Countdown to Avista: Beer minus three

The IPA craze shows no signs of slowing down, at least around these parts. Close to one-third of the 120-plus beers coming to this weekend’s Inland Northwest Craft Beer Festival are India pales, from big imperials to mellower lager versions to fresh hop offerings from this year’s just-concluded harvest.

As we continue our weeklong examination of the festival lineup, here’s a closer look at what’s in store for hopheads:

The big boys

Bale Breaker, located on a Yakima Valley hop farm, made a splash at last year’s festival with its Double Bubba imperial IPA. Now it’s returning with the second in its limited-release Kiln Series (8.1 percent alcohol by volume, 99 International Bitterness Units), featuring a combination of Mosaic, Simcoe, Equinox and Citra.

Ellensburg’s Iron Horse celebrates its 10 ^th anniversary with Gary (8, 120), a tribute to co-owner Gary Parker packed with Simcoe, Chinook and Centennial.

No-Li is bringing its Jet Star (8.1, 115) aged for eight months in a Dry Fly triticale whiskey barrel – which gives it a roundness and complexity almost more akin to a barleywine –  while Twelve String is pouring both the regular and barrel-aged versions of its Electric Slide (8.3, 110).

Other beasts include Waddell’s dark, deeply malty Shattered Glass (9.3, 85), honoring backboard-breaking former Gonzaga University star Casey Calvary; Iron Goat’s Impaler (8.5, 72); Winthrop-based Old Schoolhouse’s Imperial (8, 90); Diamond Knot’s Industrial IPA (7.9, 80); and Fremont’s The Brother (8.5, 1 billion – at least that’s what they say, and who are we to quibble?).

Fresh sheet

Fremont’s Cowiche Canyon Fresh Hop (6, 50-plus), another hit here in 2013, is brewed each year with select organic hops grown in that strikingly scenic area of the Yakima Valley; a portion of sales benefits the Cowiche Canyon Conservancy.

Pullman’s Paradise Creek will pour its fourth annual Alpha Madness (6.8, 65-ish), using all Simcoe hops from Carpenter Farms in Granger. Spokane’s River City and Waddell’s collaborated on Easy Green Fresh Hop Pale (6.5), featuring Simcoe and Cascade.

Iron Goat is bringing both an IPA brewed with commercial Simcoe and Citra hops, and its annual SpoHop community beer using homegrown hops contributed by customers.

Schooner Exact’s Fresh Hop (6.2) is made with all Amarillo, while Simcoe is the hop of choice for Diamond Knot’s Wet Hop Pale (6, 33-ish).

Alternative approaches

Hoppy India pale lagers are becoming more common, and a pair are slated for the festival: a rye version of all-lager Orlison’s original IPL (7, 70) and Georgetown’s Eddie (6.9, 60), made with Columbus, Simcoe, Mosaic and Amarillo.

Top Frog from Newport is pouring a rye IPA along with its standard version. Big Barn presents Miss Maggie’s Lavender IPA (6.1, 82), brewed in cooperation with a Green Bluff farming neighbor, its fruity Amarillo hops balancing the pronounced floral notes. Also on the floral side, Elysian offers its Avatar Jasmine IPA (6.3, 45).

No-Li and its neighbor, Ramblin’ Road, are using the Randall, a special sort of tapping system, for extra hop flavor. No-Li is pouring its Empire No. 8 (5.5, 67) through Caliente hops, which add lemon-lime and stone fruit notes. Ramblin’ Road is infusing its standard IPA (6.7, 87), brewed with Simcoe, Cascade and Centennial, with tropical-accented Citra.

Iron Goat’s Head Butt IPA aged in aromatic Dry Fly gin barrels, with extra botanicals and hops added, has a unique flavor falling somewhere between beer and spirits.

Spokane’s Steam Plant is bringing a lightly roasty, smoky Cascadian dark ale (6, 70) hopped with Cascade, Columbus and Chinook. And always-creative Twelve String has a couple of more offbeat offerings: the light yet flavorful Palouse Hoppin’ India session ale (4.6, 62), with Mosaic hops and malt from Palouse-grown barley, and HIPA (6.2, 67), built around a rather curious combination of clove-heavy hefeweizen yeast and IPA-style hops.

Usual suspects

Last but not least, several breweries are bringing some of their regular year-round and rotating IPAs, including Iron Goat’s Head Butt, English Setter’s Wiggly Butt, Hopped Up’s Mad Hopper, Twelve String’s Jam Session, Icicle Creek’s Bootjack, Riverport’s Bullseye P.A., Old Schoolhouse’s Renegade, Boundary Bay IPA, Elysian’s Space Dust, Fremont’s Interurban, Northwest Brewing’s Hoppy Bitch, Schooner Exact’s Three Grid, Twelve Bar’s Wicked Riff and Two Beers’ Evo.