Beer of the Week! 09/02/24

Solace Super Dope

Normally $15.99 / Now on Sale for $14.96
New England Style IPA

Drew “Wiley” Wiles started his path towards finding solace in brewing with a Tulane University B.S. in cell and molecular biology and a job as a genetic medicine research scientist in northern Virginia, where his family had founded Fairfax County’s first winery — Paradise Springs Winery in Clifton. In the early teens, Wiles began to homebrew. “I made a few batches but it was pretty much a novelty thing.” However, the novelty transformed and moved Wiles to Beltway Brewing Company in Sterling, VA — then just a couple of years old. In 2014, he set up their lab and quality control program. He also met Jon Humerick there. Humerick was also a homebrewer and was mixing his business management experience with his love of craft beer.

Soon Wiles was Beltway’s production manager, and Humerick was their Director of Operations. However, even though Sterling had Lost Rhino, Old Ox Brewery, and, of course, Beltway, Wiles and Humerick wanted to apply their skills to their own place. Getting together with money manager (and homebrewer) Mike Arms, the duo and Arms opened Solace Brewing Company in the summer of 2017.

Solace’s Super Dope is proof that you can’t judge an IPA by its hops. They fashion it out of Amarillo, Centennial, and Columbus hops, which sounds like a recipe for West Coast Style citrusy bitterness. Instead, the Super Dope is a luscious juice bomb! Tastes of rose water and ripe peach (sorry … “super” ripe peach) sit on top of a grounding earthiness. It is super tasty and super drinkable — easily our favorite beer so far that we’ve had from Solace.

Look at that, a beer that lives up to its name.