The Gold Medal IPA at the 2024 Oregon Beer Awards
In the summer of 2023, the R&D team set out on a brief northern California road trip to taste what folks in Sacramento and Oakland were up to at the source. Bayside was born from that trip: we were wowed by the way that our friends were using the new-ish HBC 586 hop, and wanted to incorporate it into our beers more. After a few pilot batches, the beer went on to win the Gold Medal at the 2024 OBAs in the largest category in the history of the competition! One of the core values at Breakside is to draw inspiration from our fellow community of brewers, and Bayside is proof positive of why it is such an important part of our ethos and approach to brewing.
Bayside is on the ‘extra extra pale’ end of modern West Coast IPA. It drinks as light and crisp as a pIlsner, and the bitterness is firm but refined and delicate. The aroma jumps out of the glass with a full cornucopia of tropical, citrus, and stone fruits, as we use some New Zealand-grown Nelson Sauvin to amplify those notes with a rich hop spice and petrol note. Not every one of our IPAs is trending towards this end of the spectrum, but drinking Bayside, you’ll get a clear view of what the near future looks like for a lot of West Coast IPA. Cheers!