I love the idea of a beer battle royal.  When you put beers against each other you are forced to immediately evaluate their strengths and weaknesses.  Plus, when you evaluate blind, you evaluate with a great deal more fairness.   A direct taste assault forces you to evaluate the beers in direct competition with other close competitors. Or, at least, my version does.

There were multitudinous Ipa contenders.   Some were of well heralded repute. Some were newcomers to the scene.  Each were selected with a singular and honorable task, to be contenders towards the best tasting ipa of the mix; possibly the world!  We agreed to evaluate bracket style, and from brackets emerged….

Hoptimum by Sierra Nevada

vs.

Evil Twin Molotov

vs.

Six Point Hi-Res

The victor of this round, albeit with marginal surprise, Six Point Hi-Res.

Bracket Two consisted of

Dogfish Head 90 minute

vs.

Troegs Perpetual

vs.

Green Flash Road Warrior

vs

Green Flash Imperial IPA

This created an intense conundrum as from these first two brackets we were to select a third contest, which by virtue of  a coin flip, Green Flash Imperial managed an intensely debated continuation towards the finals.  Bracket winner by a vast consensus was Green Flash Road Warrior.

The additional brackets are forthcoming and pit

Heavy Seas DIPA

vs.

Founders Double Trouble

vs.

Nogne O Imperial Stout

vs.

Firestone Walker Wooky Jack

Of which the results being Heavy Seas Dipa as the champion.

The final several are most regrettable as the pitting of

Pizza Boy Hopt test Galaxy

vs.

Green Flash Black Ipa

Vs

Citra Ass Down

Yielded a most indiscriminate next round contestant that produced abject failure.

……Skip to the end………..

Final contestants were Green Flash Imperial, Green Flash Road Warrior, Six Point Hi-Res, and Heavy Seas DIPA.

After much deliberation…..the champion tips his crown to the subjugates.

Green Flash Imperial – This was a winner in a prior taste test of 10 different ipas.  To once again reign supreme is a testament to my, egotistically supported exceptional taste, and to the overall deliciousness of this beer.  It smells like dank weed, wild grasses, and leaves a graceful off-white  lacing on the glass.  The pungent hop-weed presence provides  bitter/floral/sweet balance on the palate supporting the crowning decision. This ipa is the tits.  10/10

Just try it, it’s unbelievable.

Humbly yours,

J