No Flash in the Pan

We've had a lot of west coast breweries come to town the past three years, Stone being one of the latest. Lagunitas, Moylans, Ballast Point... Deschutes will be making its arrival soon, but there's no appearance I'm looking forward to more than Green Flash - and I'm not talking about the split-second optical phenomenon. This one will hopefully be in Missouri to stay.

I'll never forget my first Green Flash Experience. I was in Richmond, VA, for work and was catching up on some workflow diagrams at the bar. It was "glass night" (buy the beer, keep the glass) for Magic Hat Lucky Kat IPA. I'd never had a Magic Hat beer at the time, and was excited to try its IPA. Ordered one up and was pleased but not thrilled about it. I do still have the glass though - a standard 16oz pint glass that pretty much sums up the beer - not bad, not exciting, and pretty much is what it's supposed to be. (I know, you're thinking, "where can I get this incredible beer??")

I wanted another IPA and was having a hard time deciding between a Moylander and something else. The bartender asked if I'd ever had the Green Flash West Coast IPA. Skeptical, I asked if it was any good. He said, "do you like hoppy?" Yes, I replied. Little did I realize he was asking, "do you like HOPPY?"

And there it appeared before me, in all its grapefruity, piney, resiny splendor, the bitter liquid from San Diego, California that encapsulates all that defines a "West Coast" IPA. Simcoe, Columbus, and Cascade are quickly becoming my favorite hop combo for IPAs. Toss some Centennial in there, and you get WCIPA. Yeah, I know it's not Pliny the Elder (not fair, that's a double IPA), but it's awfully damn close.

And, soon, much easier to get. I learned back in January that Green Flash would begin distribution to Missouri starting this coming summer. I'd say that little tidbit made my day, but I'm actually still excited about it. It made my winter, my spring, and will probably make my summer as well. They make several beers, including a Hop Head Red, which I also love, and a Belgian IPA named Le Freak. Lest you think they only do IPAs, they make several other styles including a Saison and a Belgian Strong Dark.

WCIPA is a fantastic beer that is something to experience and hold as a benchmark for others. This beer is IPA. And will be in Missouri this summer.

Specs -
95 IBUs
7% ABV
OG: 1.070ish
FG: 1.015ish

IIPA at 75th Street This Week

Just a very brief note - 75th Street Brewing will be putting an Imperial IPA on draught this Wednesday (2/25) and will have it available in the firkin keg this Friday (2/27).

Prepare to be Torpedoed into Hopland

I just got off the phone with Lukas Liquor in MO (near 135th & State Line). They're getting Sierra Nevada's Torpedo "two weeks out". Mark your calendar, boys and girls - two weeks isn't long. Gomer's in Midtown took my name & number and will call me when they know they'll have it. Apparently I was the 2nd person to call about it today. Royal in both Brookside and on 103rd didn't know when they'd get it in.

Torpedo is an "Extra IPA"
7.4% ABV
IBUs around 78-80
Bittering hops: Magnum
Finishing hops: Magnum, Crystal, Chinook.
Torpedo: Magnum, Chinook, Citra
More info here and here.


On the Citra hops, sierranevadabill says this on beeradvocate.com:

As far as we know Torpedo will be the first bottled beer EVER to include Citra hops, widely available or otherwise.

We are using Citra in the torpedo because it is not only a really unique flavored hop but also has a ton of alpha-acid...I think 12% don't quote me though. The flavor os somewhere in between the crazy-tropical mango flavor I described, but if used too much, Citra can crank out an intense "catty" flavor... Like Simcoe on steroids.

As the previous poster stated, with a late hop addition, the hops are still subjected to hot wort, therefore, extracting some bitterness. That is, not necissarily why we're not using there, though. i think I mentioned earlier, that there ar only about 3 acres of this hop anywhere in the world. There just isn't that much of it to go around. I was in our hop freezer this aftyernoon, and we have a solid 250lb bale. I think that's it. Total. End of story.

We are using citra in a way to get the most bang for the buck, so to speak, and blending it in with many different hop varieties in the Torpedo for added hop complexity.