Calling all IPA lovers...what are your favorite 3?

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I tried 3 new to me IPA's in my last six pack build. Crooked Tree IPA, and two local varieties: Fulton Sweet Vine of Mine and Summit Saga. The Crooked Tree was good, the Fulton so-so, but the Summit Saga was excellent. Might crack my top 3 now.
 
Napa Smith Hopageddon
Bell's Hop Slam
G'Knight if you consider it an IPA if not, Two Hearted
 
I have to say the original Stone IPA is one of my faves. Their "Ruination" IPA... not so much.

Oh and Odells IPA (local to Colorado?) is Ah-mazing!!!
 
JordanThomas said:
Founders Bravo IPA (Tap only)
Founders Cascade IPA (Tap only)
Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA

Stone IPA a close fourth

Where did you have the founders, at the brew pub?
 
Where did you have the founders, at the brew pub?

Yes, and unfortunately they both went within a month. They were both fantastic. The Cascade was definitely citrus-forward, but 7.2% just like the Centennial (probably the exact same malt bill, mash schedule, yeast). The Bravo though... oh. my. god.

They even have a really good one on tap right now. Brewers Guild IPA.
 
Thats it! Im going to have to visit this brewery! For Gods sake I feel deprevation.Living in this stink town,usa. Think I will drink my Bravo IPA, oh..... right about now then.. It will do in my ST Pumpking Chalice for now,I guess.:( Not to mention marris otter golden naked coconut palm sugar nelson sauven amarillo,oak and simco dry hopps.ONe word and that word is...................DAMN!!! and all a sudden Im not so jealous then.;) This beer could possibly be 1.5 oz of Non-organic Golden naked oats and (simco/amarillo) away of winninng a 100% organic ipa, F! This is the one. And 5 months old even.
 
I was finally able to get a 4-pack of Heady Topper. It's now in my top 3 for imperial IPAs, as expected.
 
I've been on a strict IPA diet for about 6 months now and although it was tough to narrow it down, here are my top 3 all-time.

#1 - Kern River Brewing Co. - Citra IPA
#2 - Russian River - Pliny the Younger
#3 - Ballast Point - Sculpin IPA

Honorable Mention:
Stone - Ruination
Alpine - Duet
Dogfish Head 90 Min. IPA
 
I have had many.....and without getting into DIPA's here is my IPA list:

#1 Port Brewing Wipeout IPA --hands down my favorite--its dry and the best West Coast IPA I have ever had. I had this in a taste test with a few other beers including Scuplin, etc. This has been my favorite for about 2 years.
#2 Alesmith IPA--a close second to Port's Wipeout...its the best on draft.
#3 Breakwater Brewing's Kali Kush--had this one at the Stone Anniversary party (along with a bunch of hoppy beers) and it was so memorable in its aroma and flavor--if you are in SoCal, check this one out....

Honorable mentions from recent trips?

Hercules IPA on tap in Denver was excellent, and Driftwood's Fat Tug was eerily similar (and I would say a touch better) on tap in Vancouver.
 
Im going to have to do a blind taste test with my top three sometime.Im pretty confident which will be which though. Im knowing my beer pretty good these days.

Between a top 20 ,I dont think I really honestly know my top three.Some day if I get them all together,that could be a glorious day. Possibly an indecisive one also.
 
Retabulated on Oct 1, last post 292 included. 186 different IPA's in this list now :tank:

