Not enough can be said about this fine brew. It is the closest example that Lopezbeer has found to an intensely hopped IPA while maintaining a very plesant hop balance. All of this has already been said so I won't dwell on it. Last Beer Monday at the P-house, I stopped by rather early as I sometimes do when I must leave early the following morning. It felt like it had been weeks since I last stopped by so I really just wanted a "comfort" beer. (I don't have to tell you which one that is.) I usually like to start off Beer Monday's by trying some of the new offerings and finishing off the night with some BBay IPA. Not that night, the BBay was all I needed.
Now, fast forward to Teusday night. My travels had taken me to Sunnyside, WA were I spent a couple days working out of my company's new facility. There are a few reasons to enjoy a trip over there. For one, its name says it all. It always seems to be sunny over there. Also, hops are grown all around the town and if you time your trip during harvest in the fall, you can't escape the incredible smells that come at you from all sides in an unrelenting fashion. Lastly, Yakima Chief has its headquarters there. They are a hop development facility among other things who are responsible for creating my favorite hop, the Simcoe.
What does this have to do with beer, you ask? Well, Snipes Mountain Brewery is located in the heart of Sunnyside. This is the brewery that I look forward to visiting when I'm on my "Giligan 3 day tours" so to speak. I was lucky enough to bump into Chris, who is the head brewer at Snipes, and we talked some about brews and hops. Come to find out, he's aquantances with Kevin who is the brewer at Anacortes Brewery. I mentioned my love of the Simcoe and he told me that he had just sent over some Simcoes for hopefully a new batch of Simcoe dry-hopped IPA. That would make me very happy indeed.
There were a few of Chris' selections that he wanted me to try such as his Winter Coyote (a seasonal version of their Coyote Moon), Porter, and the incredible Zozobra Stout. The Z reminded me of so many of the great Imperial Stouts that I've ran across in my journey with beer. Last but certainly not least was the IPA.
I really enjoyed Snipes' version for its strong but well balanced hop arrangement. It reminded me of the BBay style of IPA's... so I was very happy that it was still happy hour when I showed up and therefore orded the 24 oz. mug for the same price. I even took home a 6er as well.
Now rewind to Thanksgiving last week/weekend. Sandpoint, ID has some great breweries of its own. One being Mickduffs, of which I've blogged about before and one of my all time favorites.... Laughing Dog Brewing just up the road a couple miles in Ponderay.
Many have heard me speak of my fondness for Laughing Dog. It was one of 1st places that I can remember in my walk with beer that produced an IPA that was in the same ballpark of BBay's. So this was somewhat of an exciting trip for me. I showed up right after closing but after explaining my situation with them through their front door and where I was from, they hesitated no longer and invited me in for some sampling. For this alone I am truly thankful.
I was bummed that I didn't get to try their black IPA "Dogzilla" because they were out, but I did get to try there new Imperial Stout.... The Dogfather.
I also filled a growler of IPA and bought a pint glass. It was a wonderfull trip.
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