Forget about traditional India pale ales, said Eric Asimov in The New York Times. The British developed this fruity, hoppy brew “centuries ago, to withstand the ocean voyage to colonial India.” But some bold American brewers are now hellbent on using “inordinate amounts” of malt and hops to the recipe, and adding ingredients those Old World brew masters never even dreamed of. Welcome to the world of “Extreme IPAs, even Unearthly IPAs.”
Recently, a Times panel sampled 25 new IPAs—just a fraction of those now available—to judge which were the creations of truly creative brewers and which merely the outlandish byproducts of a “can you top this?” contest. We were surprised at how appealing, even elegant, the best were. Here, our three favorites:
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