Today was the 21st annual IPA Festival and the Inaugural Hazy IPA Festival at the Bistro. The weather cooperated and it ended up being a cool but sunny in Hayward, making it was near perfect beer-drinking weather once we emerged from judging in the basement. This year the judging was split into two groups, regular clear IPAs and hazy IPAs. There were 41 traditional American-style IPAs. The full list of winners is below.
West Coast IPA Festival Winners
- 1st Place: Chain Shot (Moonraker Brewing)
- 2nd Place: Rakau (Triple Rock Brewing)
- 3rd Place: Danker Will Robinson (Alpha Acid)
For the first time, this year we separately judged Hazy, East Coast, New England IPAs, or whatever you want to call them. We had 36 in the first round, and eight in the final round.
East Coast or Hazy IPA Festival Winners
- 1st Place: DDH Cantaloupe Island (Cellarmaker Brewing)
- 2nd Place: Citra Dream (New Glory Craft Brewery)
- 3rd Place: Relax (Bruery Offshoot)