Barley's Droughtfire IPA

Style Guidelines: Moderate malt and hop aroma, with slight fruitiness. Low gravity, alcohol and carbonation make this one an ideal session beer. That is, one you will enjoy several of in one session.

Rotation Schedule: We brewed this beer for the first time for the beginning of 2008. No set rotation.

Food Pairings: Indian, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern cuisine; peppery or sharp cheeses; fish, shellfish

First there was the fire. Then there was the drought.

In the fall of 2007, we heard of the hop warehouse fire in Yakima Valley, Washington. Preliminary estimates were that $3.5-4.0 million of hops went up in smoke. (At today's prices in the winter of 2008, those same hops would have been worth around a cool ten million denaros.)

It's estimated that about 4% of the entire U.S. hop crop vaporized that afternoon. Little did we know that the other shoe would soon drop.

Around the same time, hail storms wiped out entire hop fields in Slovenia and Germany. Low rainfall in other parts of Europe yielded poor hop harvests.

Hop farmers in the Pacific Northwest have been slowly selling their land to developers in the past decade. Beautiful hop fields are now gated communities.

First there was fire. Then there was drought. Yet Barley's Firedrought IPA didn't sound right to us. Gotta go... searching for hops.

Body: medium

Color: Golden

Grain: British lager and crystal

Bittering Hops: American Cascade and Liberty

Finishing Hops: American Cascade, Liberty and Amarillo

Dry Hops: American Willamette and Centennial

Original Gravity: 1.074

IBUs (estimate): 55

Alcohol By Volume: 7.0%

First Tapped: firkin preview January 18, 2008

Barley's Brewing Company Ale House No. 1xxxxx 467 North High Street Columbus OH 43215

Barley's Smokehouse & Brewpub Ale House No. 2xx 1130 Dublin Road Columbus OH 43215