20 Down, 0 To Go!

Posted by: Tyler Rippeteau

Aug. 15, 2011

I started this blog way back in January of this year.  Now, about 7 months, 40 posts and 20 American Double IPAs later, I have reached my goal - to drink and review the Top 20 Most Reviewed Beers on Beer Advocate.  For any of you who are active reviewers on BA and happen to be as much of a beer nerd as I am, you can understand why the little blue check marks in the picture to the right make me happy.

That, by the way, is what the list looked like right after I completed my last review - AleSmith YuleSmith (Summer).  The list wasn't always in the same order, there were some changes in the rankings along the way, but all 20 beers on the original list remained there for the duration of my project and I am grateful for that.

The original list had the 20 beers ranked in this order:

1.   90 Minute IPA - Dogfish Head
2.   Stone Ruination - Stone Brewing
3.   Bell's Hopslam - Bell's Brewery
4.   Pliny the Elder - Russian River
5.   Hop Wallup - Victory
6.   120 Minute IPA - Dogfish Head
7.   Maharaja - Avery Brewing
8.   Dreadnaught IPA - Three Floyds
9.   Hercules Double IPA - Great Divide
10. Hop Stoopid - Lagunitas
11. Burton Baton - Dogfish Head
12. Double Simcoe IPA - Weyerbacher Brewing
13. Maximus - Lagunitas
14. Gordon Ale - Oskar Blues
15. Unearthly - Southern Tier
16. Founders Devil Dancer - Founders
17. YuleSmith (Summer) - AleSmith
18. Double Dog Double Pale Ale - Flying Dog
19. Hopsickle Imperial IPA - Moylan's Brewery
20. Founder's Double Trouble - Founders

Below is what the list looks like today.  You'll notice that the biggest mover was Founders Double Trouble going from 20th all the way up to 12th.  It is a seasonal release from Founders that can be difficult to track down, but this past winter when it was released around the same time as Founders super-popular Kentucky Breakfast Stout the Double Trouble got a decent boost as the best Founders beer that you were allowed to buy more than two bottles of at the liquor store.

The only other real significant move was AleSmith YuleSmith.  It dropped from 17th down to 20th.  Sure, it is a seasonal beer that was out of season for most of the duration of this project, but I was surprised that once it was released in July it didn't jump back up.  At this point, it seems to be a likely candidate for getting knocked out of the Top 20 since this year's batch is starting to dry up in the few states it is distributed in and it's only 15 reviews ahead of the number 21 spot - Smuttynose's Big A IPA - a year-round release. 

1.   90 Minute IPA - Dogfish Head
2.   Stone Ruination - Stone Brewing
3.   Bell's Hopslam - Bell's Brewery
4.   Pliny the Elder - Russian River (Will need some help finding this one for sure)
5.   Hop Wallup - Victory
6.   120 Minute IPA - Dogfish Head
7.   Maharaja - Avery Brewing
8.   Hop Stoopid - Lagunitas
9.   Dreadnaught IPA - Three Floyds
10. Hercules Double IPA - Great Divide
11. Burton Baton - Dogfish Head
12. Founders Double Trouble - Founders
13. Double Simcoe IPA - Weyerbacher Brewing
14. Maximus - Lagunitas
15. G'Knight Ale (Formerly Gordon Ale) - Oskar Blues
16. Unearthly - Southern Tier
17. Founders Devil Dancer - Founders18. Double Dog Double Pale Ale - Flying Dog
19. Hopsickle Imperial IPA - Moylan's Brewery
20. YuleSmith (Summer) - AleSmith

I did not reach my goal of finishing this project before I moved to Boulder, but I did get pretty close - only reviewing one beer here in Colorado.

By the way, some of the other stats from this project:

10 beers were distributed year-round in Chicago and I had no problem getting my hands on them, they were:

Dogfish Head 90 Minute
Stone Ruination
Victory Hop Wallop
Lagunitas Hop Stoopid
Lagunitas Maximus
Three Floyds Dreadnaught
Great Divide Hercules
Southern Tier Unearthly
Flying Dog Double Dog Double Pale Ale
Moylan's Hopsickle

7 Beers were seasonal or only made a few times a year and I had to wait for them:

Bell's Hopslam
Dogfish Head 120 Minute
Dogfish Head Burton Baton
Founders Double Trouble
Founders Devil Dancer
Avery Maharaja
AleSmith YuleSmith (Summer)

4 Beers were not distributed to Illinois at all:

Russian River Pliny the Elder
Oskar Blues G'Knight Ale
AleSmith YuleSmith
Weyerbacher Double Simcoe IPA

I travelled to get the G'Knight and the Russian River.  Oddly, I now live a half an hour away from the Oskar Blues brewery, but I ended up trying it for the first time in Nashville, Tennessee over the winter.  The Russian River I had for the first time when visiting Estes Park, Colorado before I moved to the state.

