Diamond Knot IPA

Drinking this excellent concoction is akin to rolling around in a field of flowery, aromatic hops. It is also like being hit over the head with a soft, loving, hop-pillow. I once had a pint (from the barrel) with delicious green specks of hops floating around in it, and I loved every ounce.

This brew blows me away with Columbus hops. This is my favorite IPA and the one I use as a measuring stick. Almost not fair, too bad.. NECTAR OF THE GODS!!! 10-29-02: If there is any such thing as a hop orgasm this is it. I have been in love with this stuff for years. KingPinHead nailed it down well.

IPA or India Pale Ale is the signature beer of the Pacific Northwest. These days, it is pretty easy to find an American IPA or pale ale any where in the US. But it is here in the heart of the hop growing region of the US, where brewers really have perfected this style, and bring out not only the aroma and bitterness of the hop, but manage to squeeze out the fullness of hop flavor. A great IPA isn’t all about mouth puckering bitterness, it is about hop synergy. I’ve had stellar IPA’s all over the US, but no where have I found more stellar examples than the PNW. In the 15 brewpub/breweries I visited, every IPA/pale ale I tasted was exceptional. Diamond Knot IPA just might be the best of the best in the PNW, if not the entire US. This beer is brewed with four malts and three hops and is a true bench mark of what an American IPA should be. Diamond Knot IPA pours to a beautiful, murky, copper color with a thick and creamy white head, and a vibrant carbonation. Diamond Knot beers are unfiltered and unpasturized, making them extremely fresh and delicious, especially at their source. The nose on this beer just explodes with vibrant, zesty, citric hop aromas that food the nostrils in a big way. The smell of this beer alone will floor you, but you are in for so much more when you raise the glass to your lips. When you do, you will find that this IPA isn’t one dimensional hop juice, as it is built about a rock solid base of pale, carapils, crystal, and Munich malts, This gives the beer a good buiscuty/sweet malt flavor which shares the stage with a very apparent citrus/grapefruit hop flavor under tones, that hit the back of the tongue. Diamond Knot IPA finishes with more malty/citric flavors up front, then ends with a very vibrant, zesty explosion of citric/piney hop bitterness that tattoos the back of the throat and lingers for what seems and an eternity. A phenomenal example of IPA, one of the best I have ever tasted in all my years of drinking beer. This is the type of beer that you really must experience at the source and as close to the source as possible. Precious few barrels of this beer make it to other markets, so a trip to Diamond Knot is one a beer lover just must make. If you do, you will not be disappointed as the atmosphere, food, and of course the beers at Diamond Knot are all truly special.

A heavy, herby deliciously hoppy IPA. The brewery is exceptional and this beer is the flagship. I have heard that they super cool the wort to whatever temperature in under a minute!

A personal favorite, deliciously hoppy with a certain bittery sweetness that begs for another pint.