Bells Two Hearted 48
Stone IPA 44
RR-Pliny the Elder 39
DFH 90 35
Stone Ruination 28
Sierra Nevada Torpedo 23
Bear Republic Racer 5 21
Bells Hopslam 16
DFH 60 16
Sierra Nevada Celebration 16
Ballast Point Sculpin IPA 12
Victory Hop Devil 12
Goose Island IPA 11
Green Flash IPA 11
Victory Hop Wallop 10
Lagunitas IPA 9
RR-Blind Pig 9
Smuttynose IPA 9
O'Dells: IPA 9
Bridgeport 7
Flying Dog Snake Dog 7
Sweetwater IPA 7
Three Floyd's Dreadnaught 6
Alchemist Heady Topper 5
Avery IPA 5
Firestone Union Jack 5
Founders Double Trouble 5
Great Divide Hercules 5
Great Divide Titan 5
Ithaca Flower Power 5
Lagunitas Hop Stoopid 5
Southern Tier IPA 5
Three Floyd's Alpha King 5
Boundary Bay Inside Passage Ale 4
Dark Horse Crooked Tree IPA 4
Founders Centennial 4
Lagunitas Maximus 4
Left Hand: Warrior IPA 4
New Belgium Ranger IPA 4
Ninkasi Total Domination IPA 4
Port Hop15 4
Surly Furious 4
8 Wired Hopwired IPA 3
Acery’s IPA 3
Alesmith IPA 3
Alpine Nelson Rye IPA 3
Arcadia IPA 3
Ballast Point Big Eye 3
Bear Republic Hop Rod IPA 3
Deschutes Inversion 3
Flying Dog Raging ***** 3
Founders Devil Dancer Tripple IPA 3
Founders Red Rye 3
Hair of the Dog Blue Dot 3
Harpoon IPA 3
Hop Ottin' 3
Moylan's HopSicle 3
New Holland Mad Hatter 3
Rouge Yellow Snow IPA 3
RR-Pliny the Younger 3
Ska Modus Hoperandi 3
Terrapin Hopsecuitioner 3
Troegs Nugget Nectar 3
West Coast IPA 3
Abita Jockamo 2
Alaskan IPA 2
Alpine Duet 2
Bittersweet Lenny IPA 2
Boulevard Single-Wide IPA 2
Breckenridge 471 2
Captian Lawrence Imperial IPA 2
Cigar City Jai Alai IPA 2
Four Peaks Hop Knot 2
Heavy Seas Loose Cannon 2
Kern River Citra 2
Lakefront Brewery IPA 2
Magic Hat Lucky Kat 2
Mikkeller Single Hop Sauvin 2
Mountain Sun FYIPA 2
Ninkasi Tricerahops 2
Red Hook Longhammer 2
Saint Arnold's Elissa 2
Samuel Smith's IPA 2
Schlafly Export IPA 2
Short's Huma Lupa Licious 2
Sierra Nevada Hoptimum 2
Sierra Nevada Wet Hop Harvest Ale 2
Southern Tier Gemini 2
Speakeasy Double Daddy 2
Summit IPA 2
Summit Saga IPA 2
Terrapin Hopzilla 2
Tyranena Bitter Woman IPA 2
21A Hop Crisis 1
21st Ammendment Brew Free or Die 1
Acme California 1
Avery Maharaja 1
Bear Republic Apex 1
Big Daddy IPA 1
Big Sky IPA 1
Black Raven Trickster 1
Blue Point 10th Anniversary IPA 1
Boulder Mojo 1
Boulevard Double Wide 1
Breakwater Kali Kush 1
Breckenridge 427 1
Brooklyn East IPA 1
Caldera IPA 1
Central City Red Racer IPA 1
Clown Shoes Hoppy Feet 1.5 1
Coast Brewing Hop Art 1
DC Brau On the Wings of Arnageddon 1
Deschutes Hop Henge IPA 1
Deschutes Red Chair 1
DFH Burton Baton 1
DFH Squall 1
Diamond Bear IPA 1
Diamond Knot IPA 1
Driftwoods Fat Tug 1
Elysian Jasmine IPA 1
Epic New Zealand 1
Evolution #3 1
Firestone Walker IPA 1
Flossmoor Station X-IPA 1
Founders Bravo IPA 1
Founders Cascade IPA 1
GF West Coast 1
Great Basin Ichthyosaur IPA 1
Great Lakes Commodore Perry 1
Great Lakes Erie Monster 1
Hantan Hop Shock 1
Henry's Short Lived IPA 1
Hercules DIPA 1
Heretic Evil-Cousin 1
Hop Wallop 1
HUB Ace of Spades 1
Ice Harbor 1
India Beer 1
Ipswich IPA 1
Kashmir IPA 1
Kern Just Outstanding 1
Kodiak IPA 1
Laguniatas Little Sumpin Wild 1
Leafer Madnes 1
Leefer Madness 1
Left Coast Hop Juice 1
Long Trail IPA 1
Loose Cannon 1
McMinamins Sunflower IPA 1
Meantime English IPA 1
Michigan High Seas IPA 1
Mikkeler 19 1
Mikkeller 1000 IBU 1
Napa Smith Hopageddon 1
New Glarus Hop Hearty IPA 1
Northern Lights IPA 1
Odell Mercinary 1
Pike 1
Port High Tide 1
Port Wipeout IPA 1
Rocky Mountain IPA 1
Rogue Brutal IPA 1
Rogue Imperial IPA 1
Roots Woody IPA 1
Saranac Imperial IPA 1
Scuttlebutt Gale Force 1
Sierra Nevada Anniversary 1
Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye IPA 1
Sixpoint Begali Tiger 1
Sixpoint Resin 1
Ska Euphoria 1
Stone Arrogant Bastard 1
Stone Cali Belgique 1
Stone Subliminally Self Righteous 1
Terminal Gravity 1
Terrapin Big Hoppy Monster 1
Three Heads Kind IPA 1
Toppling Goliath Golden Nugget IPA 1
Town Hall Masala Moma 1
Troegs Perpetual IPA 1
Walking Man Imperial IPA 1
Waschusett IPA 1
Weyerbacher Double Simcoe 1
Widmer Nelson IPA 1
Yards Philly Pale Ale 1
 
