Peter Rowe
Garrett Oliver gets around. The brewmaster at New York City's Brooklyn Brewery, Oliver is familiar with the beers of Belgium, Great Britain, Germany and Southern California.
In San Diego, he's especially fond of the so-called double India Pale Ale.
Loves the beer.
Hates the name.
"Since the style they call 'double IPA' originated in the San Diego area," Oliver argued, "shouldn't it be called San Diego Pale Ale?"
Marc Jilg, founder of Craftsman Brewing Co. in Pasadena, seconded the motion. "Historically," Jilg said, "you could make a compelling argument that San Diego originated the double IPA."
The double IPA, though, is not quite a native. Vinnie Cilurzo is credited with creating the style in 1994, when he was running Blind Pig Brewery in Temecula. Blind Pig IPA set the bar high and bitter - the recipe called for four varieties of malts, but the intensely aromatic and bitter hops were the star. Ditto, his Inaugural Ale.
Brewers measure a beer's bitterness with IBUs, or International Bittering Units. Budweiser scores 12 IBUs. Your average IPA, about 60. Blind Pig IPA? An eye-watering 92. Blind Pig Inaugural Ale? A staggering 120.
In 1995, Cilurzo unleashed these hop monsters on the Great American Beer Festival. The Blind Pig Brewery folded in 1998. Inaugural Ale, which
reappeared for a few years as Anniversary Ale, is only remembered by diehard Blind Piglets. But the Blind Pig IPA has attained cult status, and its descendants have won official recognition. Today, there is an "Imperial or Double India Pale Ale" category at both the Great American Beer Festival and the World Beer Cup.
So why should a beer style that originated in Temecula and now enjoys global recognition as double IPA be re-named San Diego Pale Ale?
For several reasons:
1. The existing name doesn't make sense.
"The idea of a 'double IPA' is patently silly," Oliver said.
India Pale Ales were developed in the late 18th and early 19th centuries as a way to keep beers fresh on the long voyage from London to Calcutta. By adding generous amounts of two preservatives - alcohol and hops - brewers could make pale ale that would survive the four-month journey in drinkable fashion.
If, that is, it passed muster with Calcutta's "beer assessor."
The IPA, then, "was one of the most tightly defined beer styles in history," Oliver noted.
By that tight definition, these beers are not IPAs, single or double.
2. Our drinkers love this style.
San Diegans are notoriously passionate about hops. Our best beer bars - among them O'Brien's, the Liar's Club and Wit's End - are top-heavy with hop-heavy offerings.
"If you drink hoppy beers every day," said Jilg, "your definition of hoppiness needs to be recalibrated up a bit."
3. Our brewers love this style, too.
You can find double IPAs in other parts of the country - Dogfish Head makes the 120 Minute IPA, with a mammoth 120 IBUs, in Milton, Del. But climb into a car in Milton and drive 30 minutes. You will not find a half dozen local brewers making versions of this beer.
You will in San Diego, where almost every brewery produces a version of double IPA.
A version with a distinct flavor. "They stand out among other IPAs from damn near anywhere else in the world," said Pat McIlhenny, the founder of Alpine Beer Company.
4. In San Diego, this is the signature beer.
Or so insists a New Yorker.
"When we brought our golden, very hoppy 8 percent pale ale, Blast, to the Great American Beer Festival, we put up tasting notes that called it a San Diego Pale Ale," Garrett Oliver said.
"Our West Coast brethren seemed to enjoy Blast, but they still seem oddly meek about claiming their bragging rights."
Tasting notes
(Beers are rated from 0 to 5, with 5 being best.)
Pliny the elder
Russian River Brewing Company, Santa Rosa
Cilurzo's latest double IPA - or should I say San Diego Pale? - is a bracing tribute to the Roman naturalist, historian and politician. Among Pliny the Elder's lesser accomplishments: giving the hop vine a botanical name, lupus Salictarius, or "wolf among scrubs." In 79 A.D., while observing the eruption of Vesuvius from the sea, Pliny died - but you didn't come here for a history lesson, did you?
Pliny the Elder the beer is bold (100 IBUs), strong (8 percent alcohol) and loaded with honors, including a gold medal at last year's Great American Beer Festival.
Hops provide an enchanting sage-like aroma and plenty of bite, as well as a mild oiliness that keeps the beer lingering on your tongue. A touch of malt sweetness emerges in the finish.
