Bottoms Up

If you read my most recent column in the newspaper, The Culture of the Hop, it was partly about how the West Coast has become a mecca for hoppy beer. Since the West Coast has essentially an embarrassment of riches, hoppy beer-wise, there wasn’t nearly enough space in the column to list even a few of the great beers available here in the Bay Area. So here is a list of just a few that I can heartily recommend that you should be able to find around town. Some may be a little easier to find than others, but all can be found somewhere throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

India Pale Ales

• Big Daddy, Speakeasy Ales & Lagers
• Blind Pig, Russian River Brewing
• Bombay by Boat, Moonlight Brewing [Draft only]
• Brew Free or Die IPA, 2st Amendment Restaurant & Brewery
• Drake’s IPA, Drake’s Brewing
• The Hopfather, Russian River Brewing [Draft only]
• Hop Riot, High Water Brewing
• Hop Rod Rye, Bear Republic Brewing
• Hop Ottin’ IPA, Anderson Valley Brewing
• IPA, Lagunitas Brewing
• Racer 5, Bear Republic Brewing
• Sculpin IPA, Ballast Point Brewing
• Stone IPA, Stone Brewing
• Torpedo Extra IPA, Sierra Nevada Brewing
• Total Domination, Ninkasi Brewing
• Union Jack, Firestone Walker Brewing
• West Coast IPA, Green Flash Brewing
• Wipeout IPA, Port Brewing

Imperial or Double IPAs

• Blue Dot, Hair of the Dog Brewing
• Denogginizer, Drake’s Brewing
• Deuce, El Toro Brewing
• Dorado Double IPA, Ballast Point Brewing
• Double Jack, Firestone Walker Brewing
• He’Brew Bittersweet Lenny’s R.I.P.A., Shmaltz Brewing
• Hop Crisis, 2st Amendment Restaurant & Brewery
• Hop 15, Port Brewing
• Hop Stoopid, Lagunitas Brewing (Sonoma Farmhouse)
• The Maharaja, Avery Brewing
• Maximus, Lagunitas Brewing
• Moylander Double IPA, Moylan’s
• Pliny the Elder, Russian River Brewing
• Pure Hoppiness, Alpine Beer Co.
• Racer X, Bear Republic Brewing
• Retribütion Imperial IPA, High Water Brewing
• Ruination, Stone Brewing
• Tricerahops, Ninkasi Brewing
• White Knuckle, Marin Brewing

Triple IPAs

• Exponential Hoppiness, Alpine Beer Co. [Seasonal]
• Hopsickle, Moylan’s
• Pliny the Younger, Russian River Brewing [available for only a short limited time each February]

Hoppy hunting!