1) Sierra Nevada Celebration (seasonal)
2) Columbus Brewing Company IPA (year-round)
3) Racer 5
 
1) Sierra Nevada Celebration (seasonal)
2) Columbus Brewing Company IPA (year-round)
3) Racer 5

I had #2 (above) in Columbus last year and I was very impressed. Glad to see it make it into this thread. I've only had the one 6 pack so far so I would need to have more in order to put it in my top three but it could very well be that good.

Speaking of my top three, here's mine currently:

1. Bells Hopslam
2. New Belgium/Alpine Brewing Lips of Faith Super IPA
3. New Belgium Ranger IPA

A bit different than my OP. I know, two of the above are IIPA's but still.

For fun I've been keeping a little database of all the commercial IPA's and IIPA's that I've tried, and so far I have 62 entries.
 
Stone IPA
Goose Island IPA
Southern Tier 2XIPA
Sierra Nevada Torpedo

(Couldn't cull it to just 3)

Can someone explain the Goose to me, god knows I've drank my fair share of decent beer, but my ability to describe it is trailing behind. The Goose has a very distinct flavor in it that I can't quite put my finger on but love it for just the same. For anyone who knows it, is this a yeast factor, hops factor, or something else?
 
1. Odells IPA= THE perfect IPA, but I might be biased since I was born and raised in the Fort.

2. Lagunitas: Hop Stoopid

3. Ska: Modus Hoperandi, I probably have drank more of this beer that anything else. Cans make everything so easy.

I could add on the other hundreds cause they are all good (Union Jack, etc). One I haven't tried that seems to be on many peoples lists is Goose Island. Do they distribute to CO? I live in an area that is pretty hard up for quality beer now a days.
 
Goose Island was bought by InBev, so it has been showing up in almost every liquor store I go into now. I now see single brew and variety 12 packs whereas I used to only see single brew 6 packs. I am in MN, so not far from Chicago. Might take a bit longer to get to Colorado, but I assume it will.
 
Cracked a Southern Tier Unearthly tonight, been a while, this is an amazing beer!! Screw my other fav's, this can take spots 1, 2 and 3.
 
snowtires said:
I dont have a lot of experience with different ipa's

Oops. But mu favorites so far are


#1 green flash american IPA
#2 phillips switchback IPA
#3 red racer IPA (not to be confused with racer 5 ipa)
 
Hmm this is tough for me but here's my current top 3:

Fatheads Headhunter
Bells Hopslam
Troegs Nugget Nectar (labeled as an amber I think but its an IPA to me)

I've never had a lot of those west coast brews like union jack and Pliny... I imagine my list would change a bit.
 
Pliny the Elder
Heady Topper
Hopslam

For beers I can get when I want them:
Lagunitas IPA
Racer 5
Dreadnaught

So many IPAs.

Brobe
 
#1 Sierra Nevada Celebration
#2 Unita - Crooked Line - Detour
#3 Dogfish Head - 90 Min
 
Stone IPA
Goose Island IPA
Southern Tier 2XIPA
Sierra Nevada Torpedo

(Couldn't cull it to just 3)

Can someone explain the Goose to me, god knows I've drank my fair share of decent beer, but my ability to describe it is trailing behind. The Goose has a very distinct flavor in it that I can't quite put my finger on but love it for just the same. For anyone who knows it, is this a yeast factor, hops factor, or something else?

I could be wrong but I think goose ipa is classified as an English ipa if that helps.
 
I dont have a lot of experience with different ipa's

This post made me laugh. I was going to write "its never too late to start". Then I saw your next post. By the way for someone with little experience you're not doing that bad...
 
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