Good IPA's?

[srjclone]

It's a shadow of what it once was. Gone is the malty backbone and gone are the aggressive, piney hops. Surly is definitely positioning themselves to be a much more consumer friendly brewery. Or in other words, everything they set out NOT to be. I can't blame them though, you can't grow your market share brewing beer only a small faction of people are interested in.

I have a co-worker whose son is a chef there. The internal turmoil that ensued when they made the conscious decision to go more "commercial/consumer friendly" was pretty impressive. The different personalities and mindset really showed. Todd the axeman up and left because of it. It is still a great spot and has good beer, just not what it once was.

 

[CloniesForLife]

I have a co-worker whose son is a chef there. The internal turmoil that ensued when they made the conscious decision to go more "commercial/consumer friendly" was pretty impressive. The different personalities and mindset really showed. Todd the axeman up and left because of it. It is still a great spot and has good beer, just not what it once was.

Yeah I don't go to Surly much anymore. Beer is still good and food is good but it's always so packed. It's where everyone brings people who come from out of town. There's so many other options that I rarely feel like venturing there

 

[Nader_uggghhh]

A few years back, I had a Pompeii bomber hidden in the crisper drawer of a beee fridge. Was in there at least 6 months and was still pretty good.

For me it's not that they get bad, they just lose hop character and gain malt character. I've written off a lot of good beers as bad because of their age. Because of that, I almost only buy beers with a packaged on date.

Cheers.

 

[Cybyassociation]

I have a co-worker whose son is a chef there. The internal turmoil that ensued when they made the conscious decision to go more "commercial/consumer friendly" was pretty impressive. The different personalities and mindset really showed. Todd the axeman up and left because of it. It is still a great spot and has good beer, just not what it once was.

Couldn't agree more. The brewers who left (Todd, Splinter, whoever else went with Splinter to Barrel Theory), are all doing great things. Todd wanted to do non-traditional stuff, Three Floyd's is the perfect place for that. The guys at Barrel Theory are absolutely crushing it and I think Surly made a terrible decision to watch those guys leave. I don't think BT will ever eclipse Surly in terms of volume sold, but they shot ahead of Surly in terms of flavors and "quality". I don't want to use the word quality because I guarantee Surly's consistency from batch to batch is absolutely on point, but from a standpoint of ingredients, I believe BT has the edge.

Don't get me wrong, I still drink Surly and especially Todd every chance I can get. Outside of their core beers though, I don't think they've done much to get me excited. They've done a lot of things to attract the average beer drinking...which is the exact opposite of what Surly always was.

 

[dmclone]

I remember not that long ago before we had it in Iowa filling the trunk up with Surly while in MN. Now, besides Todd, I usually just pass on by. With that said, I did have one the other day called Grindcore that is a pretty good sweet stout if you like coffee.

I just looked and I've had 32 different Surly beers in the last 5 years.

 

[Nader_uggghhh]

Surly was one of the first breweries I found that was consistent across the board. I had their pineapple milkshake ipa a couple weeks ago and it was probably the most mediocre beer I've ever had from them.

Sucks about Todd, but it's still a cool place. Not a ton of places with a better beer/food combo. Like others, l still buy Coffee Bender and Todd the Axeman pretty often.

 

[Macloney]

Beer. As others have said, the ambiance is fine, but not unique.

I actually think Dangerous Man is pretty overrated, on both fronts. Steel Toe makes really good beer, IMO, but have a "meh" tap room.

Agree on Steel Toe. The most fun I've had there was around Christmas and they had us on picnic tables in the back with the tanks. Good times.

 

[Al_4_State]

For me it's not that they get bad, they just lose hop character and gain malt character. I've written off a lot of good beers as bad because of their age. Because of that, I almost only buy beers with a packaged on date.

Cheers.

That’s what I mean by “bad”.

That ancient Pompeii bomber still had a really prominent hop character and didn’t taste like a bitter amber, the way old IPAs often do

 

[inCyteful]

One of the best beers I have ever had. Over and over and over....

Be careful, it will kick your a__

 

[Nader_uggghhh]

That’s what I mean by “bad”.

That ancient Pompeii bomber still had a really prominent hop character and didn’t taste like a bitter amber, the way old IPAs often do

That's awesome. TG used to hand cap all of their bombers and were good to a solid 90 days. Idk if they still do that, but it still stays good longer than any other beer I've found. Not sure if it's dry hopping or packaging skill.

 

[ISU4Life]

Not sure how available these are in the DSM area, but some minnesota IPAs I like:
Hooey - Lupulin Brewing
Mirror Universe - Fair State
Fulton 300 - Fulton
Sky-Five - Bauhaus
Flavorwave IPA - Indeed

Fair State puts out some good stuff, love Mirror Universe and that I can get it here in Des Moines.