Pliny has a fanatical following at several local taverns, including San Diego Brewing Co., O'Brien's and the Liar's Club. This is a noble beer and, like its namesake, not to be taken lightly.
Pure hoppiness
Alpine Beer Company
An exemplar of the style, Pure Hoppiness is a lovely beer from first sight to last swallow. Visually, Alpine Beer Company's flagship beverage is enchanting, a shimmering pale gold shot through with an endless shower of tiny bubbles.
Full-bodied at 8 percent alcohol, the beer tantalizes taste buds with an unmistakable but not unmanageable hop crackle - McIlhenny uses two German hops, Hallertau and Hersbrucker, plus three American varieties, Tomahawk, Cascade and Centennial. An initial peppery note fades as the Yankee hops add sharp, piney flavors.
If you expected an unruly monster of a beer, you would be surprised by this brew's presentation. It marches along in well-drilled order, as disciplined as a drum major. There's a sweetness here that catches you at the end, when the beer has slipped down your gullet and you think you are done with it. But it's not done with you.
Pure Hoppiness is found at some local tap houses, and six-packs are stocked by Windmill Farms in San Diego and a handful of East County locations. Anyone seeking to track down the bottles should call Alpine Beer, (619) 445-2337.
Dorado double ipa
Ballast Point Brewing Company, Scripps Ranch
I abused this beer - and it loved the ill-treatment. I bought a half-gallon bottle of Dorado at Ballast Point. Stamped on the jug was a message urging me to drink the contents within 24 hours.
Ninety-six hours later, I was still sampling this beer. Better yet, to my tongue, Dorado seemed to be improving with age.
Even late in the week, Dorado's head was big and fluffy, rising over a glowing golden body. The hops were assertive, smacking of oranges and lemon zest. I could taste some caramel notes from the malts, but the bitterness was relentless, brisk and enticing. Dorado kept pulling me back.
Half-gallon "growlers" are available at the new brewery in Scripps Ranch, 10051 Old Grove Road, Suite B; and the original location near the University of San Diego, 5401 Linda Vista Road, Suite 406.
Sleighor double ipa
Reaper Ale, Vista
Before pouring this exceptional beer, I made the mistake of looking at the label. I looked. And looked. And looked some more. What I saw was a sinister, Tim Burtonesque skeleton flying through the night in a sleigh. Bad, dead Santa?
Then I poured and turned the bottle so the label was facing the wall. Don't overthink - this is beer, not nuclear physics.
Among local double IPAs, Sleighor is the wild card. It's darker, and the amber hues hint that this beer will have more malt than most of its style. Still, the first sip revealed a crisp hop bite. At 9 percent alcohol, Sleighor weighs heavy on the tongue. There's a chewy, caramelly finish, but the hops refuse to depart.
No reason why they should, with 105 IBUs in play.
My neighborhood liquor store, Clem's Bottle Shop in Kensington, keeps Sleighor in stock. For other outlets, check with Team Reaper at (949) 223-0122. This is a big beer, but not a particularly scary one. You can't judge a beer by its label.
Beer biz
Blind Pig, Cilurzo's original over-the-top IPA, is returning to tap handles in select markets, including San Diego. The beer will be unveiled March 22 at O'Brien's, 4646 Convoy.
Did you catch AleSmith's latest seasonal wonder, My Bloody Valentine Red Ale?
La Jolla Brewhouse's next beer dinner will be at 7 p.m. March 13. The four-course meal starts with brew house sausages and Irish cheese, peaks with Irish stew and concludes with Bailey's Irish cheesecake. The beers? An IPA, a "Belgian Beast," the Brew House Stout and an ale known as Mr. Brown. Reservations: (858) 456-6279.
The annual 12-hour Belgian Beer Party is set for 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. March 25 at Pizza Port, 571 Carlsbad Village Drive, Carlsbad. Speaking of the Port, the tiny but nationally known brewery is taking over Stone's old operation in San Marcos. The brewery's first project: six-packs of Shark Bite Red.
Brewery Rowe appears monthly in the Food section. Peter Rowe,the proprietor, welcomes calls, (619) 293-1227; letters, c/o The San Diego Union-Tribune, P.O. Box 120191, San Diego, CA 92112-0191; and e-mail, peter.rowe@uniontrib.com
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