Ode to Hops.

When someone asks me what I look for from an IPA, my initial response is always the same; how much it challenges my notion of what a beer can accomplish. Just how far can it bring my senses, how close to the edge can it take me without going over, and if we go over the edge, how comfortable am I going over with it. Sound extreme? It is. That's because that's exactly what this style of beer is all about, extremity in the form of sensual overload. Beer itself can challenge your senses to a no holds barred duel with how strong it might be or what obscure flavors the brewer chose to infuse it with. The IPA however challenges the drinker with one ingredient and one ingredient only; hops. The IPA doesn't need to add a plethora of outside influences to stand out, it doesn't even need to boost the alcohol content through the roof to make its presence known, though this is almost always an added bonus. The allure of the IPA works off of the four main ingredients that make up a basic beer; water, malt, hops and yeast and what makes it work, what makes each IPA find it's own character is the complexity found in the proper combination of hops.

Why do I say 'proper'? When as merely an enthusiast I know nothing about making a beer and should just keep my mouth shut? However as a beer enthusiast, I know what makes me tingle when it comes to an IPA is just how much hops a beer can pack into it's recipe and still maintain a sense of integrity where taste is concerned. So many attempts succumb to the expectation that this beer needs to be a haymaker of hops and butterness, so much so that the rest of the beer suffers and the malt characters are hidden beneath the haze. Now if you enjoy the bitter kick to the junk some IPA's deliver then that's your deal, but what you're truly missing out on is the true balance between the two that can be achieved while still bringing the hops to the forefront. I like to know that somewhere within the murky slap exists a beer, not beneath it.

I can't really remember my first IPA experience. It seems to be a distant blur of chance after chance that I had given to this severely acquired style but it was either around the time I tried the 60 minute IPA from Dogfish Head or maybe it just happened by chance, a natural evolution as a beer drinker perhaps, but I do know this, once the love affair began, the key was to take the adventure as far as I could.

Each IPA has a personality all it's own, each one that succeeds in pleasing the palate of a true IPA fan finds that balance of malt to hops, sweet to bitter. Each one accomplishes this in different ways but one thing remains true; the regular Budweiser drinker is not going to enjoy it. True, hardcore, intense IPA's are a beacon of hope for the craft beer world. They stand as our inside joke amongst each other because what the IPA doesn't try to do, is appeal to the masses.

Every beer drinker knows, or should at least, that hops are a main component of what makes up the final product, but what stands out about this style is it's ability to find the potential that this little flower holds and utilize it as a weapon for good and prosperity in the beer world. So this month we are raising our glasses to the shining, powerful spirit of beer. Cheers, to hops!