The Style Section: New England IPAs

By Mike Loconto
Area Man Drinks Beer blog
Twitter: @Neighbeers

 Oh, hey there.  Where have you been?  You don’t write anymore.

 Right, that’s me.

 So yes, I’ve been on a bit of an extended hiatus after my big Boston Beer Week fundraiser with Matt Osgood from Review Brews to benefit Pints for Prostates (we raised over $400 for prostate cancer research and awareness and packed the house at Stoddard’s Pub with some of the best Massachusetts-brewed beer you can find). What can I say?  Life gets in the way.  Nevertheless, I’ve continued my “research” and am back now to start an occasional series about some notable New England beers in different styles.

 Why “notable” and not “best”?  Well, I find that “best of” lists tend to be repetitive and not very helpful – and in any case, why rank a good beer?  In my mind, there are two rankings for beer: good and bad.  Anyway, I’ve never claimed to be an expert – I simply like quality beer and I know when I find one.  So sometimes I might feature my favorites; other times, I might write about some interesting riffs on tradition. I’ll try to post more than once every six months, too.  Deal?

 Leading Off: IPAs - Not from India, Rarely Pale

With beer, styles can range across the spectrum on many levels: color, bitterness, viscosity, and so on. Each of these attributes contributes to classifying a brew within a relatively confined number of styles. A quick check of the Beer Advocate website reveals 104 different styles in its database – an admittedly evolving style guide, but helpful to differentiate between the beers you find on the market today.

 Granted, India Pale Ale hardly needs an introduction (and, in fact, probably suffer from no lack of hype either).  IPAs are the standard by which many consumers in the craft beer community choose to judge brewers.  Right or wrong, nearly every brewer makes an IPA, and countless “best of” lists tend to focus on those originating at West Coast Brewers like Stone, Ballast Point, Green Flash and Russian River as the forefront of the style. American IPAs are characterized by a bitterness owed to what, by traditional British standards, is an obscene amount of hops – both in volume and in variety.  This is the origin of the “West Coast style,” and differs significantly from the established East Coast IPAs like Harpoon and Sebago, which tend to be more balanced between hop and malt character.

 The West Coast approach has crept toward the Atlantic over time, and many IPAs made on the East Coast now feature an aggressive, hop forward approach similar to what you find along the I-5 corridor.  The Delaware-based Dogfish Head Brewery was one of the first to bring a West Coast style to eastern brewing over a decade ago, with the 60-Minute IPA (and its hopped-up 75-, 90- and 120-Minute IPA brethren).

 Even more recently, brewers have hacked the IPA code with a lagering process, resulting in a smooth and refined version of the style that has continued to show the wide expanse of possibilities for India Pale Ales.  Here are some of my favorite local IPAs, IPLs and double IPAs to seek out (and let me know what I missed in the comments).

 Single IPAs & IPLs: The Standards

 Maine Beer Company Lunch.  This is the New England IPA by which most others are judged today.  Lunch is a Yeti-like brew that makes scattered appearances across better bottle shops and bars in Boston.  Bittersweet and floral, Lunch has a creamy mouthfeel that sets it apart from many IPAs.  This is a desert island beer for hopheads, and was spotted as recently as last week at Streetcar Wines in Jamaica Plain.

 Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project Meadowlark.  Dann & Martha Paquette only brewed their first IPA on the six-year-old Pretty Things label last year, not out of any particular disdain for the style, but mostly because their portfolio and tastes trend toward Belgian and British styles.  A hop-forward American-style IPA simply wasn’t in the plans.  Nevertheless, the market wants what the market wants – and so they brewed up Meadowlark (named for the greatest Harlem Globetrotter of all time, mind you), a dry, citrusy beer that is just superb for a hot summer’s day. The latest batch hit tap lines and shelves last week.

 Jack’s Abby Brewing Hoponius Union.  A lager, Hoponius Union is the flagship brew for Framingham-based Jack’s Abby.  Clearer & crisper than its ale-based counterparts, Hoponius has a sweet finish that lingers over a dank nose.  Purity of Essence from High & Mighty Beer in Holyoke is a less hop-forward version of the IPL that is also worth seeking out.

Other Notables

Some other local brews to seek out include the Stowaway IPA from Baxter Brewing in Lewiston, Maine, and the Green Monsta IPA from Wachusett Beer in Westminster, Massachusetts.  Notably, both are canned – a growing trend.  I also love the Flagraiser IPA from Slumbrew in Somerville, and the Be Hoppy IPA from Wormtown in Worcester.

 For a twist, you can also take a wander across Fort Point Channel to Boston’s newest brewery, Trillium Brewing, and get a growler fill of Dry Stack, a Farmhouse/IPA hybrid brewed on Belgian yeast.  It’s freshly bottled at the source, with a dank nose and familiar grapefruit and pine in each sip and a dry finish. I had the first batch a few months ago, and the second batch (with a refined recipe) was released in late July.  I expect many more big things from these guys.

 In the large format, grab a champagne bottle of Oasis from Night Shift Brewing in Everett.  A moderate-strength beer at 5.3% ABV, Oasis is no ordinary IPA, with a crashing confluence of Cascade hops spiced with cardamom and coriander that provides an intensely flavorful canvas for a meal.  Though none was used in the brew, I picked up a candied ginger flavor, which makes this a great pairing for sushi.

