On To Round 2!

We really, truly love this time of year.  And not just becuase it’s Valentine’s Day, but because it’s time for the annual National IPA Championships (NIPAC)!  Last night, in Buffalo, New York, IPAs from across the nation went head to head in the first round of a 1:1 elimination tournament.  In Round 1, we had our much loved IPA as well as a rare style for us, our Cascadian Dark and we are proud to announce that BOTH of our beers took down their competitors and are advancing to Round 2!

Next Saturday, February 19th, the NIPAC judging moves to Syracuse, NY and our IPA goes up against Lakefront IPA by Lakefront Brewery while our Cascadian Dark takes on Dark Horse Crooked Tree IPA. The Lakefront IPA, according to Lakefront Brewery “pours a hazy orange with a rocky white head that lasts, and leaves soft lace on your glass as you sip this refreshing beer. American Cascade and Chinook hops dominate the aroma, yielding a citrusy, floral bouquet. The hops give a nice bitter bite to the flavor, but this beer is surprisingly well balanced with a full body and smooth malty flavor to back up the hops. It finishes smooth and crisp with a lingering hop flavor reminiscent of fresh ruby red grapefruit.” Dark Horse describes their Crooked Tree IPA as “Heavily dry-hopped to give a big aroma of pine and citrus, the flavors are big but very balanced between fresh hops and malt. Often described as “grapefruity” our hops give this beer an excellent flavor that finishes dry, crisp, and clean.”

There were 19 beers from Washington State in the first round of NIPAC, but they’ve been whittled down to just 9 Washington beers still standing in Round 2.  We’re thrilled to be among those 9 and proud to represent the unique, bold flavors of Washington craft beer.  Cheers!

How Does our IPA Stack Up?

The National IPA Championship (NIPAC) starts this weekend!  Not sure what the NIPAC is?  Here’s how Northwest Brewing News (who hosts the competition) explains it:

Participating IPAs from across the nation will be randomly chosen for a 1:1 single elimination bracket tournament. Winners of the first round will advance to the next. The complete IPA tournament bracket will be published in the February/March issue of Great Lakes Brewing News and posted on-line. The events will be held in several locations, beginning February 13, 2011. The judges will all be brewers.

As with last year, IPA lovers will be able to choose their winners for each round on-line. They will log onto the web and read a brief description of your beer as well as view an image (be sure to fill out the description on the entry form, as well as send an image or logo via email). Prizes will be awarded for readers with correct NIPAC brackets. The top prize will be a free case of the 2011 NIPAC championship IPA.

The Judging Process: All judges will be brewers. They will be organized into panels of 3, and given the task of choosing the best IPA between two beers. The judges will not know what beers they are being served. The majority rules on the voting.

BBAY Cascadian Dark

You still have time to make your predictions, but you’d better hurry because the deadline is tomorrow – February 13th! Visit the on-line Locker Room for full descriptions of each of the IPA competitors: After confirming your age, you will then be able to review the beers and go to our on-line contest . NIPAC winners will be determined by the total points earned from each round…and let us reiterate, you could win a CASE of the CHAMPIONSHIP IPA!  What’s not to love about that?!?

In the first round our Cascadian Dark (black in color, this aggressively hopped ale is smooth with a clean, dry finish. ABV: 7.5%  Hops: Columbus, Simcoe & Tradition) is paired up against Flashpoint IPA from Pumphouse Brewery (an American-style IPA made with Simco, Chinook, Amarillo, Cascade and Centennial hops.  ABV: 6.7%).

And our Boundary Bay IPA (a honey-colored India Pale Ale with good body, fairly strong alcohol content and an aggressive “fresh hop” quality.  ABV: 7.4%  Hops: Centennial, Simcoe, Amarillo, Cascade and Crystal) is going head to head with Dale’s Pale Ale by Oskar Blues Brewery (America’s first hand-canned craft beer is a voluminously hopped mutha that delivers a hoppy nose, assertive-but-balanced flavors of pale malts and hops from start to finish. First canned in 2002, Dale’s Pale Ale is a hearty (6.5% and 65 IBUs), critically acclaimed trailblazer that has changed the way craft beer fiends perceive canned beer.  Hops: Nugget, Cascade, Columbus, Centennial Hops).

Both should be interesting match ups…we’re excited to see how they turn out! Cheers.

Round 1- February 13th @ Buffalo, NY

Round 2 – February 19th @ Syracuse, NY

Round 3 – February 26th @ Grand Rapids, MI

Round 4 – March 2nd @ Cleveland, OH

Final Round – March 5th @ Philadelphia, PA

Hops vs. Malts in the National IPA Championships

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.

Boundary Bay Brewery is Participating in the 2nd Annunal National IPA Challenge!

Great Lake Brewing News (a publication of Brewing News – North American’s regional beer newspapers) is kicking off the 2nd annual National IPA Challenge (NIPAC) and Boundary Bay Brewery is getting in on the action!  Here’s how the whole thing works:  participating IPA’s from across the nation are randomly pitted against each other in a head to head elimination bracket tournament.  At beer festivals across the nation, judging for each round will commence and the IPAs will be whittled down to one winner.  All judges are brewers who will not know which beers they are tasting and simply have the chore of choosing the best between the two samples provided.  Each winner will advance to the next round.  In this first round, which will take place in Syracuse, NY on February 22nd, our IPA is going up against Hop Hog IPA from Lancaster Brewing Company. Lancaster claims their “…formidable India Pale Ale has a hop aroma that demands attention.  The bold, citrus hop flavor is blanaced by a dry malt character that makes this refreshing ale a true classic.”  Thier IPA is created with Fuggles and Cascade hops and 2-row Barley, Caramel 40 and Ashburn Mild malts.  In contrast, our IPA has a good body, a fairly strong alcohol content and an agressive fresh-hop quality.  It is a very interesting beer and can be enjoyed by itself for its many interesting flavor highlights.  We use Simcoe, Amarillo, Centennial Cascade and Crystal hops with Pale 2-row, Carastan, Crystal and Vienna malts.  Find out which IPA wins the hearts of the judges.  You, at home, can play along as well! Head to the Great Lakes Brewing News National IPA Challenge website and read the full descriptions of each of the IPA competitors.  Enter your picks for winners in each round…prizes will be awarded for readers with correct NIPAC brackets!  The top prize will be a free case of the 2009 NIPAC championship IPA. You can only submit one entry per round and entries must be submitted by midnight on Saturday, February 21st.  At the completion of each round, winners will be posted to the web site within 24 hours, but you can also sign up for the Beer Brackets email and get notified as soon as the results  are posted.  So, round 1 is Febrary 22nd in Syracuse, NY.  Round 2 is in Grand Rapids, MI on February 28th and round 3 is on March 7th in Philadelphia, PA.  Buffalo, NY will host round 4 on March 14th and the Final Round and Championship Rounds will be in New York City on March 21st.  Come on and get hopped up with us…take on the  National IPA challenge and aquaint yourself with some excellent examples of craft beer from across the nation!