Tournament of Washington IPAs: Round One April 17: For the past week Peaks and Pints presented you with a compelling question: Who makes the best India Pale Ale in Washington state? And you have responded in multitudes. Sick days have been used. Friendships have fallen apart. Maltsters and hop growers living together — mass hysteria!
The Tournament of Beer: Washington State IPAs hosts competitions Monday through Friday up to the championship game Saturday, April 29 live at Peaks and Pints bottle shop, taproom and restaurant in Tacoma’s Proctor District. Without further ado, let’s take a gander at today’s games. Eight new Washington state IPAs go at it. It’s in your hands, mouth and stomach, folks. Do us proud.
OK, pour a pint and dive into today’s First Round IPA battles. Vote for one IPA per game. Voting for today’s IPA battles ends at 11:45 p.m. today.
Monday, April 17, First Round Washington IPA Games
GAME 1, SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON REGION
Player: Transcend IPA (#5 seed)
Team: Heathen Brewing
Player Stats: Heathen Brewing has a lot going on. It’s Mega Dank IPA drops on April 20 and pre-hype says, “It’s going to be lit.” And the Vancouver brewery is pushing it hard. Last December, co-founder Rodney Stryker left Heathen, the brewery he built with Sunny Parsons. While a great loss, Parsons isn’t worried as Heathen lead brewers Mike Scott and Nate Froehlich have been part of the team for quite some time, working on everything from recipe formulation to the bulk of the actual brewing. If you’re drinking a Heathen beer today, it is very likely this duo made it. But, this isn’t the Tournament of Lead Brewers, it’s about Washington state IPAs, and Heathen’s silky smooth Transcend IPA is bright, bold and bursting with citrus and grapefruit aroma. Simcoe, Citra and Warrior hops bring pine resin and floral scents to the game, with a balanced finish of peach, citrus, acid and bawdy bitterness.
ABV: 6.7% IBU: 55 Hops: Simcoe, Citra, Warrior
Player: Moving Day IPA (#12 seed)
Team: Wet Coast Brewing Company
Player Stats: West Pierce Fire and Rescue firefighters Bryan Copeland and Aaron Johnson are the brewers and co-owners behind the business, along with their wives Molly Copeland and April Johnson. They started planning their brewery for years, but didn’t get serious until 2012. They opened Wet Coast Brewing Company in Gig Harbor in 2015 on a 3.5-barrel brewing system, with three 7-barrel bright tanks and four 7-barrel fermenters. They are passionate about their beers, including their popular, year-round Moving Day IPA. It’s packed with resinous, citrus and tropical flavors and aromas thanks to four different hop varieties. They nailed it with the Munich and Crystal malt bill — it’s well balanced and smooth. The smooth Transcend meets the smooth Moving Day for what Tournament of Beer analysts are calling the George “Iceman” Gervin vs. Walt “Clyde” Frazier modern IPA battle of the tournament.
ABV: 6.2% IBU: 68 Hops: N/A
SCROLL DOWN TO VOTE………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………………
GAME 2, SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON REGION
Player: Rude Parrot IPA (#4 seed)
Team: 7 Seas Brewing
Player Stats: 7 Seas Brewing’s founders Mike Runion and Travis Guterson were surprised the public seeded their Ballz Deep Double IPA higher than the Rude Parrot IPA. Yes, Ballz Deep is massive and extremely well balanced, as well as fun to pronounce, but Rude Parrot, arguably the state’s first canned craft beer, is an all-around player. The floral, tropical fruit and pine are subtle. It’s clean. It’s aggressively hops yet well balanced. It’s the Tom Hanks of IPAs. Rude Parrot might squawk, but it always uses words such as “kooky” and “holy smokes.”
ABV: 5.9% IBU: 75 Hops: Simcoe, Citra
Player: Ace IPA (#13 seed)
Team: Wingman Brewers
Player Stats: We’re certain as much as 7 Seas doesn’t want to rehash their first-year brewery fire Ken Thoburn, co-founder and head brewer of Wingman Brewers, doesn’t want to explain the brewery’s name for the millionth time. He doesn’t have to; that’s our job. Thoburn, Derrick Moyer, Daniel Heath and Jason Sabol launched Wingman Brewers as a nano-brewery in April 2011. The brewery’s name and image is homage to Thoburn’s grandfather, an artist who served in World War II in the Pacific, and painted the sides of fighter planes when he could. In 2012, they moved their one-barrel system to their current location at 509 ½ Puyallup Avenue, adding a taproom. Their Ace IPA is one of many aviation-themed named craft beers produced by the Tacoma brewery. Yes, Ace “drops a hop bomb of flavor,” specifically grapefruit, a little grass and pine, and a lot of bitterness. Wingman is just across Pacific Avenue and down the street from 7 Seas Brewing. Expect news crews on the street.
