WILK Friday BeerBuzz–20 May 2011 (Anderson Valley Hop Ottin’ IPA)

After last week’s Anniversary blow-out show and party, it was nice to join just the Friday BeerBuzz team and simple sample a great beer. 

I discovered our brewery of the day almost 20-years ago, so it was an easy choice to bring you a brew from Anderson Valley Brewing.  Back in my early days of craft beer exploration, I stumbled upon an Oatmeal Stout called Barney Flats from Anderson Valley Brewing.  It was sweet and creamy and always a favorite, so I was really excited to bring in their classic IPA, Hop Ottin’ IPA.

The Boonville, CA facility is of course located in the famous Anderson Valley, and the name of today’s brew comes from an old 1808 language the locals called Boontling.  Hop Ottin’ essentially means hard working hops, and this beer is exactly that.  It’s loaded with Pac Northwest hops but really well balanced with a hearty malt backbone.  To my taste this is just enough of a west coast big hop IPA with an almost British-style IPA malt character balance.

In addition to tasting a great beer, it was fun to talk about how environmentally and socially friendly Anderson Valley Brewing is.  From their 18-hole Frisbee disc golf course to their solar and wind powered operations, Anderson Valley Brewing is unique and a great destination if you’re visiting the area.  I should also note that while our beer today was bottled, AVBC is now now canning many of their beers as well.

Be sure to try this one for yourself and see.  It’s already becoming a Mrs. BeerBuzz favorite so it comes highly recommended. 

Thanks

to Nancy, John, Joe, and Bosco for yet another fun Friday. 

The Friday BeerBuzz…bringing good beers and good people together. 

As always you can check out the video on-line at the WILK Friday BeerBuzz page by clicking HERE