IPA

Closing out the year with a bit of feel-good IPA news seems appropriate with all the crazy things that happened in 2012. One of the big events which devastated the East Coast was Hurricane Sandy which caused untold damage affecting millions of people. The Long Island area was hit especially hard including Barrier Brewing in Oceanside which was flooded with over three feet of seawater causing six figure damages. As a true testament to the camaraderie of craft brewers, seven other area breweries joined forces to create a special-edition IPA with the profits donated to Long Island Cares and toward rebuilding the damaged brewery. Barrier Brewing Co., Blind Bat Brewery, Long Ireland Beer Co., Great South Bay Brewery, Port Jeff Brewing Co., Greenport Harbor Brewing and Spider Bite Brewing Co. all meet up in Patchogue, NY at Blue Point Brewing Co. to collaborate on the project. The malt base was a combination of eight bags of grain, with one from each brewery in the unified effort with "a little piece of each brewery being brewed."

The result will be available on draft and bottled in the coming weeks under the name "Surge Protector, Sandy Relief IPA," and slated as a Session IPA. Cheers to getting together for the common good around a brew and Hoppy New Year to all.