What IPA's should a good store stock?

[dagamore]

The local PX/Class IX does not stock a single IPA, and if i am going to ask them to, what ones should I ask for?

Any Help would be great.

Think of all the soldiers/airmen that i could save from BMC with a few smaller brewery(probly not micro as an option) IPAs. It truly brings a tear to my eyes, watching soldiers buy cases of MGD and or Corona. Please help me to help them.


I am thinking about requesting the top 3 or so recomended ones.
tanks.

Daga More

[davebl]

Avery has a great IPA, and other great beers, so I would consider them.

Same with Bell's.. their Two Hearted Ale is amazing, and bells has a ton of great beers that would be good on shelves.

[Hicksey5]

I have fought this battle at my local BX/PX. the distributors they use have a ridiculous small list of beers and VERY VERY few would I consider "craft" beer. I literally went in with a list of 25 larger craft breweries and they couldnt get any of them. But let me know how it goes cause i'll drive to K-town for beer for sure.

[Ope08]

Anything by Stone Breweries of Escondito Ca.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Anchor Liberty Ale are both also crowd pleasers.

There is a school of thought on converting BMC drinkers over to real beer drinkers, that says you should not try to compete toe to toe with their set tastes. Giving them something that is "close to Corona, but better" can often be a failure because they will go into it thinking that it should be the same but better, which of course it ain't!

( side note: Pacifico, and San Miguel are close but better, but whats the point there? )

Try converting them by giving them something that cannot be directly compared in any way shape or form. The classic example is a half-pint of a very cold Bigfoot Barelywine, telling the hopeful convert not that it is "better" but that it is like drinking a port or wine more than a beer. If they cannot come up with a direct comparison that allows them the ease of defending what they are already comfortable with, then they will have little choice but to deal with "better brews" on their own merits alone.

That being said, here's my story. My brother in law is a hop fanatic, I like the maltier stuff, but both of us are beer lovers to the core. We got our friends and family to switch by giving them no choice. Every time we had a BBQ during the hot to hot-as-hell Southern California Summers we would provide Sierra Nevada, Anchor, Sam Adams only. Now even they try to bring something new every time, and there hasn't been a bottle of BMC in our house for three years...

PS: any of your guys who'v e been to the PI will already know about San Miguel...cood luck!!

[DrunkenSatyr]

I would shoot for Stone if you want to have the highest chance of getting distro in your area.

[Lerxst]

Left: Stone
Middle: Two Hearted
Right: Loose Cannon

[Tankard]

Flying Dog's Snake Dog IPA is a great choice as well. Nice bold IPA, but not overpowering, so even non-craft drinkers can probably appreciate it.

[zoebisch01]

A few good choices have been mentioned. A good English style IPA is Brooklyn's. This is a good one because the hops tend to be more balanced, helping to broaden appeal. It's very easy when you get steeped in things that have massive amounts of Citrusy/Piney hops to remember that.

[MrMarbleHead]

One that may be easier to get a hold of also is Redhooks Long Hammer IPA, while it's not the worlds best IPA, it is a decent one for the price. It may be easier for them to get out in Germany because of Buds huge distro network.

[zoebisch01]

One that may be easier to get a hold of also is Redhooks Long Hammer IPA, while it's not the worlds best IPA, it is a decent one for the price. It may be easier for them to get out in Germany because of Buds huge distro network.

Yeah good call. I haven't had that one, but at least it's something with hops :D

[vtchuck]

Smuttynose and Long Trail are good as well

[rooster445]

Bridgeport is one of my favorites

[Lerxst]

Any luck with this??