New England IPA hater

NEIPA's are the 'skinny jeans' of the beer world. Not for me. To each their own, and drink what you like...

 

*hipsters*

 

I agree that Singlecut is putting out some awesome stuff. I can't compare them to Trillium, because I haven't had one. If they are as good as Singlecut, then they have to be awesome IMO.

 

Where can I find said beer in the ROC?

Don't forget about Mass Riot by Prison City in good ole Auburn, NY

 

Somewhere closer to your neck of the woods is Alvarado St. in Monterey/ Salinas. Fantastic stuff!

 

This is one of mine, I whirlflocced it, cold crashed, and biofined it. It's a delightful beer, but personally I wish it would drop clear.

View attachment 1491964533447.jpg

 

I think all IPAs are now. It's the "cool" thing to drink. I'll stick to my German lagers, English porters and stouts.

 

Well, I happen to like IPAs. I don't drink them because it's "cool" and if was "uncool" to drink them, I'd still drink them, because as I said, that's what I like. It's not all I drink, but I certainly don't drink them because it's "cool".

Thanks, friarsmith! Boo, Raoul.

 

Drink what you like. Wear skinny jeans or leather, assless chaps if you want, too.

 

You got me. I actually hate the taste of these beers but I drink them because someone once said they were "cool" and I want to be a cool kid. After reexamining my life, I yelled at the kids next door to get off my lawn and went back to drinking my english mild and grumbling about how beer should taste like beer.

 

I don't like NEIPAs either. It's just pointless excess from my perspective and makes for a very one dimensional beer. Wasteful too! Sure I'll drink it if someone hands me one, but I'd rather have a well crafted anything else than hop juice.

 

That is exactly what they look like. And I am not a big fan of their taste either.

 

Lots of chicks aren't really into hops. It's normal.

 

Taters gonna tate

 

Looks like mop water!

 

Many people think stouts look like motor oil. Who cares?

 

I like turtles!

Seriously though its pointless to argue. The people that don't like this style already have a per conceived hatred towards it just because of how it looks and the following they have, or they just don't like IPAs in general but love to hate on this particular style.

 

I like me an good IPA. I don't like mop water though.

 

Stouts are fantastic! This will not be tolerated and you should be banned for stout hating!

 

Sure you are....We would not expect anything different from a Patriots Fan..

 

10 of the top 25 beers on Beer Advocate are NEIPAs. They seem to be winning a lot. Only makes sense for a Patriots fan to go with something that is winning...

ok let's not turn this into a football thread lol

To get off football, Tree House has a lot of top 25 beers right now. For those that are skeptical, try a Tree House beer. Julius, Haze and Green are regulars and are all excellent.

 

You mean, beeradvocate.com, the site that was founded and is headquartered in.............Boston???

Just kidding, just kidding, I'm sure their results aren't skewed at all.

And for the record, I really enjoy IPAs of all types: NE, West Coast, East Coast, English, etc. Just havin' a little fun. '

 

Some say that the most dangerous phrase in the English language is "We’ve Always Done It That Way."

Something to chew on...

 

Yup that one! I actually like Beer Advocate. I take all reviews with a grain of salt as they are just opinions but it is cool to see.

Oh I know. All in good fun lol

 

AJ's beer warehouse has the distribution rights to Singlecut. And I haven't had an opportunity to try Mass Riot yet, but Ben's sours are absolutely to die for. I haven't seen Prison City around Rochester to be honest. I had the pleasure of tasting their sours at the "homegrown" festival

 

I've had a ton of NEIPAs include a dozen or so Trillium and a half dozen Tree House. I've had the single cut too. Toppling Goliath has been brewing them for a long time too.

I like them and chose that for my first all grain brew with great success.

That being said, it'sjust one of a long list of styles I like. Drink (and brew) what got like. Why dis what is clearly a popular style? I don't care did sours, but I don't trash them. I'm really not sure where the hate comers from...just curmudgeons bashing the new style?

 

Damn I was just there picking up some base malt. Shoulda browsed a little more.

 

It always goes fast, none of it lasts more than a day. Everyone that works there is great though and if you really want to get your hands on some just call and ask when the next batch is expected to arrive, or if they will be tapping a keg of it soon.

 

For me, a few things come to mind...


I certainly remember when IPA's started picking up in popularity. It became a tough time to drink hoppy beers. It seemed every dumb a$$ brewer after another was trying to outdo each other with undrinkable bittering bombs. Now, I do love all styles of beer, and IPA's have long been a favorite...but I remember a bar, during this time period, had an IPA night. We thought great! When the list was revealed it was all DOuble IPA's, and each one was a complete bitter bomb...no balance at all.

This went on for quite some time, but the cream of the crop, in the IPA category, rose to the top. The knuckleheads dropped off and it seemed new IPA's brewed suddenly were brewed with thoughtfulness again. No, not all of them...but as a group people seemed to regain their sanity and let balance shine through.

Would I judge NE IPA's by the people going overboard with hop debris, or clouding additives? No, just as I didn't judge IPA's by the overly hoppy bitter bombs in the early 2000's.

