Dedicated readers of this site will know that there was recently an online debate between myself and Amy C. from Syracuse about the place of Flower Power IPA in the pantheon of great IPAs. We agreed to settle it later this fall with a blind taste test, the results of which will be reported here. To whet your appetite for that much anticipated event, I’ve constructed a poll to get your opinion on the best IPA out there.
I chose the entrants from the reader ratings on the Beer Advocate most popular IPA list (http://beeradvocate.com/lists/style/116). One interesting observation about this list is that 5 of the top 9 have one word names (7 if you don’t count IPA in the title). Clearly if you want to make a highly popular IPA you need to be succinct. My favorite entry is, “Lunch” by Maine Brewing Company.
Unless you make frequent trips to Vermont, Minnesota or Southern California you probably have not had a chance to try most of the beers in the top 20. Among that list I’ve only had four, Sculpin, Head Hunter, Blind Pig and Furious. So I’ve limited the poll here to beers you can find in Ohio. Here are those beers and their ratings on a 1-5 scale on Beer Advocate. Remember these are not my rankings but those based on thousands of online beer reviews.
- Sculpin IPA (Ballast Point, CA) – 4.42
- Head Hunter IPA (Fat Heads, OH) – 4.38
- White Rajah (The Brew Kettle, OH) – 4.33
- Founder’s Harvest Ale (Founders, MI) – 4.28
- Odell IPA (Odell, CO) – 4.28
- Two Hearted IPA (Bells, MI) – 4.27
- Alesmith IPA (Alesmith, CA) – 4.27
- Columbus IPA (Columbus Brewing, OH) – 4.25
- Flower Power IPA (Ithaca Brewing, NY) – 4.25
- Stone IPA (Stone, CA) – 4.25
- Hop Rod Rye (Bear Republic, CA) – 4.25
- West Coast IPA (Green Flash, CA) – 4.23
- Racer 5 IPA (Bear Republic, CA) – 4.21
What do you make of this list? Is your favorite here? Any glaring omisions? If I’ve correctly figured out the poll tool you can anonymously pick your favorite IPA from the list below. If I’ve omitted your favorite or you want to convert some of the readers over to your favorite choice leave a comment. I’m expecting high levels of reader participation on this one.
Pat's Pints 
Good suggestions. Another poll for double/imperial IPAs is definitely in order. Do you have access to those Massachusetts beers in Syracuse? What about Double Sunshine? I’ve read a lot of good things about that beer.
I need more than one vote. Don’t forget Massachusetts with Be Hoppy IPA (Wormtown) and Julius (Tree House Brewing). We may need another poll for double IPA’s – Ruination (Stone), Resin (Sixpoint), and Double Sunshine (Lawson’s).
It may be worth adding that of the choices on this list the best value for your money is the local choice (for me), Columbus IPA comes in at $8.99 per six pack.
Just to update everyone after 1 day we have a staggering 6 votes, with 3 votes for “other”. Although you can’t see it here the other votes are 2 for Insider by Crux Fermentation Project (a small brewery in Bend, OR) and one for Inversion IPA by Deschutes (a large brewery also located in Bend, OR). That makes Insider the current leader. It seems the West Coasters are stealing the show.
I see we now have a vote for Alchemy Hour by Great Lakes, which is one of my favorites. Technically though it is a double IPA. Insider is still leading with 2 votes, there are six other beers with one vote a piece.