Top 5 India Pale Ales In The United States

Everywhere you look, someone has an opinion on craft beer. Is it "underground" enough. Is it made from local grains? Are they eco-friendly? Is the owner a member of PETA? Do they support a certain GOP candidate? ...and all this other crap I don't care about and, honestly, neither should you.

You know what makes a good IPA? IT'S GOOD. That's it.

Now, upon reading all of these trite and drastically different opinions on who makes the best IPA in America, I figured it wouldn't be too much dissonance if I threw my hat in the ring.

First off, what makes a beer officially an India Pale Ale? Most people wonder if it has to do with where the beer is brewed or where they get their hops. Neither is true at all. What makes an India Pale Ale an India Pale Ale is how long the fermentation and hopping process lasts. When pale ales would be brewed in India, they would ferment longer in their casks as they sailed through to England. So the alcohol by volume and International Bittering Units become much, much higher than usual.

Now, I have yet to be involved in the beer fermentation and bottling process as of yet, but I hope to someday soon rectify that. I also have yet to try every IPA there is out there because that would nearly be impossible, unless I sat on a tasting board of some kind. New ones are coming into popularity all the time and some will never be discovered. Hell, there could be an amazing one in someone's kitchen in the Ozarks, but you'll never hear about it.

Q: So, what are my qualifications then?

A: Well, I have been a bartender for over 10 years, have won multiple awards traveling around the US, managed and operated a bar in south Florida, and have been on TV demonstrating and speaking about my craft. Also, it's the only beer I really ever drink anymore. So there.

And... That brings us to my list. Enjoy.


5) Stone Brewing Company - Delicious IPA (Escondido, California)

There is no doubt in anyone's mind that has a mind for craft beer that Mitch Steele is easily one of the greatest Brewmasters in the world. Stone Brewing Comany has had an amazing run of beers, such as Arrogant Bastard Ale, Reason Be Damned Belgian, and Stochasticity Project, and they show absolutely no signs of slowing down. As opposed to their session India Pale Ale, the Go To IPA, the Delicious IPA sits at strong 7.7% ABV and is accompanied by a dominatingly sweet lemongrass flavor reminiscent of a lemon Starburst. Definitely one of their finest brews to date.


4) Two Brothers Brewing Company - Wobble IPA (Warrenville, IL)

Living in Gainesville, Florida the past few months, I have had a lot of really good beers. Sure, I have access to a lot of beers, but this was the one I would always end up grabbing whenevs I frequented Gator Liquor. This midwestern beauty is a perfect balance of citrus and pine with a bready malt and a heavy dose of hops. It has the same alcohol by volume as the rest of their year-round beers (6.3%), but based on it's complex-yet-simple combination it blows them all out of the water. Hands down.


3) Ballast Point - Grapefruit Sculpin (San Diego, California)

This remarkable take on one of the most popular IPA's ever first peaked its head in 2012 and has been widely regarded by many of the beer aficionados I know as superior to the original. Don't get me wrong, the original Sculpin (named for the fish with poisonous spikes that pack a strong sting) is incredible. In fact, both of these fine India Pale Ales sit at 7.0% alcohol by volume, meaning they both pack a good kick. But with a hint of apricot, peach, mango, & lemon, this beer takes the crown. From what I hear, Ballast has a bunch of different Sculpins that they don't distribute all around the country, but I have yet to try them. One day, maybe.


2) Bell's Brewery - Two Hearted Ale (Kalamazoo, Michigan)

This is where we get to the really good stuff. Sure, the other three on this list are amazing in their own right, but I have a very clear understanding of where numbers one and two both sit. I always introduce my friends to this beer as my second favorite beer because it is. IPA's are easily my favorite, as I have well-stated, so this one honestly is just that. It's not heavier than the others (7.0% ABV); in fact, it's smoother. A lot of this comes from it being hopped exclusively with the Centennial hop varietal of the Pacific Northwest. Whether in a can, bottle, or on draft, this magnificent blend of malt, Centennial hops, and Bell's unmistakable house yeast, this bad boy will win even the strictest beer drinker's palate over.


1) Surly Brewing Company - Furious (Minneapolis, Minnesota)

I absolutely love this beer. Obviously. I am fairly certain I just summarized that it is the greatest beer in North America, perhaps the world. Sure, that's a lot of hype and I completely realize that. But it is so good, that it has been kept in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area for so long because of the demand for it was so high that they could not even get it out of the city limits. Thankfully, they built a new restaurant/brewery that can accommodate the demand and bestow the surplus of this insanely good beer to the neighboring states. And sure, I hear the remarks about this being the same city that Summit and Grain Belt come from, but let's also remember that this is a town built on craft everything. About the Surly Furious though, it's creamy, amber body gives way to a chewy caramel Scottish malt backbone combined with American hops that is to die for. It is true American IPA that sits at 6.2% ABV and will never let you down. Will we be able to get it in say Florida? Only time will tell. But it's worth a trip to Minnesota to buy.