The Double Simcoe and the YuleSmith I got in trades.  Thanks to nevins and ren over at Beer Advocate for being great traders and coming though for me.

In addition to having to travel and trade for some of these beers I almost missed out on two of them even though they were distributed in Illinois.  The Dogfish 120 Minute IPA was an exceptionally rare beer this year.  After not producing it for quite some time Sam and the guys over in Milton, DE finally put together a small batch of it, but demand was very high and supply extremely low.  My former roommate worked at one of the biggest Whole Foods in Illinois and his store only got 8 beers.  One of which he was able to snag for me for $12 only because a customer who was on the waiting list for it failed to show up.  I later managed to get spoiled with two bottles at my local hang-out in Evanston - and that was 25% of their supply.

The other tough one was Founders Devil Dancer, which oddly was released on the same day.  I miscalculated how much of it would be available and I focused all my efforts on finding the 120.  As it turned out, however, while liquor stores were only allowing one bottle per customer of the 120 Minute, they were only allowing two Devil Dancers.  After I finally got the Dogfish I turned my attention towards the Founders offering and realized quickly that I might have screwed up big time.  None of my regular bars or liquor stores had it by the time I got around to searching for it.  I then proceeded to do a ton of research and make about 25 phone calls before I was able to find a full 4-pack.  At least it was full until Dan, my brother-in-law agreed to drive me 30 minutes to go pick it up.  As a new DIPA enthusiast, his fee was one of the four bottles.  Thanks Dan!

Speaking of thanks, I had to rely on a lot of help from several people and they all deserve a big round of applause: Emily, Dan, nevins, ren, Robb from Poppy's Pizza in Estes Park, Kyle and Phil from Prairie Moon in Evanston, Carlos at Fischman's, Beer Advocate, r/beer and all of you who have read the blog, especially those who commented on the site.  It has been a blast.  We're not quite done yet though, there will be a 20 Beers in 20 Nights Awards posting for the DIPA Project along with rankings.  Not 100% sure when, but it's coming soon.

The Updated List (Again) - 10 Down, 10 To Go

Posted by: Tyler Rippeteau

Mar. 30, 2011

We've reached the half way point here at 20 Beers in 20 Nights and I thought it was a good time to post an updated version of The List.

The initial goal of the website was to review the Top 20 Most Reviewed American Double IPAs on Beer Advocate.  As we reach the halfway point, however, I am having a lot of fun with this and the plan is to keep it going beyond the Top 20.  I have a few ideas for another set of 20 beers, but if any of you out there have some thoughts I would love to hear them.

Back to the current list, however, here is what it looked like in the beginning of the project:

1.   90 Minute IPA - Dogfish Head
2.   Stone Ruination - Stone Brewing
3.   Bell's Hopslam - Bell's Brewery
4.   Pliny the Elder - Russian River (Will need some help finding this one for sure)
5.   Hop Wallup - Victory
6.   120 Minute IPA - Dogfish Head
7.   Maharaja - Avery Brewing
8.   Dreadnaught IPA - Three Floyds
9.   Hercules Double IPA - Great Divide
10. Hop Stoopid - Lagunitas
11. Burton Baton - Dogfish Head
12. Double Simcoe IPA - Weyerbacher Brewing
13. Maximus - Lagunitas
14. Gordon Ale - Oskar Blues
15. Unearthly - Southern Tier
16. Founders Devil Dancer - Founders
17. YuleSmith (Summer) - AleSmith
18. Double Dog Double Pale Ale - Flying Dog
19. Hopsickle Imperial IPA - Moylan's Brewery
20. Founder's Double Trouble - Founders

The updated list has a few changes, Hop Stoopid and Maharaja flip flopped spots, although, I believe they'll probably revert back to their original spots soon seeing as another batch of Maharaja was just released and the Hop Stoopid is available year-round.  At this point the Maharaja is only 11 reviews behind.  The other mover on the list was, once again, Founders Double Trouble.  It has steadily moved up the list, starting at No. 20 and moving up to 14.

