Idaho 7 IPA Puts Four Hops Behind One, and Drops the Gluten

A single hop gets top billing and three more do the supporting work. Blackfoot River's new IPA runs tangerine and apricot over a Maris Otter and oat base, and like the rest of the lineup, it is crafted to remove gluten.

Style: IPA
Release Date: 2026-09-21
ABV: 5.8%
Blackfoot River Brewing Company (Helena, MT)

The beer is named for one hop, but four are doing the work.

Blackfoot River Brewing Company has Idaho 7 IPA on tap at its Helena taproom, a 5.8 percent IPA at 50 IBU. Idaho 7 leads the hop bill, and the brewery describes it layering tangerine, ripe apricot and resinous pine. Mosaic and Citra go into the whirlpool and the dry hop for tropical fruit and a hint of berry. Ekuanot handles the bitterness up front.

Underneath all of that sits a malt bill worth noting: Maris Otter and oats, which the brewery credits for keeping the body soft and round. The result, by Blackfoot River's account, is golden and aromatic, with a crisp bitterness.

One line in the release carries further than it first appears. Idaho 7 IPA is crafted to remove gluten - and it is not an exception. The brewery's current tap lineup, from the Extra Pale Ale to the Cerveza del Rio to the whiskey barrel-aged Imperial Stout, carries the same note on the handle. Gluten-reduced brewing uses an enzyme during fermentation to break down the gluten proteins that barley malt brings in. It is a house-wide practice here rather than a one-off accommodation, which is a quieter thing to build a whole beer list around than most breweries attempt.

The IPA is pouring now in the taproom at 66 S Park Ave. The brewery's beer engine is also running this week: an amber ale dry-hopped with Cascade and a touch of rosemary on Wednesday, September 23, and a cold IPA with oranges on Friday, September 25.

Editor’s Take

Naming a beer after its hop is a promise, and it is a slightly risky one, because the hop then has to show up. Idaho 7 does tend to. It is one of the newer American varieties that came out of the Pacific Northwest breeding programs, and it has an unusual split personality - tangerine and apricot on one side, pine resin and a sort of black tea tannin on the other. Blackfoot River's own notes hit both halves, which suggests they are letting it be the odd thing it is rather than sanding it down.

What I like is the supporting cast. Mosaic and Citra in the whirlpool and dry hop are the two most reliable tropical-fruit hops in the business, and Ekuanot is holding down the bitterness up front - so the beer named after one hop is quietly being chaperoned by three others. That is not a contradiction, it is how single-hop-forward beers usually work in practice. Maris Otter and oats underneath is the detail I would point at, though. Oats in an IPA are a texture decision, and pairing them with a British floor-malted base is a slightly old-world move for a beer this citrus-driven. Soft and round, then 50 IBU of pine arriving on top.

Source & Editorial

JollyPint independently prepares release articles using information published by breweries through newsletters, websites, and other official public communications. Brewery-supplied descriptions and tasting notes are reported as provided, while editorial context is added by JollyPint.