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!