As I noted in the last update to The List, the original listed Oskar Blues's Gordon Ale, but the name has been changed since then to G'Knight Ale.

So, after all that, this is what the new list looks like:

1.   90 Minute IPA - Dogfish Head
2.   Stone Ruination - Stone Brewing
3.   Bell's Hopslam - Bell's Brewery
4.   Pliny the Elder - Russian River (Will need some help finding this one for sure)
5.   Hop Wallup - Victory
6.   120 Minute IPA - Dogfish Head
7.   Hop Stoopid - Lagunitas
8.   Maharaja - Avery Brewing
9.   Dreadnaught IPA - Three Floyds
10. Hercules Double IPA - Great Divide
11. Burton Baton - Dogfish Head
12. Double Simcoe IPA - Weyerbacher Brewing
13. Maximus - Lagunitas
14. Founders Double Trouble - Founders 
15. G'Knight Imperial Red Ale - Oskar Blues
16. Unearthly - Southern Tier
17. Founders Devil Dancer - Founders
18. Double Dog Double Pale Ale - Flying Dog
19. YuleSmith (Summer) - AleSmith 
20. Hopsickle Imperial IPA - Moylan's Brewery

Of the 10 remaining beers on the list, I am only seeing one as giving me a hard time, the YuleSmith Summer by AleSmith.  AleSmith doesn't distribute to Chicago as far as I know and I may have to wait a few more months anyway, to get my hands on a fresh batch.  I imagine it will be the final beer on the list.

On the other hand, I have already reviewed the Maharaja, I just have to edit and post it sometime within the next few days.  I also have a 4-pack of Double Trouble in the fridge, along with a bomber of Hop Stoopid.

90 Minute, Unearthly and Double Dog should be no problem whatsoever.  The Founders Devil Dancer and the Hop Wallup shouldn't require too much hunting either.  The only other minor issue could arise is the Dogfish Head 120.  Rumor has it that Dogfish somehow screwed up the last batch, but at this point I have no word on when it is coming out.

Anyhow, point is, 10 down, 10 to go.

The Weyerbacher's Double Simcoe Trade

Posted by: Tyler Rippeteau

Feb. 8, 2011

***UPDATE*** After a few weeks of struggle, the Weyerbacher's Double Simcoe IPA has finally arrived, check out the review here.***UPDATE***

Since we began reviewing beers here at 20 Beers in 20 Nights Worldwide Headquarters in Evanston, IL a few weeks ago, we’ve been picking some low hanging fruit.  Sure Hopslam is not a particularly common or easy to find beer all the time, but here in Chicago, it is not a problem to find it when it is released. 

Well, after four reviews (and with number five already in the pipeline) it is time to get serious about finding a few of the beers on The List that are not readily available.  So, I headed over to Beer Advocate to find some trading partners and I came across a user named nevins (funny coincidence of a name for those of you who know me) who was able to get his hands on beer #12 on The List – Weyerbacher Brewing Company’s Double Simcoe IPA.  Additionally, and what I originally got in on the trade for, he’ll be sending along a six pack of one of my all-time favorite IPAs – Ithaca Beer Company's Flower Power and a couple of Ithaca’s limited releases.  What I sent back to him in return is pictured on the right.  If you can't see, it's a six-pack of Bell's Hopslam, a couple bombers of Three Floyds Dreadnaught DIPA and a bomber of Three Floyds Behemoth, which I have yet to try, but will do so soon.  

Not a bad haul for either of us.

Anyhow, the Double Simcoe currently has a Beer Advocate rating of A-/4.16 and 994 BA members have reviewed it.  It has a 9% ABV and it is named after the hops in it – 100% Simcoe Hops, a variety that was created in 2000 out on the West Coast known for its piney taste and bitterness.

I'm looking forward to the whole lot from nevins and to writing the review!  Stay tuned.

Bell's Brewery Hopslam 2011 Release

Posted by: Stonecipher

Jan. 25, 2011

OK, so with the very first review I'm directly contradicting the name of this blog, oh well.  It's about 3:30 in the afternoon here in Chicago and I have been working on important stuff all day, plus I have this six-pack of fresh Bell's Hopslam in the fridge that is calling my name, so I think it is about that time - time for a Bell's Hopslam from Bell's Brewery.

