Ethan Prater

Today I attended the 12^th Annual IPA Festival at The Bistro, a little beer bar in Hayward, CA. This was my third year – maybe fourth – at this excellent event for lovers of a certain type of India Pale Ale.

The tasting list (scans inserted below; click to see full size) included a mind-boggling sixty-two beers. But unfortunately at least ten “hadn’t arrived yet” as of two hours into the event. And even more unfortunately, five of those were included in the seventeen I wanted to try (marked with a “+” on my tasting list). So I tasted an even dozen IPAs.

Although The Bistro’s IPA Festival is second probably only to the Great American Beer Festival in the number of India Pale Ales under one roof, the lineup does not try to give an overview of this beer style in general. The beers here are almost exclusively from California, and almost exclusively brewed in the West Coast style popularized by breweries like Stone in Southern California and Bear Republic up north. These are dominated by citrus-y American hop varieties, tending more toward a fruitiness than the grainy spiciness of the India Pale Ale style invented in England.

This “American IPA” sub-style is probably my favorite type of beer. The good news is that California brewers have really dialed this style in – these days it’s hard to find an outright bad one anywhere. On the other hand, even hardcore proponents would probably admit that there’s not much stylistic variation among California IPAs. So even though I focused on beers that were new to the scene or more obscure than most, they were more similar than they were different.

The twelve beers I tried, in alphabetical order by brewery name:

• 21^st Amendment “US IPA” (6/10): I’m not sure if this is the “Brew Free or Die” IPA that 21A started contract brewing and canning in Minnesota, but it did remind me of that beer, which tastes like a lighter, dare I say “dumbed down” version of the 21A IPA that used to be canned at the brewpub in San Francisco.
• Ale Industries “Rye’d Piper” (3.5/10): I’ve not heard of this brewery, apparently in Concord, but I love the character of rye in beer. This one tasted crude, like the ingredients weren’t integrated. I didn’t finish my taste.
  
• Bear Republic “Apex IPA” (7/10): Bear Republic’s Racer 5 IPA put this style on the map, and it’s still probably my single favorite go-to beer of any style. Apex is leaner, more aggressive. Excellent, but I like more malt sweetness than the brewer is going for here. The slight burn usually indicates Simcoe hops to me, but the tasting notes mention only the standby “C hops” (Cascade, Centennial, Chinook, Columbus) common to most American IPAs.
  
• The Bruery “Humulus Lager” (NR): The Bruery – in my brother-in-law’s hometown of Orange, CA – has been establishing itself as a specialist in Belgian styles. Certainly the hardcore American hop bill (see tasting list) takes this one away from Belgium, but a lager? I love lagers, including (especially) the IPA-like Reality Czech from Moonlight, but this one didn’t do it for me. It was ruined by a skunky smell – perhaps lightstruck in the pitcher that The Bistro was using in between keg and glass? So I’m guessing it was flawed and not what the brewer intended (otherwise I would give it a 5/10).
  
• Drake’s “Aroma Coma” (8.5/10): My favorite beer of the day, though not the best, if that makes sense. Tons of citrus all over, but very well integrated – many of these super-dry-hopped beers give it all up on the nose and forget to follow through with the flavor. A really nice, complete beer.
  
• Drake’s “Bass Ackwards” (7.5/10): Another great showing. This one was a little edgier than the Aroma Coma, with that throat-burning that comes from Simcoe hops.
  
• Fifty Fifty “Rye PA” (NR) and “Rockslide IPA” (NR): I think this brewery in Truckee won an award at a recent Bistro festival – maybe the Double IPA? So I was extra-excited to see they brought a rye beer today. But I’m convinced these two beers were mixed up. The beer labeled “Rye PA” was a very clear light yellow, almost like a macro-lager, and had no rye character – also a little thin in the texture. The beer labeled “Rockslide IPA” was a murky dark brown, some reddish highlights, tasted like it needed to settle a bit. Several other seemingly-knowledgeable attendees commented independently that they also thought these were mislabeled.  [Update: both Alan, the brewer of these beers, and Vic, the festival organizer and Bistro's proprietor, have confirmed in comments below the beers were correctly labeled and were being poured correctly. I stand by my perceptions of the beers, but we can assume they were not mixed up as I and several others thought.]
• Firehouse “Hops on Rye” (4/10): Another rye beer – woo hoo! But another misfire. The rough-edged character of a poor homebrew.
  
• Russian River Brewing “The Hopfather” (8.5/10): A new IPA by Vinnie Cilurzo, apparently based on an old recipe he contributed to Sam Calagione’s book Extreme Brewing. Just beautifully crafted – all hops all the time, but a light-medium mouthfeel that keeps it from being edgy, as if the malt is lending texture without too much flavor. The best beer I had, but not my favorite. Though I did go back for a second pour.
  
• Speakeasy “Midnight Run IBA” (6.5/10): I love the emerging style of “Black IPA”. Pioneered, I believe, by Stone with their stellar one-off Eleventh Anniversary Ale, now reincarnated as the regularly available Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale. One of my favorite beers ever – and I like almost nothing else from Stone. I also love the version brewed at 21^st Amendment in San Francisco. Now fellow SF brewery Speakeasy has one, presumably a new recipe by their new-ish brewer. Very very good, but just shy of great, at least with this small taste. I hope I can find this at Toronado, so I can spend some more time with a bigger pour.
  
• Triple Rock “Puffy Shirt” (7/10): Nice to find an American IPA that’s not just hops, hops, and hops. Seems like the brewers were going for something session-able. Still tons of character.
  

The five beers I wanted to try but couldn’t find:

• Auburn Ale House Gold Digger IPA
• Devil’s Canyon Devil Rye IPA
• EJ Phair Retro Fit
• Tied House Menage a Sing Black IPA
• Triple Rock IPAX IPA

Tip for those attending festivals at The Bistro: you can almost always get a table if you show up by 10:30. To my mind it makes for a more pleasant experience than standing in the crowd that shows up in the early afternoon.

Update: Jay Brooks, who writes the beer stories on local newspaper blog Bottoms Up and also his own excellent Brookston Beer Bulletin, has posted the winners of the formal judging here. After all my talk of California, a Cleveland brewery wins First Place!

• 1st Place: Head Hunter IPA (Fat Heads Brewery & Saloon)
• 2nd Place: Wipeout IPA (Port Brewing)
• 3rd Place: Aroma Coma (Drake’s Brewing)

• People’s Choice: The Hopfather (Russian River Brewing)

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