AVB: 7.1% IBU: 83 Hops: Simcoe, Citra, Centennial Cascade, Bravo
SCROLL DOWN TO VOTE………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………………………………
GAME 3, KING COUNTY REGION
Player: Trickster IPA (#7 seed)
Team: Black Raven Brewing Co.
Player Stats: From Redmond, Black Raven Brewing comes this well-balanced IPA with a deep chewy malt character obtained from copious amounts of ESB, Munich and Crystal combined with a blast of Chinook, Magnum, Simcoe, Amarillo and Cascade hops. Basically, Black Raven brewed a craft beer that has an elevated grain bill and an elevated hop bill, executed perfectly so you have an elevated beer. This seventh seed IPA brings light fruit, citrus and piney hop aroma with a full hop flavor to the game.
ABV: 6.9% IBU: 70 Hops: Chinook, Magnum, Simcoe, Amarillo, Cascade
Player: Hopruption Double IPA (#10 seed)
Team: Sumerian Brewing Company
Player Stats: If you load up a double IPA with Cascade and Centennial hops, dry hop it twice with Citra and Mosaic, it’s much more than an eruption of hops. What was known as Sumerian Brewing’s Eruption IPA is now Hopruption IPA. Sumerian Brewing changed the name to match the hop explosion, but honestly they could have called it Smoothruption. This crazy hopped double is well balance with a creamy body, lightly sweet and fruit forward.
ABV: 8.3% IBU: 95 Hops: Cascade, Centennial, Citra, Mosaic
SCROLL DOWN TO VOTE…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………………………………
GAME 4, KING COUNTY REGION
Player: Wonderland Trail India Pale Ale (#2 seed)
Team: Two Beers Brewing Co.
Player Stats: Opened 10 years ago after an argument settled over guess how many beers, Joel Vandenbrink’s outdoorsy South Seattle brewery salutes the famous trail circumnavigating Mount Rainier with this West Coast-style IPA. The Two Beers Brewing Wonderland Trail IPA, voted a second seed, is a light bodied IPA complemented by 2-Row, Vienna and Munich malts while featuring a seamless blend of Washington-grown Amarillo, Citra, Mosaic and Cascade hops. It brings a slightly sweet aroma of tangerine followed by a wave of citrus and passion fruit. The advantage Two Beers has over other Washington state breweries is its cast of characters. If they’re not hiking, or pranking jokes, or making beer or hugging each other, they’re out spreading the Two Beers word.
ABV: 7.1% IBU: 84 Hops: Cascade, Legacy, Amarillo, Mosaic, dry hopped with Mosaic and Citra
Player: ENIAC Mosaic IPA (#15 seed)
Team: Lucky Envelope Brewing
Player Stats: In 2014, Lucky Envelope opened their doors in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood, and has been serving up mouth-watering concoctions ever since, including the ENIAC Mosaic IPA. We’re not sure if it’s named after the 1940s computer, but the pine and citrus flavors parse into big juicy citrus on the nose and tongue, and a gold medal at the 2016 Washington Beer Awards. If ENIAC grabs a hold of Mosaic’s leafs tight, maybe offering a bit of mango, it might have a chance against the second seed Wonderland Trail.
ABV: 7.1% IBU: 68 Hops: Mosaic, Cascade, Centennial, Magnum
VOTE BELOW……………….……………………………………………………………………………………………..…………………………………………………
Be sure to click the blue DONE button after selecting your favorite IPAs!
Tuesday, April 18’s Tournament of Washington IPAs action …
Game 1: Whoop Pass IPA, Silver City (206 Katy Penman, Bremerton) vs. Cedar Dust IPA, Boundary Bay Brewery (1107 Railroad Ave., Bellingham)
Game 2: Sunnyland IPA, Kulshan Brewing Co. (1538 Kentucky St., Bellingham) vs. Goat Boater IPA, Rainy Daze Brewing (650 NW Bovela Lane, Poulsbo)
Game 3: Topcutter IPA, Bale Breaker Brewing Company (1801 Birchfield Road, Yakima) vs. Crikside Citra IPA, Blewett Brewing Company (911 Commercial St., Leavenworth)
Game 4: Country Boy IPA, Everybody’s Brewing (151 E. Jewett Blvd., White Salmon) vs. Double Cutt IPA, Backwoods Brewing Company (1162 Wind River Hwy., Carson)
LINK: Tournament of Beers: Washington State IPAs explanation
LINK: Hot Damn! Yes, I want to follow Peaks and Pints on Twitter
LINK: Explore Washington state breweries
