You typically will not find me attending festivals unless I am there for "man" power. I made an exception for the 8th Annual Double IPA Festival in Hayward at the Bistro.
Several years ago I had my first vertical double IPA sampling at The Bistro. I found it difficult to warm up to the "Hummer" of hopped beer. I was happy with a good IPA.
Thankfully palates change. One learns to develop the process of keeping an open tongue when it comes to new beers. So I decided I couldn't think of a better way!
27 different breweries represented themselves. There was a total of 34 double IPA's to be sampled. A strategy had to be developed. The ticket price only allowed a sampling of 10.
My cousin and I decided that we would each try a different beer and share our samples. It required the use of the list which was handed to us with our commemorative sample glass.
The average alcohol content of the beers was almost 9%. One was as high as 11.8%. It's necessary to support the hops with alcohol. I was pleased with all the beers that were there. The double IPA is a purely American beer style. The name IPA is an acronym for India Pale Ale. This is because the English pale ales which were imported to it's colonies in India were recieved in a concentrated form which gained popularity.
Some of the entries came as far south as San Diego, as far north as Oregon, a suprise eastern entry from New York, and a healthy representation throughout the California and Colorado States.
It was a pleasant suprise to run into Rick Sellers, the new beer editor for Draft Magazine. It wasn't long before Tom Daldorf; the publisher for the Celebrator magazine joined our conversation. Nick Campbell of the Blue Frog was there also.
My cousin and I managed to leave with our taste buds intact, a broad spectrum of what a double IPA can be like, and one of the great sandwiches The Bisto has to offer.
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