I have been slammed the last couple months with work and some family trips etc etc., then when I have had free time I have been (a) drinking delicious beers and (b) writing for http://www.porchdrinking.com.  So, I have neglected CaliforniaIPAs.com.  Time for a little love.

The beer trade game has been on point recently, and I have been fortunate to have a slew of hard to find beers, many of which were fantastic.  Here is a recap of a few.

Starting locally, Cellarmaker obviously has killer beers.  They have begun bottling about once a month, but a few months back they have a double IPA that I thought was some of their best work, Get of My Lawn! DIPA.  I hope it makes a return, soon.

Altamont out of Livermore recently did a killer collab with, you guessed it, Cellarmaker.  Dank of America was short lived but while around it was a hoppy, dank bomb.

Monkish has been the “it” West Coast IPA recently with their approximately every-other weeks releases that see people line up before the sun rises.  The hype is real as all their NE style hazy IPAs have been fantastic.  My personal favorite was Spock It, a particularly juicy IPA.

Monkish’s style was arguably invented, if not perfected, by Treehouse.  The most hyped recent Treehouse beer was King Jjjjulius.  I was fortunate to get my hands on one, and it did not disappoint.  About as murky and thick of an IPA as you can find.

Tired Hands is one of the other most difficult to find East Coast IPAs, especially the recent Milkshake series.  Most are being canned now, but I was able to get a growler of the Pina Colada Milkshake.  It has been my favorite of the series.

Maine Beer Co.’s Dinner is a beer I have wanted to get my hands on for a few years.  It was worth the wait.  Super balanced, super smooth, just a delicious beer.

Finally, Trillium has also become one of the must find beers.  They are now canning (before was mostly bottles) which has made them easier to come by.  However, a couple months back I scored a bottle of Dialed In with Chardonnay and Gewurztraminer grapes.  We have all heard of beer aged in wine barrels, but infused with wine grapes?  Sounded odd, but it was fantastic.  The wine was way in the background but there, and I enjoyed it.

Because of the trading I have done, this list is way less California IPA than it should be.  I will hit on the best California IPAs soon, but if you can come across any of the brews above, do it!