This was interesting. So, I was at Taco Mac watching the AFC Championship games and looking over the draft menu whilst thumbing through the app on my phone. I was looking for beers I hadn’t had here before (and with 1114 Brewniversity credits already that’s getting harder to do). I ended up selecting a couple of IPAs, and the second of the two was Uinta West Coast-Style IPA.

It was natural to compare them, because they were somewhat similar as I remarked. The first of the two that I tried was 10 Barrel Apocalypse IPA, which I enjoyed actually. They both had a vibrant hop character and medium malt, and went well with football watching and a pile of Taco Mac’s legendary hot wings.

Uinta says of their IPA:

Our bold and citrusy West Coast-style India Pale Ale—brewed using four different hop varieties—features pronounced aromas of pineapple, mango and pine.

The stats are similar on the beers, with Uinta West Coast-Style IPA having an alcohol content of 6.3% by volume with 69 IBUs. It cost me $6 for a 23-ounce mug at Taco Mac and goes for $9.99 a six-pack in cans. 10 Barrel Apocalypse IPA is pricier at $7 for the same size draft and $11.99 a six-pack in bottles.

My mug of Uinta West Coast-Style IPA arrived a bright orange in color with a thick creamy head and light resin in the nose. Taking a sip, I got medium caramel malt, resin and grapefruit pith, a very subtle hint of tropical fruit and a long dry bitter finish.

This one was very tasty my friends and I enjoyed the pairing with spicy wings attenuated with crunchy celery dipped in bleu cheese and ranch dressings. Matched against the 10 Barrel IPA, the Uinta beer is the clear winner for me. Why you might ask? Again, the beers were quite similar but who wants to pay more for similar beers? The draft Uinta beer leaves you an extra buck towards your wings and the packages leaves you $2 towards-well-more beer of course. And that is always a good thing.

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