Before there was “IPA,” there was survival. The India Pale Ale didn’t begin in a haze or with a taproom brawl over who dry-hops best—it began with British brewers, warm beer, and oceanic anxiety. In the 18th century, ales spoiled during the months-long voyage to colonial India. The solution? Hop it like hell. Hops, with their antiseptic bitterness and oil-slicked magic, preserved the beer on its voyage—and in the process, birthed a style. But like all creation myths, the truth is foggy: some IPAs made the trip, some didn’t; some were loved, some brewed solely for thirsty colonizers. Regardless, the hop-forward style broke free of its imperial shackles and became a global juggernaut—now honored annually on the first Thursday in August as National IPA Day.
Then the Pacific Northwest got involved—and all hop hell broke gloriously loose. Washington and Oregon didn’t just embrace the IPA; they rewrote the recipe, planted it in the soil of the Yakima and Willamette valleys, fermented it with poetry, and dry-hopped it into something mythic. With the Yakima Valley producing 70 percent of the nation’s hops, and a regional palate tuned to pine, diesel, citrus pith, and unapologetic bitterness, the IPA here didn’t just evolve—it metastasized into identity. Simcoe replaced spreadsheets. Citra became scripture. We didn’t follow IPA trends—we set them ablaze.
Which brings us to the Peaks & Pints 2025 National IPA Day Flight—a five-pour sermon in hop dialect, from juicy riot to bitter gospel. These beers aren’t just expressive; they shout from mountaintops and riverbanks, dry-hopped banners waving. From Double Mountain’s summer-soused All Squonk, No Tonk to Outer Range’s alpine stunner Crux, to Thunderskunk, that hopped tempest from Lumberbeard, the flavors swing wide. Electric Venom from Fort George and Boneyard doesn’t sip, it strikes. And finally, Anchorage’s Split ends the flight like a citrus comet trailing a 10 percent halo. This is IPA’s full arc—from British survival tactic to Pacific Northwest transcendence. Drink loud. Drink proud. Today is for the bold.
Peaks & Pints 2025 National IPA Day Flight
Double Mountain All Squonk. No Tonk.
6.4% ABV | NW Juicy IPA | Hood River, OR
If IPA Day is a holiday, Double Mountain is the headline act. A sun-splashed collaboration with Single Hill Brewing, this Pacific Northwest juicy IPA blends Kviek yeast-driven pineapple funk with a juicy symphony of Citra, Mosaic, Columbus, Loral, and Cascade. Imagine your backyard exploding with ripe citrus, sticky mango, subtle evergreen resin—and the sweetness dial turned up just enough to keep you rooted. It’s approachable boldness: 6.4 percent, dangerously drinkable, with puckering grip still in view.
Lumberbeard Thunderskunk
7.1% ABV | Hazy IPA | Spokane, WA + Sunnyside, WA
Lumberbeard Brewing and Vaietal Beer’s fourth annual version of Thunderskunk isn’t subtle. It barrels into the glass with Galaxy, Strata, Mosaic, Southern Passion, and Southern Star—a hop quintet so juicy and dank it practically coughs up peach, citrus, and dank alpha oil. Built on a creamy base of flaked oats, Genie barley, and Elwha River Spelt, it drinks like a silk hurricane with its eye rooted in the PNW. Think: peach-flavored lightning mixed with evergreen storm surge. Thunderskunk is perfect for IPA Day because it does everything an anniversary IPA should—it flexes hop drama, honors west coast haze tradition, and still finds time to bleed local grain terroir. This is thunder in a tulip, and yes, it’s weirdly pretty.
Outer Range Crux
6.5% ABV | West Coast IPA | Frisco, CO
This isn’t just another IPA — it’s a lightning bolt fired from the Rockies in Colorado into the hop star chart. Crux is Outer Range’s homage to West Coast bitterness, stripped clean, overclocked, and scented with Strata and Krush hops so aromatic you’ll swear you just stepped into a grapefruit orchard during a pine storm. Expect peach and strawberry flashes amid resinous pine resonance, all riding over a taut, dry malt scaffold that refuses to let the fruit soft-shoe it into oblivion. It’s assertive but balanced; classic yet distinctly alpine. We chose this one for IPA Day because it’s the kind of beer that ignites conversation, slicks your palate tight, and demands you consider why the West Coast style still rules — especially when someone out West does it this sharp and unapologetic.
Fort George Electric Venom
9% ABV | Imperial IPA | Astoria, OR + Bend, OR
This isn’t a beer that whispers—it detonates. Electric Venom is a full-throttle collaboration between Fort George and Boneyard Beer, a double IPA that blends Chinook, Mosaic, and Columbus (plus their cryo forms) until your senses register tropical mango, grapefruit rind, resinous pine, and baked bread malt all firing at once. The body is surprisingly sleek for 9 percent ABV, the finish sharp and dry, with just a hint of caramel comfort holding the whole thing together. The nose is candy-bright; the palate is sharp enough to deliver that classic Northwest IPA sting. We chose it for IPA Day because it’s the perfect union of two legendary brewers, a hop-laden extravaganza that speaks fluent West Coast IPA—and then maybe sings in Russian. Electric Venom doesn’t flirt—it overwhelms. And somehow, you’ll thank it.
Anchorage Brewing Split
10% ABV | Triple New England IPA | Anchorage, AK
Because if you’re going to toast National IPA Day, you might as well do it with something that tastes like the sun exploded into a citrus grove. Split is Anchorage Brewing’s impossibly lush triple hazy, supercharged with thiol-boosted yeast and a hop barrage of Sabro Incognito and Strata that doesn’t just whisper “juicy”—it shouts it from an Alaskan mountaintop. Think orange creamsicle daydreams soaked in grapefruit pulp, mango nectar, and a twist of cedar funk, all wrapped in a dangerously smooth 10 percent hug. This isn’t just an IPA. It’s a flex, a foghorn, a fruit-drenched fever dream. We chose it for today because Split doesn’t just celebrate hops—it builds a temple and invites you to drink your way up the steps.
LINK: Peaks & Pints beer and cider cooler inventory
