Brewing News is holding their 3rd Annual National IPA Challenge.
As with last year, participating IPAs from across the nation have been randomly chosen for a 1:1 single elimination bracket tournament. Winners of the first round will advance to the next. The events will be held at beer festivals across the nation, beginning February 14, 2010 and the judges will all be brewers!
Round 1 is on Valentine’s Day in Syracuse, NY.
Our opponent in this first round is the Marin IPA from Marin Brewing Co located in Larkspur, CA. This should be an interesting match-up as our Boundary Bay Brewery IPA is all about the hops and Marin describes their IPA as having “more malt than most.”
Team: Boundary Bay Brewery
Player Stats: A honey-amber colored India Pale Ale with good body, fairly strong alcohol content and an aggressive “fresh hop” quality. A very refreshing beer, IPA can be enjoyed by itself for its many interesting flavor highlights. It also goes well with lighter foods like chicken, pasta, seafood or spicy foods.
ABV: 7.4%
IBUs: 67.5
Original Gravity: 1.074
Hops: Centennial, Amarillo, Cascade, Crystal
vs.
Team: Marin Brewing Co.
Player Stats: Dank West Coast IPA with more malt than most.
ABV: 6.8%
IBUs: 70
Original Gravity: 1.068
Hops: Cascade, Columbus, Centennial
Wish you could play along? Well, you can! As with last year, IPA lovers will be able to choose their winners for each round on-line. Log on to the website to see images of each beer and read their brief descriptions. Then pick your poison…fill out the brackets with who you think will come out on top! Prizes will be awarded for readers with correct NIPAC brackets.
The top prize will be a free case of the 2010 NIPAC championship IPA!! And if that’s not enough of a reason to play, then maybe you just don’t love craft beer like we do!
Results of each round will be posted on-line within twenty-four hours of each round. Final results and winners will be published on-line and in the April/May 2010 issue of Brewing News.
Bellinghams Best Beer 