Washington State IPAs — Elysian vs. Pike vs. Diamond Knot

Elysian Prometheus IPA

ABV 6.7%

Pike IPA

ABV 6.3%

 

Diamond Knot IPA

ABV 6.2% 
 

In anticipation of the IPA blind tasting event we did for Medford Beer Week, Ellen and I had to do some research to find an IPA to represent each state on the west coast. At the local bottle shop we found a nice selection of Washington IPAs to choose from and we ended up choosing these three — Elysian and Pike from our old hometown of Seattle and Diamond Knot from a city called Mukilteo just north of Seattle.

 

Colors varied with the Elysian coming across reddish orange, the Pike showing off a brownish orange and the Diamond Knot looking fairly unappealing with a kind of brownish yellow.

 

The Elysian had the aroma that appealed to us most, featuring gobs of grapefruit and citrus that started us salivating immediately. The Pike had some strong funky, earthy, marijuana-esque hop aromas and the Diamond Knot was more restrained with some tropical fruit notes.

 

The Elysian continued its dominance in the flavor as the citrus was complemented by a nice sweet caramel maltiness and a fairly mild bitterness in the finish. The Pike was intensely bitter with a bit of burnt hops and cat pee in the finish. The Diamond Knot also had a harsh bitterness in the finish, although not as much as the Pike, while the flavors were fairly simple, offering a bit of grain and some lemon-water.

 

There wasn't much debate in this battle as the Elysian was the clear winner for both of us. It's just the kind of IPA that appeals to us — big, juicy, citrusy grapefruit aroma with a solid malt profile and a smooth bitterness in the finish. Unfortunately it is not a year-round release for Elysian, rather it is part of their Manic IPA Series and will be available through August. If you're a fan of IPAs this one is certainly worth your attention so hurry up and get some before it's gone!

 

Side note: The Prometheus ended up in second place in our IPA blind tasting event behind another great IPA, 10 Barrel Brewing's Apocolypse IPA.  

 

Winner by Unanimous Decision: Elysian Prometheus IPA