By The Steward

        If there is any lesson to be learned from the showdowns taking place in the IPA Challenge, it is the many splendored faces of great IPAs. The diversity of flavor, balance, finish and overall taste of the IPAs in this contest is enormous. I have my favorites, for sure, and many have lost. But the judges are without the knowledge I possess; and they have done a superb job in evaluating each mano a mano showdown and choosing the better IPA. At times it has been unanimous and apparently easy. Other times it has been a tussle, with the majority ruling. But most importantly, it has been an education as to how much diversity there is in a style. And that, of course, is what this movement is all about, diversity of flavor.
        So as we head to the fourth round, with eight mighty IPAs still in the running, let’s celebrate the reason we love all these beers, and the breweries that produce them. A style has been captured from the past and given a new, American face. And that is the face of creativity and daring. Of brewers having an idea and putting it forth in liquid form, and of beer lovers signaling their appreciation for that idea by continuing to sample the goods. Here’s to the IPA, a beer we can proudly hail as a quintessential example of the founding ideals from which our country was borne.

by the Steward
Sunday, March 1, 2009 – “In that way it resembles the basketball championships,” said one of the judges, a well-traveled IPA geek based in Detroit, Michigan. “Small teams can come out of nowhere and beat the big names.”
Big names indeed. The results of the 2nd round of the National IPA Championships had just been announced and the last of the Final Four from 2008 had succumbed, leaving the field open to others to make their name in the quest for the best IPA of 2009. Along with the fall of that last FF2008 contestant, Bell’s Two-Hearted Ale, went the rest of Michigan’s entries. This in a judging that took place on their home turf, replete with Michigan-based judges. Crooked Tree, Centennial, Mad Hatter, this was the year of the upsets.
But don’t tell that to the beers that advanced. Coming from all around the country, these beers have bested some of the best in head to head competition. And they’ve done it with a superb combination of water, yeast, malt and hops. Especially the hops.
There are some big battles looming. Clipper City’s Loose Cannon, a stellar example of aromatic and tasty hops buttressed by a mean dose of bitterness goes against the giant killer, Big Dog’s Hop Harvest Ale, which knocked off last year’s champ. If there is a dark horse to go all the way, Hop Harvest is probably that beer.
Another new entry, Laurelwood’s Workhorse IPA, is also a monstrously good beer and likely to battle its way to the final. And don’t count out Marin and Moylan’s IPAs, both stellar examples of bitterness, balance and flavor. Last year both of those beers got knocked out in the first round but this year they have roared back to show their cone-jones.
I don’t mean to dis any of the unmentioned contestants, but this brings up a good point. As a person who travels the country tasting great beers (especially IPAs, my beer of choice), I haven’t sample all of the contestants so don’t know how to glorify them. The competition has been a great way to learn about new beers. Who would have thought Montana would produce such a giant as Big Sky’s IPA? And two beers from Kansas in the Sweet Sixteen? They’re not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy!
While it would be easy to question the results from even this group of stellar hophead judges, it’s smarter yet to discover that there are brewers in places beyond California, Oregon and Michigan brewing kick-ass beers and taking no names. This competition reminds me of the need to travel and taste, and to continue to learn about the beers and the brewers behind them all over the U.S.
So onward to the Sweet Sixteen round, to be held this weekend in Philadelphia. Let the better IPA advance and let us open our taste buds to the sweet taste of hops.