Again, this is just my opinion. Don't like it? Make your own favorite Top 5 like I did. However, I strongly suggest that you try these fantastic beers if you have not already.

The Rowdy Roddy Piper (R.I.P.) & Stone Cold Steve Austin Feud Of Summer 2015

I had a different Blog ready for publishing, but I felt the need to weigh in on this subject because of how recently all of this happened these past 48 hours.

Two days ago, on Friday July 31st 2015, Roderick George Toombs (known to the world as WWE Legend "Rowdy Roddy Piper") passed away. 

I won't go on and on about how big of a fan I am of "Hot Rod", but I will just say he was one of the most influential pro wrestlers of all time. His aptly named "Pipers Pit" was a maelstrom of interviews with whichever current superstar in the company needed to be put over, under the radar jokes and ribs from backstage, and bits that looked like works designed as shoots (that's all in wrestler's lingo too). On this groundbreaking segment every week, Piper would bring on all sorts of different guests and berate them until the end when both the guest looked great and he was more hated. The most famous of all the Pipers Pit, hands down, is the segment with Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka where he threw a banana at him, made fun of his heritage, and smashed a coconut on his head. Classic.

In fact, some of the greatest bits and hits of WWE (which was called WWF back then, as I knew it) belonged to Roddy Piper. He had so many great moments in and out of the ring. Feuding in what seemed like real-life heat between himself and Mr. T, kicking Cindy Lauper in the head at Madison Square Garden, or spraying Morton Downey with a fire extinguisher gave him some of the most memorable Wrestlemania moments as well. 

He was one of the few faces that WWE produced that became marketable in Hollywood too. Teaming up with legendary filmmaker John Carpenter, they broke the mold in 1987 with one of my favorite films of all-time, the cult-classic masterpiece known as "They Live".
 

Needless to say, despite a very rough childhood and growing up in the wrestling biz, he accomplished more than anyone given the hand he was dealt could ever have asked for. I won't get into all that, but he lived a very harrowing life. If you're interested, I encourage you to look it up this great man's colored past.

I suppose a few years ago, Roddy resurrected his acclaimed interview segment as a podcast on the award-winning website, and home to many other podcasts, Podcast One. I had been wondering why Roddy had not posted any new podcasts for like the whole month of June because I was obviously a big fan. Then, he suddenly popped back up a few weeks later with less than flattering to say about none other than the rattlesnake, former WWE star Stone Cold Steve Austin getting him fired from his own podcast. Outraged, Piper returned in his show on Episode 63 - July 6th 2015 in an emotionally charged rant raging, "Who the fuck do you think you're playing with?!"

Now, to be fair, I listened to that specific show when it first came out because I was ecstatic Hot Rod was back and confused as to why he was taken down in the first place. When I heard him accuse Stone Cold of such a thing, it peaked my interest because I had been following both podcasts religiously. The episode that had landed him in so much hot water continued and Will Sasso did his best Stone Cold Steve Austin impression. His "Stone Cold" was asked why he didn't show up to Wrestlemania and why he quits so much, as well as other things, but nothing that would illustrate in my mind any malice or slander in any sorta way.

A few days later, Austin released his latest podcast (episode 235) addressing the situation firsthand. He stated, in short, that Roddy was called into the Podcast One office after Austin had made a slight remark about it to the Podcast One owner. When Roddy was called into the office, he already had plans to quit because he had been threatened with being fired for the episode over the phone by the president of Podcast One.

Hot Rod then moved his podcast to Soundcloud. He did two more shows and that was it before he died last Friday.

I don't want to lean any way on this; I'm just telling you the facts as they were presented before me. Overhearing a few people demonize Stone Cold Steve Austin for "getting Rowdy Roddy Piper fired" though has made me feel it was for me to get both sides of the argument and present them forth. By all means, go download or stream the episodes for yourself. But I feel like it was something that could've easily been avoided if it hadn't of been trumped up so high by Podcast One. I don't think anyone did anything wrong on either side, as this is a business based on ridiculous antics. I love both of these Legends and I just hope they buried the hatchet before all was said and done. But that's my modest opinion about it.

Either way, we lost one of America's most beloved entertainers yesterday and I am so happy to see so many people feel the same way. Godspeed, Rowdy Roddy Piper.

You can find both Pipers Pit and The Steve Austin Show for free on iTunes.