India Pale Ales, most often called IPAs, are one of the most popular styles of beer and can be found at most bars and breweries in town. National IPA Day falls on the first Thursday of every August, this year, Aug. 1.
According to the Holy Grail of national holidays, nationaldaycalendar.com, the IPA was “developed out of an idea from the 1700s when shipping ale to India, adding hops to the beer increased the longevity of the brew.”
Last year Charleston City Paper’s Hops editors spelled out the differences among different IPA styles, from West Coast to Hazy to Milkshake. And, as those writers pointed out, with over 150 species of hops worldwide, the varieties of IPAs are nearly endless.
We asked local breweries what IPAs they recommend this summer (and year-round) and what the classic beer style means to them. We also rounded up our favorite tried-and-true local sips and a list of places offering deals this National IPA Day. Cheers!
IPA Day celebrations
- King Street Dispensary sells $5 IPA drafts all day August 1.
- Bohemian Bull will be pouring $5 IPAs all day.
- Low Tide Brewing sells IPAs for half off on Aug. 1, including to-go beers. Sip on the Tide Chaser, the brewery’s flagship IPA, with “citrusy, dank and fruity” notes. Tie One Off XXX is also on tap, marking the return of the brewery’s Tie One Off IPA series, which was launched as a way to showcase different types of IPAs and hops. The Tie One Off XXX features notes of watermelon, mango peach and citrus fruits.
Brewery picks
You can find Looking East, Commonhouse Aleworks’ award-winning West Coat IPA, on tap at the Park Circle brewery. Head brewer Andrew Thornton said: “We love brewing IPAs, and something we’ve been playing around with recently — and I’m really excited about — is new school West Coast IPAs. They’re less bitter, more fruit-forward and more apporachable overall for folks that don’t love the bitterness of the original West Coast IPA.”
Frothy Beard Brewing’s Sip Sip Pass IPA is a gold medal winner of the 2023 S.C. Brewer’s Cup for the style of Hazy IPA. The New England-style IPA is brewed with mosaic, citra and amarillo hops. Frothy’s Ryan Hetzer said that he continues to see evolution and diversity within the IPA style: “From the hop-heavy and clarity-driven West Coast IPA, to the malty East Coast IPA, to those with sour elements and to the flavor-forward, hazy New England style, among a variety of others, IPAs have something to offer for nearly any fan of craft beer.”
The folks at Cooper River Brewing Co. said that the brewery’s Dock Day IPA is a perfect summer sipper. Co-owner Jamie Martin said: “Dock Day is a classic West Coast IPA designed for crushability with Citra and Simcoe hops leaving it citrusy and resinous enough for the hop heads to enjoy on a hot Charleston day.”
Revelry Brewing Co.’s head brewer, Ryan Coker, said that he has a love/hate relationship with IPAs. “I love a well-made West Coast IPA; to me, it’s the O.G., and its nostalgia brings me to an early, burgeoning landscape of craft beer. Fast forward 15 years, and we (brewers) have all taken aprt in the blurred lines that exist today and all own some responsibility for the style’s bastardization. … For my money, give me a low-ester, well-attentuated, crystal-clear, firmly bitter 6.5% IPA with a dank aroma all day long. I don’t know, maybe something like a Lefty Loosey IPA from Revelry?”
Editor’s picks
Coast Brewing’s HopART IPA is the West Coast IPA of our dreams. As the Hops editors wrote last year: “First brewed in 2007, HopArt is an IPA staple on the Charleston scene. Brewed with Nugget, Millennium and Cascade hops, this IPA clocks in at a banging 7.7% ABV.”
If you want a wide(r) variety of hazy IPAs, look no further than Charles Towne Fermentory and The Garden by Charles Towne Fermentory. The Sungazer is a perennial favorite and you can’t go wrong trying a DIPA (double IPA), like the Pallet Rider or the Side Stepper.
Holy City Brewing’s Overly Friendly IPA is a classic. The beer won this year’s BOC award for Best Locally Brewed IPA, so we’re not along in our affections.
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