by the Steward
        I expect upsets in the National IPA Challenge; it’s part of what makes it fun. But three of last year’s Final Four beers gone after the first round? Time to rewrite the playbook!
        The judging procedure is the same as last year. Two beers (alpha and beta) are brought to a three panel judging group by yours truly. While I retreat to organize for the next presentation, the judges sip and savor, and debate and determine which is the better IPA of the two.         Most of the decisions are unanimous, with about 20% garnering a split decision.
        One Final Four overturn wasn’t a surprise at all. In addition to Cambridge House’s entry being brewed by a different brewer (not the hop-famed Steve Schmidt), the beer never showed up to compete. The new brewer had been sacked, the owners couldn’t find any beer (despite entering), the hop opera went on and on despite our repeated attempts to wrench a six-pack out of them. Case dismissed, a forfeit.
        The second Final Four beer to fall, Ithaca’s Flower Power, was a shocker. It’s simply a superb beer. But not as good as Big Sky’s IPA determined the judges (in a split decision). Big Sky’s entry must have been reformulated somewhat since last year, as a taste of the remainder in the first bottle after the judging indicated a superbly balanced, hop-driven beauty. This one is sure to continue bedazzling judges.
        The biggest shocker of the first round, of course, was the loss of Green Flash’s West Coast IPA. An amazingly flavorful beer, it went all the way to the championship round last year, and won it. But Big Dog’s Hop Harvest Ale bested the champ and was the judges’ pick. Look out for this giant killer, which is running on all its cylindro-cones.
        The only Final Four beer from last year to go through was Bell’s Two-Hearted Ale, an IPA with so many awards around its neck that it resembles one of those brewers who wins the small brewery of the year award at the GABF. Two-Hearted is an easy pick to go all the way, having only lost in the final last year. It’s a hall of fame beer.
        Of course this is part of the beauty of the event. Inevitably, some big name beers will go through-they have developed that reputation deservedly. But there are also lesser well know beers that are just as good, and this is a great forum for those to show their stuff to a wider audience. What the contest also reveals is the high level of prowess that U.S. brewers possess.
        The road to the Final Four is paved with strong competitors. Many of the beers that advanced are superb samples of the style and can wow the judges until harvest time. I should have known this, given how much care the brewers took with their entries. Each bottle came wrapped once, sometimes twice, in bubble wrap, then cushioned again. It felt almost sacrilegious at times, taking the wrapping off after so much care had been put into sending it off on a safe journey.
        But the contestants are happy now, kept in the cool and dark until the next round, this weekend. Judges have been found, hopheads who will use their palates to choose a winner and send it on. Let the games continue.

By The Steward
        February 15, 2009 – It’s deadline day and I carefully remove the bottles that have just arrived from their bubble wrap and place them in the refrigerator. Excitement builds; it’s like I’m in the locker room of a professional sports team. Names like Titan, Racer 5, and Hops Explosion float through my mind. Other names—West Coast, Two-Hearted, Flower Power—don’t sound as mighty, but they were three of the Final Four beers last year. They got game.
        Then there are the unknowns waiting in the wings until game time, possible giant killers. Last year’s other Final Four beer, #7138 from Cambridge House, was an unknown, knocking off favorites like Hop Devil and Crooked Tree. And in the end, only losing to the champion.
        Last year’s champion was Green Flash’s West Coast IPA—what a monstrously good, hop-filled beer it is. With balance and poise to boot. Because this is not just a competition for the most hops; the judges like balance and flavor in their IPAs.
        I return to the task at hand—storing the IPAs while placing one of each aside for the first round on February 22. The competition is a head to head taste-off of 64 IPAs, all 7.5% ABV or lower. It isn’t a particularly fan friendly event as judges like their privacy; it helps their concentration.
        The second annual IPA championship is being done a little differently than the first. We learn each time we run a competition. This year each three-person judging panel will have a west coast representative. The west is after all, where hops are grown. There is also a woman on each panel; all hop heads of course. And as always, each panel contains at least one brewer. Last year’s judging also indicated the essentiality of having judges who travel widely to sample good beer; this is the most important qualification in many respects. That, and a love of hops.
        The locker room scenario filters back into my head as I stand over the giant freezer turned refrigerator. The beers are kept at 34 degrees F until game day. Each six-pack reminds me of another giant ball player, seeing him up close before game time. Or is it her? Hops are female, after all.
        Most of the beers arrived just before the deadline, slipping in with the freshest hop flavor possible. That thought gets me salivating. And the unexpected genius of it all! I mean, someone has to drink the beers that don’t advance, right? No wonder everyone is acting so nicely around me. Help will be needed.
        But for now, it’s on with the show. Let the better IPA advance.

Stay tuned for insider analysis! If you have not made your picks for the NIPAC competition yet, click the link in the side bar. Go to the Locker Room to read up on all the IPAs in this year’s competition…all 64 of them!