having Johnny Depp and the dude from Aerosmith fumble through his songs . Originally brewed in ’ 09 – when Lemmy was still slaying with Motörhead – the dual IPA is even more relevant now . In its first yr , it won gold at the swell American Beer Festival . Hopworks brewer add more hop at every number in the brewing process to reach maximum hops overdrive in their brashly abrasive 100 + IBU beer , but maintain a decidedly musical interplay of ingredients to attain a comparatively low-spirited 8.6 % ABV .

Barley Brown’s Tank Slapper

Baker City , ORWhat once was a little - known brewpub just west of the Idaho border in a hushed little town called Baker City is now the stuff of brewing legend . Barley Brown ’s Brewpub has become one of the most grace brewery in already medal - heavy Oregon . In recent age , the brewery has been truly rife across the panel , but especially when hops come into child’s play , with medal for the IPA , pallid ale , brisk record hop , and Cascadian dark ale to prove it . The hoppiest nugget , though , is the Tank Slapper double IPA . At 9.2 % , this warfare beast is satiate with Chinook and Simcoe hops – so stuffed , in fact , that you ’re consuming .5 oz of hops per pint . Baker City is now a legit beer - touristry destination where you may hit the brewpub , then saunter across to the raw production brewery with a tasting room and different beer on tap to get it the manner it was meant to be consumed : fresh .

Melvin Brewing 2x4

Jackson , WYPerhaps the most unlikely succeeder storey on this listing ( and definitely the one sift the definition of “ West Coast ” ) , Melvin is also perchance the new reigning champion of hoppiness , come unbent outta … Jackson , WY . Brewers / owners Jeremy Tofte and Kirk McHale somehow crafted reality - class IPAs from a three - drum nanobrewery in the back of a Thai restaurant suitably called Thai Me Up Brewery . Their most celebrated beer , 2x4 double IPA , has gone on to deliver the goods gold at the cracking American Beer Festival and World Beer Cup . Maybe even more tattle of its modern - chef-d’oeuvre status is that 2x4 won back - to - back championship ( 2012 - 2013 ) in the Alpha King Challenge , which is a unsighted tasting competition of only extreme hoppy beers . Now , Melvin ’s in its own 30bb output facility and last month host a national 2x4 Day celebration , giving those outside Wyoming a taste of its medicine .

Knee Deep Hoparillo, Simtra, and Hop Shortage

Auburn , CAAuburn , CA - based Knee Deep Brewing stands out from the pack by brewing IPAs and other hoppy beer entirely . As you could reckon , it dial in its record hop - dud recipes pretty well . Tending toward a bolder , more bitter hop profile , the brewery ’s make crowd - pleasing favorite . Even more unequaled is that Knee Deep is one the few breweries that bottles a triple IPA , and pumps out a trifecta of them , all deserving a taste … if you could find them .

Big Time Brewery Whiny the Complainer

Seattle , WAAfter the aforementioned Russian River pulled dispersion in Washington , it left beer geeks in the Evergreen State grief - stricken with hop cone - sized holes in their hearts . In the prison term of need , a admirer rose : Seattle ’s Big Time Brewery stepped up to fill the void with its Whiny the Complainer , a three-fold IPA with just as much to complain about as the famed original . This beer is tapped just once a yr , in February ( around the same time of year that Pliny the Younger is released ) , and is a little dissimilar each year . The late released 2016 Whiny time of origin is full of pine notes and a little pineapple flavor from the hops , and finishes bad at 11.1 % ABV and 100 IBUs .

Fat Head’s Hop JuJu

Cleveland , OH and Portland , ORThis dual IPA has won the gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival twice ( 2013 & 2015 ) , a effort that should earn any beer a spot in chronicle . The Cleveland , OH - based Fat Head ’s has certainly cement its status as one of the good brewer of IPAs , from the as acclaimed individual IPA Head Hunter to the fabulously unique one - offs that brewer Mike Hunsaker is creating in the new Portland , OR brewpub , which finally delight the West Coast - influence Midwestern linchpin to hops country . Hop JuJu mix the good of hearty ' 90s hop-skip like Chinook and Cascade with trendy fresh variety like Simcoe and Citra for a plushy and juicy hop profile of citrous fruit , pine , and tropical fruit clocking in at a deceptively potable 9 % ABV and 100 IBUs .

Belching Beaver Pound Town

Vista , CADespite the kinda gross brewery name , Belching Beaver is quickly making a name for itself brew beer for beer eccentric person and beer novices alike , from the Peanut Butter Milk Stout that will leave you question what beer is to the current challenger to the uttermost hop peak : Pound Town triple IPA . With Pound Town , Belching Beaver is making a run for the current toilet of extreme three-fold IPA greatness , having unseated two - clip champ Melvin at the 2014 Alpha King Challenge . The 10.3 % ABV , 100 - IBU hops show window includes a massive 5.5 pound per gun barrel , and is loaded with all the new kids on the block like Mosaic , Citra , Amarillo , Nelson , and Simcoe . It ’s a beer you would n’t blank out , even if it did n’t have a nappy name .

Ezra Johnson - Greenough establish the New School Beer blog , and is the man behind Portland Beer Week , the Portland Fruit Beer Festival , and the Portland Farmhouse & Wild Ale Fest .