What I like about a good West Coast IPA is the separate and offsetting balance that it has. When done well, it doesn't matter if it's ABV is quite low or getting toward the top of the range. It's constant key is balance within flavors.

But, to me, a NE IPA is about harmony of all ingredients. Haze, when done well, is just something that happens...it isn't manufactured. The harmony comes from all ingredients leading toward one final flavor...rather than nuanced. You have high residual sweetness from the grains, which lead you toward late edition, and early edition dry hops with flavors that lead right toward the (similar in flavor profile) ester let off by the yeast.

I'm not sure what will happen to NE IPA's in the future...I think I get what some are going after, flavor wise, and I like it. What will it become? Who knows...perhaps it will drop off the face of the earth. I hope not. What it does remind me of is biting into a nice fresh, well managed piece of fruit. You've got all the flavors, sugars, gasses, etc...it all meshes into one flavor of a over ripe peach. It's not completely separate, it's in harmony. If NE IPA brewers are smart about their flavors I'd like to see smart use of a bittering technique that gives you the bitter of a ripe piece of fruit.

Beer, yum!

 

if I'm drinking a lot of one thing - I find an occasional extreme citrus a nice break - but can't drink them all night

I've not (knowingly) had an NEIPA yet but quite a few Cloudwater etc. I keep meaning to make an effort to find one on draught - the thing is - when I read the descriptions - it sounds like everything I am currently trying to eliminate from my brews - in fact I've got a feeling a recent summer lightning disaster I had might have won an NEIPA award - the hot S-04 blew out so many fruits it was like tropical bubblegum and never cleared

 

It's not my all time favorite style (plus I've not had a lot of examples yet either), but I tried one in FL when visiting my brother that I loved a lot, so I guess I'm a fan.


I'll drink any beer out there if it's good. I'm not a style dependent drinker.

 

Brewing one right now! Yum, yum, yum I say. Of course I am just loving on them to be cool. You see, as a life long geek now middle aged with grey hair I'm still not over all that painful high school clique stuff. It's crazy how after 30 yrs of drinking beer and 10 yrs brewing I still can't figure out what I like on my own. Have to wait and see what the next big trend is, that's me! Sad.

 

I find Heady/Banger/Julius/Sunshine/etc to be fabulous beers.
I'm a post-lupulin shift hop head and I have to say the whole neipa paradigm (combined with the lodo thing) has revved up what was becoming almost routine.

I always had the "juicy" thing going, growing Chinook/Centennial/Cascade going on six years now and having to find ways to use them all (has to be post-boil lest the IBUs hit stratospheric levels). But now there's a legit style to match and refined methodology to give me a leg up on producing a delicious and durable brew.

I have a Heady Topper and Focal Banger clone and a Galaxy near-IPA on tap (along with a Trappist, ESB and chocolate stout) and when the ESB kicks in a few days my Julius clone will go on-line...

Cheers! (I'll be in Hop Heaven if anyone needs me )

 

+1

 

Had an IPA from Starving Artist in Ludington this past week. Didn't know it was a NE IPA until it arrived. I just wanted to try their beer.

Was pretty good, and didn't taste like the 9% beer it claimed to be!

I've been enjoying the taste of these NE IPAs without the bitterness of the usual IPAs. It's a nice change of pace.

 

Try Ale Arsenal in San Carlos, usually at least 1 or 2 on tap. Look for breweries like the previously mentioned Alvarado street, Fieldwork (Pulp, Galaxy Juice, Orchard street) or the proprietor's Alpha Acid Brewing.

 

I've had quite a few bad ones, they looked and tasted awful. I don't mind the haze but a lot of the poor examples have stuff floating in them and I can't be dealing with that.

Having said that I've had a couple of nice ones too so its more a case of ****ty brewing than the style itself being bad. The ones I liked were a bit more bitter too. Thats the great thing about beer though, you can change things to suit your tastes. So next week I shall try brewing an NEIPA to my own personal preference.

 

I haven't read through the whole thread, but IMHO, NEIPAs are like Playskool "My First Craft Beer". I know they aren't necessarily easy to make. Not saying they are. But I've had a couple (though, admittedly, none from New England), and while I get the juicy thing and they do taste a lot like juice, to me, it's not really beer-like at all. Reminds me of Leinie's Summer Shandy. It's a beer for people who don't like beer. Like a wine cooler is to wine. And as far as home brewing? I'm frankly afraid this craze is going to drive the prices of hops through the roof and trigger another dry spell of finding no good hops on the shelf. The absurd amount of hops being used in the NEIPAs is appalling. Just my $0.02.

 

Could be a problem right there. But...

I suspect if you were to define your "beer-like" a lot would be clear...

Cheers!

 

Agreed on both statements. Having a bad example of a NEIPA isn't how the rest of the NEIPAs taste. That would be like ranking pilsners based on Miller Lite. Grab almost any NEIPA from New England and I bet OPs mind will change.

I'm not really sure about it not tasting beer-like. That is just silly to me.