First, some basic facts:
ABV: 10.0%
IBUs: Somewhere in the range of 69 - 136.  The debate rages on.
Brewery Location: Kalamazoo, MI
Style: Double IPA
Beer Advocate Average Rating: A/4.43 - Outstanding
My Beer Advocate Rating: A+/4.75 - Exceptional
Current Number of Reviews/Rank in the Top 20 on Beer Advocate: 2,034/3rd
Brewer's Description: Click on the Hopslam thumbnail.

Now, before I dive into this review, it is worth noting that I reviewed this beer last year as well on Beer Advocate and if you click here you'll see my BA review.  My palate was just beginning to become sophisticated enough to understand what I was drinking, but I was too stupid to know that the Hopslam was a DIPA and therefore, pretty high in the ABV department.  Anyhow, I wrote the following review before I re-read the old BA one and it is interesting to see compare the similarities and contradictions.  The one thing that stood out from the first review is the quote I used from a fellow bartender of mine "It's like they tried to fit two beers into that one bottle and somehow they fit."  Perfect description, even for the 2011 release.

Alright, without further ado, the review:

APPEARANCE:  Poured this into a snifter fairly aggressively and I was rewarded with a solid, foamy, quarter-inch thick head.  The bubbles are a mix of large and tiny with the bigger bubbles occupying the area towards the center of the glass.  The brilliant and almost completely clear golden color is reminiscent of the honey flavor that I know is waiting in this glass.  Interesting lacing, it appears to remain only on the left and right side of the glass instead of the opposite side I was drinking from and what remains are foamy pillars that stretch from the top to bottom.

SMELL:  The aroma hits the nose immediately with the Hopslam.  As soon as it is poured out of the bottle a sweet, piney, hoppy and honey smell fills the air.  As I move my nose closer to the glass the honey stands out as the dominating aroma.

TASTE:  Upon the first sip, the first thing that stands out is that this beer is more hoppy than it was last year.  True to its name, the hops slap your palate right up front, but as it sits on the tongue a sweet, honey flavor rises and falls before giving way to a bitter, but slightly piney aftertaste.  It is certainly a dryer beer than last year's release, and that, in my opinion is a good thing.  Bell's Brewery has managed to top near-perfection.

MOUTHFEEL:  Hopslam is very clearly a finely tuned, carefully crafted work of art, and while Bell's nailed the look, smell and taste of this beer, they did not forget about the feel.  My guess is that if this beer made any noise it would sound like Marvin Gaye singing "Inner City Blues".  Anyhow, back to the feel, generally, I like to feel a strong sparkle on my tongue, but the lighter sparkle, combined with an little bit of an oily feel make this beer go down extremely smooth.

OVERALL:  What else can I say about this beer?  I chose to review it first because A). it is in season and is fresh and B). it is one of my all-time favorites.  For 10% this is incredibly easy to drink.  The alcohol is certainly easy to detect, but it is so well balanced with the sweetness and hoppiness that it is easy to see how you can get into trouble with the Hopslam.  Maybe it's for the best that we only get to enjoy this delicious brew for a few months of the year.

DRAWBACKS:  There are not many flaws in this beer and you have to get very nitpicky to come up with any.  That said, the head retention and lacing could be a bit better, although that is not an easy proposition for a 10% DIPA, I understand that.  The only other thing I would change about this beer is that it could use a touch more bite on the mouthfeel.  Like I said, nitpicky.  But that's what you have to be when you're looking for drawbacks to an exceptional, near-perfect beer.

SOUND:  OK, I know beer doesn't produce a sound, but to add a little twist, I'm going to try to match up each beer to what I believe it would sound like if it could talk, sing or play some music.  To be fair, I think many of us have tried to talk to our beer at some point in the past, so hey, don't be too tough on me for this.  As I mentioned before, though, this beer is smooth, savory and sweet all at the same time and that is how I view Marvin Gaye's voice.  Given that Hopslam is one of my favorite beers it is only fitting that it would sound like one of my favorite songs "Inner City Blues".  In case you don't already have this gem in your music collection, here's a link to Marvin's "Gold" album on iTunes: 



Thanks for checking out the review.  Hope you enjoyed it and I hope you can get your hands on some Hopslam sometime soon.  It really is an exceptional beer.  Go ahead and leave a comment, tell me what you think of the blog, the beer or the review.  If you're too shy to do that, send me some Beer Mail on Beer Advocate, the user name is StoneTSR.  Cheers!