When it comes to beer competitions, nothing is guaranteed. Yet it almost seemed fated that Hop-Fu!, a West Coast IPA from San Diego’s North Park Beer, would win gold in the American IPA category at this year’s World Beer Cup.
The beer began as a homebrew recipe of North Park founder and head brewer Kelsey McNair, and it would go on to become the most-awarded IPA in the history of the National Homebrew Competition (NHC)—and one of the most-awarded homebrews in history, period: It took gold at NHC in 2010, 2012, and 2014, plus a silver medal in 2013.
However, McNair doesn’t take the World Beer Cup win for granted. He says that he and his wife—Amanda McNair, also the brewery’s creative director—were celebrating with the team for weeks after the announcement. “This one’s huge,” he says. “This is something I’ve been chasing, so to see that specific beer win on the world stage was pretty cool.”