National IPA Day may not be an official holiday, but the Grease Burger, Beer and Whiskey Bar will temporarily take away the bitterness from a long day at work with a multitude of India pale ales on August 1.
In addition to its selection of 120 beers, Grease will make available an additional 20--all IPAs or hoppy pale ales to commemorate the love of humulus lupulus (or the hops plant).
See Also: Grease Burger Bar to be Featured on Food Paradise, Hosts Viewing Party
Of the extra 20 two will be on draft, Goose Island IPA, 5.9 percent alcohol-by-volume (ABV), and New Belgium Ranger IPA, 6.5 percent ABV, and the rest either bottled or canned:
- Dogfish Head 60 Minute, 6 percent ABV
- Dogfish Head 90 Minute, 9 percent ABV
- Ballast Point Sculpin, 7 percent ABV
- Shipyward XXXX Imperial, 9.25 percent ABV
- Stone IPA, 6.9 percent ABV
- Due South Category 3 (can), 6.1 percent ABV
- Florida Beer Swamp Ape, 10 percent ABV
- Avery IPA, 6.5 percent ABV
- Bell's Two Hearted, 7 percent ABV
- Cigar City Jai Alai (can), 7.5 percent ABV
- Founders Centennial, 7.2 percent ABV
- Lagunitas Maximus, 8.2 percent ABV
- Southern Tier 2XIPA, 8.2 percent ABV
- Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Black IPA, 8.7 percent ABV
- Terrapin Hopsecutioner, 7.3 percent ABV
- Thomas Creek Up the Creek Extreme, 12.5 percent ABV
- Victory Hop Devil, 6.7 percent ABV
If you don't already know, hops cones are the female flowers of the hops plant and are used to add flavor, aroma and preserve beer.
National IPA Day was founded by social media beer aficionados Ashley Routson, AKA The Beer Wench, and Certified Cicerone Ryan Ross. According to Routson, the beer holiday was directly inspired by Cabernet Day, a wine holiday founded by sommelier (also Routson's friend) Rick Bakas, who unified lovers of cabernet wine across Twitter with the hashtag #cabernetday.
Taking a page from the movement created by Bakas, the first IPA day occurred in 2011 with a coordination of at least 10 breweries across the Twitterverse, uniting with the hashtag #ipaday. But why beer India pale ales and not stouts, pilsners or porters?
In a post written by Routson on her blog, drinkwiththewench.com, she explains the reasoning behind choosing IPAs is about as much of the unique style as it is the smaller craft breweries that are producing it, "...we wanted to choose a style that was readily available in just about every market. The India Pale Ale is one of the, if not THE, most brewed craft styles of beer in the world. It is also the MOST entered category in the Great American Beer Festival and World Beer Cup. If we were to start out with International Craft Lager Day, the excitement wouldn't be as intense because the style is not much different from corporate lagers and not nearly as exciting as the IPA."
Now the holiday is celebrated worldwide on August 7 throughout Twitter and in breweries, bars or any location where people are grasping cold IPAs in their hands.
The IPA offerings at Grease Burger Bar will last the entire day until the restaurant closes at 2 a.m.
Send feedback and tips to David Minsky at [email protected], Twitter and Instagram
Follow @CleanPlateBPB