I received some great responses to last week’s “10 historical IPAs” column, and a few readers filled in some tasty beers that I missed.
So I thought it would be both fun and informative to share some of the feedback along with a few of the beers that probably deserved equal attention to the ones I chose. I was thrilled that I received plenty of agreement with my choices and was also happy to get a good amount of suggestions about ones that escaped my recall.
Starting with “longtime reader, first-time writer” Keith Fuller, I was pleased to hear that Keith felt I hit the mark with most of my choices. Keith wrote:
“In your column, I think you hit the major ones that were well done back in the day. And I want to say that as much as I have enjoyed the NEIPAs for the past few years, they have (a) added substantial weight to my midsection (b) become a little same ol’ same ol’ (other than the ridiculously good standouts from Tree House, Hill Farmstead, Trillium and Back East, to name a few) and (c) sometimes lack the punch the West Coast IPA’s offer.”
I felt empathy for Keith on the “midsection” comment, as I also blame IPAs for my lack of a “six-pack” stomach. And I think he’s right about many of the NEIPAs: There are plenty of good ones, but they don’t seem to have the same zing that the great West Coast ones have.
Jerry Pfieffer wrote in to remind me of two excellent IPAs that I missed. He mentioned Victory Brewing in Pennsylvania, and although Victory has several IPAs, I will assume he meant the brewery’s first one, the delicion HopDevil. The other one was one I like but don’t think quite makes the top 10: Firestone Walker’s Union Jack. Both were great suggestions though.
Joe Wicht said he enjoyed reading about all the old great beers while he was “sitting at [renowned craft beer mecca] Toronado in San Francisco.” One beer he thought might have been included was Moylan’s Hopsickle. I think Joe does a perfect pour of a description for his love for the brew:
“This beer was the king of hoppiness and over-the-top caramel charm. A brewer introduced me to it in 2006 and I couldn’t drink any other beer for months. Of course, now, Hopsickle is deemed too ‘old-fashioned’ for the beer scene. But, oh, does the memory of that beer linger in my mind,” he wrote.
I mostly have to agree with reader Kevin Baca, who would have liked to see Stone Ruination, Pizza Port Swami’s IPA and Heady Topper on the list. But I had to limit myself to 10, and it was inevitable that some greats would miss the cut.
While I welcomed the differences of opinion, I must admit that the response that warmed my heart the most was from Jay Neely, who wrote in solely to affirm my choice of Pretty Things’ Meadowlark IPA as the best ever. Jay was hoping there might be something similar on the market, but I sadly had to inform him that I’ve yet to come across anything.
Let me know if any of you have found anything close. I’d love to find that Holy Grail.
Reach me at geolenker@yahoo.com.
Thanks to all who wrote in. Cheers.
