Maybe This IPA Thing Is Catching On

The folks over at the Boston Beer Company (Jim Koch in particular) had for years talked about the IPA style in a way that made it seem as if they were above it all. So many breweries made serviceable versions, why waste R+D time on one when they could use that time to come up with Cranberry Lambics and Scotch Ales? To be fair, the Sam Adams line has brought us Whitewater IPA and the Latitude 48 line of IPAs, but now they are getting serious, with Rebel IPA- their first true "West Coast Style IPA". Hint: "West Coast Style" is the good kind of IPA. The kind people will buy. Word is the BBC people are getting aggressive about having their share of the IPA market, so much so that Lagunitas chief Tony Magee took to Twitter claiming that BBC was deliberately targeting his tap space in bars in order to replace Lagunitas beers with Rebel taps. Ah, the craft beer business- where everyone who gets into it is just out to fulfill their passion of brewing good beer and money is only an afterthought. It's nice to romanticize the craft movement, but after lifting sacks of grain and filling and lugging kegs for 14 hours a day, a brewer's rugged individualist spirit starts to sag...but sure can be boosted by a having a bank account comfortably in the black. But enough cynicism about "craft beer" (for now, I've plenty stored up for later), let's examine this Rebel IPA. 6.5% ABV, fine, maybe a tad low compared to what many breweries are shooting for nowadays but not every IPA has to be on the verge of being a DIPA. 45 IBUs, way low, you sure this isn't an APA? Hop bill: Cascade, Centennial, Simcoe, Amarillo, Chinook. Yes, I believe successful West Coast Style IPAs have been made with those ingredients. Price: $8.99 per six-pack (at Jubilation), right in line with the other Sam Adams beers- thankfully they didn't try to match the higher price points of some other IPAs. But can they match the flavor? And will your favorite Blue Moon tap at Holiday Bowl be replaced by Rebel IPA? Time will tell.