 

[BCoffClone125]

Some of my personal "flagship" IPA's that I can never have enough of in my beer fridge:

FS&M/Psuedo Sue/Pompie/X-hops by Toppling Goliath. Basically any IPA from here is going to be good and they all bring a little something different to the table
Two Hearted Ale - Bells
Fresh Squeezed IPA - Deschutes
All Day IPA - Founders
Todd the Axe Man - Surly
Enjoy By IPA - Stone
90 Minute IPA - Dogfish Head

I personally didn't get into IPA's much until after college. When I actually had a few more bucks to throw at adult beverages, one of the guys at my local HyVee liqour store recommended some bombers of Stone IPA's. I've been hooked on them ever since.

 

[1100011CS]

Some of my personal "flagship" IPA's that I can never have enough of in my beer fridge:

FS&M/Psuedo Sue/Pompie/X-hops by Toppling Goliath. Basically any IPA from here is going to be good and they all bring a little something different to the table
Two Hearted Ale - Bells
Fresh Squeezed IPA - Deschutes
All Day IPA - Founders
Todd the Axe Man - Surly
Enjoy By IPA - Stone
90 Minute IPA - Dogfish Head

I personally didn't get into IPA's much until after college. When I actually had a few more bucks to throw at adult beverages, one of the guys at my local HyVee liqour store recommended some bombers of Stone IPA's. I've been hooked on them ever since.

Stone bombers is how I got hooked. Mostly because of the cool artwork: )

 

[ZJohnson]

I had a September Pompeii on Thursday, and it was delicious.

If they stay cold you can go way over two months, IMO

Generally the higher the lb/bbl rate the quicker they go, but of course there are exceptions. The top rated breweries are the exception for a reason. Just drank a Bad Boy Wally(11.2%) from Wren House in Phoenix that was canned 11/28 and it has fallen off drastically and become very astringent on the back end. They are the best IPA brewer in PHX and a 4.3 on Untappd, but even they have issue holding past a few months. Had an Adios Ghost(10.2%) canned Nov. 12th-ish from Monkish last week and it was still as good as the one I drank around Thanksgiving.

It's a constant battle in the beer trading game as people don't want most IPA's over a month old.

 

[ZJohnson]

Tried some Iowa IPA's over break, they're getting better. If you can get "Breakside" or "Sticky Hands" from Oregon, you'll see what the fuss over Oregon IPA's is all about. (Oregon State University actually offers a Fermentation Sciences minor which I credit for the IPA quality in the state.) Breakside won "Brewery of the Year" in 2018 and a Silver Medal in the N. American IPA category.

It's not 2010. As soon as the national craft beer scene exploded and everyone outside of the PNW was able to get their hands on your hops you denounced you reign as IPA king. Of course breweries in WA/OR are still great, but to say that we have to try your beers in order to understand a "true" IPA is like saying I need to go back to my Blackberry because it has BBM.

--Also, Breakside over Great Notion for a Portland brewery??? Really??

 

[ZJohnson]

Barrel Theory is the best brewery in the Twin Cities

Agreed. Surly lost so many good people after they screwed over Axe Man's wife.

 

[ZJohnson]

This thread reminded me to look back at my Untappd rankings for some beers that need to make their way back into the fridge/growler. A few that I haven't seen listed:

Thomas Beck Black IPA - Confluence
Fresh Haze - Deschutes
Runoff Red IPA - Odell
Tangerine Express IPA - Stone
Melancholy Black IPA - ShinyTop (Fort Dodge)

Was one of my favorite Reds ever. Unfortunately no longer in production.

 

[Al_4_State]

Agreed. Surly lost so many good people after they screwed over Axe Man's wife.

That didn't help, but I think the Surly diaspora had as much to do with the ownership's desire to make different styles of beer.

The parallels between Surly and TG are eerie. Or maybe predictable.

 

[DeVry Cy]

Was one of my favorite Reds ever. Unfortunately no longer in production.

Bummer... #ReviveRunoffRed

 

[shay4cy]

I'm a bit late to the conversation... I'm a huge IPA fan and have had the luxury to try over a 1000 different ones. I also brew my own and based on a few comments in this thread, it's obvious a few others do as well.

A lot of great IPAs have been mentioned, however, in my opinion, Tree House Brewing Company (MA) easily makes the best IPAs. The originals and variations of King Julius, Julius, Very Hazy, Very Green, Juice Machine, and Doubleganger are all outstanding. These beers are all rated among the best in the world.

Pliny the Younger from Russian River (CA), Headroom from Trillium (MA), and Heady Topper from The Alchemist (VT) are also among the best.

Unfortunately, these beers are not available via retail channels in the midwest. I'm lucky to know people who ship/trade these beers for ones we have access to in the midwest (primarily TG IPAs and Stouts) that they cannot easily get.

Also, MyBeerCollectibles.com is a good place to buy/sell. Of course, these beers are expensive due to their rarity and high demand, but if you are into trying some of the best the site can be an option.

Cheers!