IPA

The clerk at my corner liquor store really hates enjoy-by dates. Leather skinned and rocking a sweet rat-tail, when he’s in the talkative mood, my guy usually just rants about how society’s crumbling all around us and no one seems to give a damn. Fair enough. Now I’ll admit, usually I enjoy listening to his brief but blistering diatribes, but every now and then, he aims his perma-scowl squarely upon a...

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It was six years ago, I had just moved to Los Angeles and I was fortunate enough to quickly find work at a boutique wine shop. I didn't know much about wine at the time except for what I briefly learned to B.S. while waiting tables at a corporate Italian restaurant back in Texas, so this whole world was new to me and quite frankly, fairly damn obnoxious. All the different regions, so many species of grapes, the glassw...

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But for now at least, these incidents of inflated prices seem to be limited to niche collectors and involve only the rarest of Belgians, limited-release Imperial Stouts, Barleywines and other specialty high-gravity beers that can be cellared and age well. Amazing works of art, all of them, but definitely nowhere near dominating the craft field as far as popularity is concerned. And here’s where IPA comes in to sa...

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