Top of the Hops: Paste's IPA Challenge - Round 1 Northwest

Photos by Nick Purdy

The Great Northwest. For our purposes, the region includes everything from Kansas to Washington plus Hawaii and Alaska, but is dominated by two great beer states: Oregon and Colorado. Compared to the Northeast beers we looked at yesterday, these IPAs are Hoppy with a capital H. Lots of floral-citrus flavors from hops like Cascade and Centennial and even some piney characteristics poking through.

We invited our first celebrity judge, singer/songwriter Ken Stringfellow, co-founder of The Posies and former touring musician for Big Star and R.E.M. He was in town touring his new album Danzig in the Moonlight. A part-time resident of France, Stringfellow is more of a wine drinker than a beer connoisseur. He says his younger days of beer drinking “usually involved drug binges and Tecate in cans—that kind of shows you where I left off. The craft beer world is quite mysterious to me. Wine is our daily substance in France.”

But his nose for notes proved to be good preparation for the IPA Challenge, and he was drawn to the hoppier beers we tried. He’s spent much of his music career in Seattle, so judging this region was a perfect fit.

Once again, none of the judges knew which beers they were tasting so none of these IPAs could rely on reputation to make it through. For full rules about the beers chosen for this bracket, see our Top of the Hops: Paste IPA Challenge Intro. And see the results from The Northeast Region, Round One.

Avery IPA vs. Breckenridge Lucky U IPA

Beer A: Avery IPA
City: Boulder, Colo.
ABV: 6.5%

Beer B: Breckenridge Lucky U IPA
City: Denver, Colo.
ABV: 6.2%

The Breckenridge Lucky U was crisp and refreshing, but it wasn’t even in the same league as the Avery, an intense hop bomb with Columbus, Chinook, Cascade and Centennial varieties. Avery could’ve rested its starters after the first sip.
Avery IPA wins 7-0

Deschutes Inversion IPA vs. Rogue Brutal IPA

Beer A: Deschutes Inversion IPA
City: Bend, Ore.
ABV: 6.8%

Beer B: Rogue Brutal IPA
City: Newport, Ore.
ABV: 6%

Two Oregon giants went head to head in the first round, and it was a match-up for the ages. Rogue, brewed solely with Crystal hops, is a beloved IPA and would’ve had an easy time dispatching a lot of the beers in this tournament. But it was mild in comparison to Deschutes, which was one of the more distinctive beers we tasted—hoppy but not typical. The hop flavors were at the front, but underneath something much more complex was going on. Rogue becomes one of the biggest casualties of a tough Round 1.
Deschutes Inversion IPA wins 4-3

Alaskan IPA vs. Odell IPA

Beer A: Alaskan IPA
City: Juneau, Alaska
ABV: 6.2%

Beer B: Odell IPA
City: Fort Collins, Colo.
ABV: 7%

The Alaskan IPA is as clean and refreshening as a Kodiac spring—there’s enough bitterness in the weather and the wild up near the Arctic that a light, drinkable IPA is a nice contrast. The Odell is much more complex with the sweet and the bitter colliding in a way that dulls neither.
Odell IPA wins 4-3

Fort Collins Rocky Mountain IPA vs. Ninkasi Total Domination IPA

Beer A: Ninkasi Total Domination IPA
City: Eugene, Ore.
ABV: 6.7%

Beer B: Fort Collins Rocky Mountain IPA
City: Fort Collins, Colo.
ABV: 6.2%

There’s a distinct piney hop flavor present in several of the IPAs we tasted, particularly the Fort Collins Rocky Mountain IPA. The Ninkasi couldn’t have been more different with sweet malts and a sour finish. I really liked the originality, complexity and balance of the Ninkasi, but it couldn’t overcome the giant hop bomb that was the Fort Collins.
Fort Collins Rocky Mountain IPA wins 4-3

Full Sail IPA vs. Great Divide Titan IPA

Beer A: Full Sail IPA
City: Hood River, Ore.
ABV: 6%

Beer B: Great Divide Titan IPA
City: Denver, Colo.
ABV: 7.1%

The Titan is well-named. This is a giant beer, full of classic, robust Cascade-hoppy flavor that weighs in just under the limit at 7.1%. There’s a hint of sweetness from all the malts required for such a boozy IPA, but they barely soften the hoppy blow. The Full Sail was mild in every way by comparison and had a slight metallic off-note.
Great Divide Titan IPA wins 6-1

Boulevard Single-Wide IPA vs. Maui Big Swell IPA

Beer A: Boulevard Single-Wide IPA
City: Kansas City, Mo.
ABV: 5.7%

Beer B: Maui Big Swell IPA
City: Lahaina, Hawaii
ABV: 6.8%

Maui’s Big Swell is tasty and unique, but the Boulevard—with a comparatively low 5.7% ABV—was the surprise of the round with bold grapefruity hops and super-smooth drinkability. The Kansas brewery uses six different varieties of hops in the Single-Wide—Zeus, Bravo, Cascade, Centennial, Simcoe and Citra—including a dry-hopped finish.
Boulevard Single-Wide IPA wins 6-1

Surly Furious vs. Redhook Long Hammer IPA

Beer A: Redhook Long Hammer IPA
City: Woodinville, Wash.
ABV: 6.5%

Beer B: Surly Furious
City: Brooklyn Center, Minn.
ABV: 6.2%

Surly Furious lives up to its bold name and graphic design. The hops were intense. I enjoyed the more balanced approach from Redhook, but it tasted like a lager in comparison to Surly. The Minnesota brewery lists its IBU (International Bitterness Units) at 99, which makes it nirvana to anyone chasing that next hop rush.
Surly Furious wins 6-1

Left Hand 400 Pound Monkey vs. New Belgium Ranger IPA

Beer A: New Belgium Ranger IPA
City: Fort Collins, Colo.
ABV: 6.5%

Beer B: Left Hand 400 Pound Monkey
City: Longmont, Colo.
ABV: 7%

Left Hand’s 400 Pound Monkey wasn’t enough for New Belgium’s 800-pound gorilla. If it weren’t for Open Container laws, you could hang a glass of Ranger from your rear-view mirror to give your car that fresh pine-scent. The Monkey was plenty assertive, but New Belgium walks to Round 2.
New Belgium Ranger IPA wins 5-2

This round’s judges were Nick Purdy, Josh Jackson, Bonnie Stiernberg, Sean Doyle, Ken Stringfellow, Brian Deutsch and Randall Smith, who also carved the wooden “VS.” Check back Monday for results from the Southeast.

Here are the results from the first two regions (click to enlarge):