CAMRA IPA Caskival Was Just Too Hop to Handle

More specifically, Too Hop to Handle was a caskival dedicated to that most West Coast of beer styles, India Pale Ale (which, perhaps not so coincidentally, was the subject ofInternational IPA Day on Aug. 4).

This style has undergone something of a North American evolution since it was created in 19th-century England to slake the thirst of British troops and officers in what was then the U.K.’s distant colony.

Already known for being a relatively bitter ale in the U.K., IPA underwent a major hop injection when the craft beer industry started to take off in California in the 1970s, and soon North American IPA became a style of its own: Lively, earthy and tangy aromas, generously carbonated, stronger than average, with a solid bitterness balanced by a more subtle sweetness and a bouquet of flavours ranging from citrus to herbs and pine.

It may be called North American IPA, but it’s really a West Coast thing – nowhere else in the continent are these ales so robustly bittered and flavoured.

So let’s just say a lot of the B.C. brewers contributing casks to the event on July 23 were in their element, as were the many hopheads who descended on St. Augustine’s that Saturday.

The pub had packed in the punters, arranging its tables in long rows, bierhalle-style – while there was also the option of sitting outside on the pub’s small patio.

Casks lined the walls as well as the bar proper – which itself boasts an impressive range of craft beer – while small plates of pairing food had been prepared by St. Augustine’s chef, Dion Ouellet.

CAMRA Vancouver had even made good use of the pub’s screens: What usually beam out conversation-killing sports were made educational tools, with various hop facts on rotation. And that loud, lively sound? The wonderful blare of people talking to each other.

One of these caskivals, I’ll get a taste of everything on offer. As it was, I only managed around half of the 14 offerings but got a good impression of this style’s range. (Actually, I counted a couple I’d already tasted, including Howe Sound’s robust Total Eclipse of the Hop Imperial IPA and Phillips’ superb Belgian IPA, a.k.a. Hoperation.)

Red Racer‘s entry tells it like it isAt the lighter end of the scale was the very pale, very refreshing 2XS IPA by Dead Frog, a little on the sweeter side and a great palate cleanser. Then there was the Insurrection by Crannog, an English-style IPA with a grounding earthiness behind the herbal hops. Both were featherweights here at just 5.5% ABV – but both were delicious.

At the darker side of the scale was Spinnakers’ Lion’s Head Cascadian Dark Ale (6.5%). This was the only CDA at the event, which I found surprising as there is currently something of a trend toward the style. Perhaps this dark ale, which ups the malt content to challenge the hops flavour, is more of a spring/autumn beer and doesn’t quite have the refreshing qualities of its paler cousin. Regardless, I’m a huge fan of this style, and Spinnakers’ CDA was actually very refreshing, a little lighter in body than other CDAs I’ve had, but still smooth, rich and roasty.

Big Ridge brewmaster Tariq Khan showed there’s plenty of life in a great name with his IPA sequel Wrath of Khan 2 Belgian IPA (6.9%), which apparently had some wheat in the mix to create its balanced creaminess.

Meanwhile, Big River’s Claire Connolly (left, with enthusiastic member of St. Augustine’s staff) took the name of the event to heart and produced an Insane IPAthat registered at 9% and a staggering 151 International Bittering Units (the maximum human threshold for tasting bitterness is around 100 IBUs). What’s more, each serving was dispensed through a special canister of dried hops for a final blast of aroma. My tasting notes read simply, “Holy cow.” This beer’s extreme hoppiness gave each sip an incredible weight, yet, insane or not, it remained remarkably drinkable.

Every entrant on the day was eligible for the Brewer’s Challenge Award, decided by a panel of expert judges, and a People’s Choice Award, voted for by the public.

The former prize eventually went to David Varga of Taylor’s Crossing brewpub and Red Truck beer, who also tied for the People’s Choice award with the Abel Tasman IPA byLighthouse’s Dean McLeod (which I sadly didn’t try).

Varga’s IPA had a notably superb balance of malt sweetness and hops bite, and was smooth, soft in the mouth and well-rounded.

“Drinkability is big in my methodology,” said Varga when I chatted to him later on the phone.
“I focus on hop flavour more than bitterness. [IPAs] go really well in casks, the low carbonation means more malt flavour and balance with the hops I use.”

Varga wasn’t actually present at the event, so didn’t even get to try his own cask, but he recalls dry-hopping the beer with a New Zealand hop, “so the flavour comes across as a little more tropical. It enhances the sweetness.”

For Varga, balance is critical in any IPA.

“The hops are certainly on the forefront but there always has to be enough of a malt sweetness in the background to provide balance,” he said, but admitted that hops is the star of the show, whatever its variety – be it the earthier, more herbal English hops, or the Pacific Northwest hops that can produce aromas and flavours of grapefruit, pine resin, even cannabis (a relative of the hops plant).

Varga admitted that it’s a challenge for him to brew IPAs, which makes his win at Too Hop to Handle even more impressive.

“For me it’s probably tougher, mainly because I come from a lager-brewing background, where everything is a little more restrained in terms of beer character,” he said.

“It’s hard for me to get past that [attitude] “yeah, just add a little more hops.” It’s a little tougher for me because it doesn’t come naturally.”

As if to meet that difficulty head-on and continue the momentum of winning the CAMRA Vancouver event, Varga this week will release a Red Truck IPA, which will be available for a limited time only at Taylor’s Crossing and select other bars and restaurants with a Red Truck account (a full list can be found here).

Well done David; and once again, well done CAMRA Vancouver for organizing another great event. They seem to get better every time.

jzeschky@theprovince.com
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