Double IPA's might not be as flashy or prestigious as they once were, but boy do we still love 'em!
There was a time when double IPA's were treated as the crown jewel of a breweries line-up; often brewed seasonally, often limited in quantity, and viewed as a flex, an extravagant pop of a wheelie. People would wait in lines, IRL, to get their hands on a bottle or two. They felt special, you felt like you were in on something cool.
Today, double IPA's have become much more commonplace, made almost mainstream popular by massive entities such as Stone, Bell's and Lagunitas. However even these brews retained a heightened perception of prestige, usually getting yearly releases that are massively popular to this day.
The proliferation of hazy IPA's, and more specifically the transition to some breweries hyper-focusing on producing weekly releases of new IPA's, mixing and matching hop profiles and malt bills in perpetuity, has also made the double IPA much more common. But there is still just something about the clean, somewhat malty and bitter behemoths that only come around so often. We're lucky enough to have three such double IPA's right now.
Monday Night, Royal Raptor
Monday Night has positioned themselves as a primary purveyor of what we like to call modern American IPA's: not hazy, but not particularly malty, not super bitter, but massively hoppy in aroma and flavor. And this one hits all of those targets perfectly. It's the clear IPA we could have never made it around to without going hazy first.
Good People, Snake Handler
In and around Birmingham, we know the truth: that Snake Handler is obviously one of the best classic double IPA's around, and we measure all others by its value. Caramel malt and Citra hops duke it out in a knock-down-drag-out bare knuckle brawl, and we are all the winners for experiencing it.
Stone, 27th Anniversary Lemon Shark
As one of the most steadfast and dedicated producers of massive hoppy beers in the world, and a stalwart of the old guard and old-school style of IPA's, it is impressive how they have continued to work the most cutting edge methods and hop products into their own insular production style. Bringing phantasm powder and obscure southern hemisphere hops into the fold somehow works perfectly, and once again Stone has knocked a double IPA out of the park.
NEW STUFF!
HOPS
- Good People: Snake Handler - Legendary double IPA
- Uproot: IPA - American IPA with juicy, citrusy hops and a pleasant piney bitterness
- Sloop: 8's Are Wild - Hazy double IPA
- Monday Night: Royal Raptor - Modern American imperial IPA
DARK
- Ommegang: All Hallows Treat - Imperial chocolate peanut butter stout
- Sierra Nevada: Narwhal - Legendary imperial stout
LIGHT
- Pipeworks: Cold Crispy Lime - Rice lager with lime
- Uproot: Todo Mal - Mexican style lager
- Sixpoint: Slice Sipper - Farmhouse ale with Mike's Hot Honey
- Ommegang: Metal Legion - Belgian dark lager with spices
SOUR
- Uproot: Nectar - Sour ale with passionfruit and guava
- Duclaw: Sour Me Oh Yeah! - Fruit punch sour ale
- Duclaw: Palomania - Paloma style gose with grapefruit, lime, salt and lactose
FOOD TRUCKS!