 Sessionables

The limited-release Smuttynose Brewing Paradox is another intriguing beer, brewed with the experimental hop known by some as #02120, and to others simply as the “lemon drop hop.”  Even Chris Lohring at Notch Brewing has gotten in on the fun with Left of the Dial, a session-strength IPA named for a Replacements song (and, in my opinion, superior to the All-Day IPA from Michigan’s Founders Brewing Co., the session IPA standard bearer in an emerging niche).  But don’t call it a session beer - it’s simply brewed at a strength similar to its British cousins.  Floral aroma hops give way to an easy drinking beer, balanced on biscuit malts with a bittersweet finish.  I predict we’ll have a drink.

 Double IPAs & IPLs: The Standards

 Jack’s Abby Brewing Kiwi Rising.  Another lager, Kiwi Rising simply takes Hoponius to another level and, for my money, stacks up to world-renowned DIPAs like Russian River’s Pliny the Elder and the Stone “Enjoy By” series.  Pours a hazy orange, with a scent like fresh-cut grapefruit and some tangerine in the first sip.  Kiwi lacks the alcohol burn that finishes many other double IPAs, making this dangerous to drink without a partner to share the half-liter bottle.  Kiwi is a seasonal release that is currently not available, but seek out the 2nd Anniversary Lager – another smoothly deceptive big lager from Jack’s Abby (it was on tap at Porter Café in West Roxbury as recently as last week).

 The Alchemist Cannery’s Heady Topper.  “Drink it from the can!” advises the tall-boy from this Waterbury, Vermont brewer.  Widely renowned as one of the best beers in the world, Heady Topper is simply something to experience.  Even more exclusive than Maine Beer Co.’s Lunch, Heady is only available at the Cannery and a few select bars in Vermont, and typically sells out between twice-weekly releases.  Occasionally, those in the know (or brazen enough to ask) can find cans of Heady available locally in bars and bottle shops that have made a recent trek to Waterbury.  You won’t be disappointed – citrus and pine on the nose, impossibly smooth for a beer over 8% ABV, with a dry finish lacking in any lingering bitterness.

 New England Brewing Company’s Gandhi-Bot.  I’ve only experienced Gandhi-Bot’s passively resistant hops only once (see what I did there?).  It is another limited release beer, like many NEBCO offerings, but is worth seeking out from this Connecticut brewer.  Gandhi-Bot focuses nearly exclusively on a citrus bouquet, and is another in a line of superior craft beers leading the charge toward canning as the standard.

 Other Notables

 There has been considerable recent production in the local market for double IPAs, with some outstanding entries.  Wormtown Brewery in Worcester recently brewed it’s Birthday Brew #3, a spicy rye double IPA.  I have enjoyed Wormtown’s Hopulence as well.  Backlash Beer’s Salute is another superb entry that drew favorable comparisons to the standard bearer, Russian River’s Pliny the Elder, from Boston.com’s 99 Bottles blogger Gary Dzen.  Brewed as a “salute” to Boston Beer Co. founder Jim Koch for sharing excess hop inventory with Backlash and other small brewers, I found the beer to be appropriately dank, with an intriguing scent of fresh peaches on the nose and a mix of citrus and melon with each sip.  You should also seek out Catalyst, part of the Backlash Uprising! series of three beers that work from the same malt base as Salute but each emphasize a different hop in the mix.  Catalyst amps up the grapefruit flavor and aroma evident from the Amarillo hop. 

 Returning to the banks of the Mystic River, you should also seek out the current Night Shift specialty series, featuring Belgian IPAs brewed to feature a single hop varietal.  Citranation was first in the series, featuring the earthy, herbal citra hop.  On shelves now is Simcoenation, focusing on the pine & fruit notes of the simcoe hop.

 Further afield, Blue Lobster Brewing in Hampton, New Hampshire is doing special things.  I had a biere de garde brewed on grits on a recent visit, but the star of the show was a double IPA named “A Little Town Called Earth: Hampton Edition.”  Consistent with the Stone “Enjoy By” series, this beer is meant to be drunk fresh, which is good considering the only way to get Blue Lobster is to head up Route 1 and grab a growler (or resealable 750 mL bottle) at the source.  More recently, a neighbor brought me another Blue Lobster DIPL, “Excess is Not Rebellion: Columbus Edition.”  If nothing else, I enjoy the names.  Happy trails, Neighbeers.

 A Note on Upcoming Events

 As readers know, I typically don’t promote festivals because, in my view, they are simply exercises in sensory overload.  I prefer my beer on the couch after a long day or in the pub with a side of quiet conversation.  But hey, I’m not everyone.  And so, since I am a locally-focused blog, I do want to draw your attention to the Massachusetts Brewers Guild and the 4th Annual Mass Brewers’ Fest taking place at the World Trade Center in South Boston on Friday, August 30 from 6 to 9 p.m. with nearly three dozen brewers from across the Commonwealth.  Tickets are $35.   Support your local brewer.

We have a rich craft beer constituency in Boston, and I want to provide it with a voice and a forum through this blog.  Send me your thoughts, event postings and ideas for future stories or reviews at neighbeers at gmail dot com or through twitter @Neighbeers. You can find the archive at tinyurl.com/Neighbeers.  And comments below, good or bad, are always appreciated.