Farewell, Tup....

...We hardly knew ye. Actually, I was quite familiar with ye during and after an introduction in 2002 in a little town near Charlottesville, VA. Tuppers' Hop Pocket was developed by a Maryland high school teacher and his wife who then convinced Dominion Brewery to produce and bottle this super-hopped beer. Unlike other hoppy IPAs that over-do the malty sweetness to 'balance' the hop, Tuppers' just lets it all hang out, and I love love love the clean bitterness that results. Sadly, Dominion will no longer participate in the process due to the price of hops and the labor-intensive and multi-barrel-occupying process. It's possible that another brewery will pick it up, but who knows....
Anyway, I had many a Tup while sitting on the back porch of the 1850s farmhouse I lived in ouside of Charlottesville. We were nestled in a little valley (the house was named the 'Dell House'), and looked across rolling pastures up to the Blue Ridge. It's treated me right here in D.C. too, where I recently came across a six-pack - before I knew it would likely be my last.