Image by Flickr user madichan

The Charleston Beer Exchange gang is focusing on the glory and versatility of the hop with their weekly 5 p.m. beer extravaganzas, Rare Beer Tuesday and Rare Bomber Thursday.

Tuesday's rare growler fill is Sculpin IPA from Ballast Point Brewing out of San Diego, CA.  This beer has come to represent all that is great about American IPAs - fresh, fruity hop flavors paired with a malt backbone that goes toe-to-toe with the hops the whole way through.  Its permanent home on BeerAdvocate's Top Beers on Planet Earth list (currently #13) and Ratebeer's Best Beers list (currently #40) is quite an achievement, but it's also a no-brainer once you taste it.  Warning: this beer could permanently ruin your enjoyment of other, lesser IPAs.  7% ABV, A, 100.

Rare Bomber Thursday is best outlined in the trusty CBX blog:

...We are very proud to announce the South Carolina debut of Hopfenstark Brewery, brought to you exclusively by The Charleston Beer Exchange! Hopfenstark hails from Quebec, Canada. All Hopfenstark beers brought into the USA are draft-only, and are unbelievably uncommon to find on-tap anywhere! This week’s beer will be their amazingly rare "PostColonial IPA", which is a recreation of/homage to the beer that spawned the style "India Pale Ale"! It comes in at 6.5% ABV and is reddish/orange in color with a subtle, floral hop aroma and well-balanced hop/malt flavor profile.

Charleston Beer Exchange maxes and relaxes at 14 Exchange Street downtown.