TSA will hopefully mandate that all fruit-forward IPAs are served in appropriate glassware
TSA will hopefully mandate that all fruit-forward IPAs are served in appropriate glassware Courtesy of Fremont Brewing

Terrible in-flight beer selections have doomed multiple plane trips in my life to total sobriety. I am simply unable to spend $10 on 12 ounces of swill like Coors Light or Budweiser. I just can't do it, no matter how hard the kid behind me is repeatedly kicking my seat.

This sober situation is no longer going to be a problem for me on Alaska Airlines flights. Starting tomorrow, all trips over an hour in duration will be stocked with Fremont's Lush IPA, that white-canned, fruit-forward IPA loved by many in Seattle.

This is good for people like me that already appreciate delicious things like Seattle IPAs, but you know who it's even better for? The Jinx and Jasper Does of the world that don't even know what they're missing. I can see it now–Jinx and Jaspar are on a flight to Hawaii, they opt for this strange white can of beer they've never had before, open it up and pour it into one of those plastic cups (and let's hope Alaska Airlines is instructing their flight attendants to always provide a cup to drink this IPA from) and then as Jinx raises that cup and takes their first sip of Seattle beer they are suddenly overcome. Jaspar never knew a beer could have such flavors; they didn't know beer could taste like melon, mango, and a touch of lime! Damn, is that guava!?

They'll think it's magic, and that's because it partially is.

Lush is made with two of the world's most famous hops, Mosiac and Citra. These aromatic hops grown in Yakima Valley, about three hours east of Seattle, are known around the world for their powerful fruit aromas. But Fremont takes these beers a step forward by using a product called "lupulin powder" made from Citra hops.

Hops are coated in an aromatic and sticky substance called lupulin. This is where the hop cone holds its aromatic flavors. With lupulin powder, that sticky substance has been separated from the leafy hop cone material, rendering a powder that has a potent flavor and aroma.

Oddly enough, lupulin powder is essentially the hop version of doing a dab. Cannabis and hops are closely related and cannabis can also be turned into potent concentrated powders. Only we vaporize these pot concentrates in glass dab rigs, whereas beer drinkers consume hop concentrates in fruity IPAs. Both products taste amazing.

YCH Hops, one of Yakima's biggest hop companies, started marketing this product in early 2017, and the product is already used around the world to make aromatic American IPAs. Seattle's Georgetown Brewing really put this product on the beer stage when they won a gold at the Great American Beer Festival for their Bodhizafa IPA.

Now that Alaska Airlines is stocking Lush, the magical flavors of lupulin powder, and the Fremont Lush IPA it comes in, are going to be available around the world.