Make IPA Clear Again

[Nagorg]

BJCP 2015 21B - Specialty IPA: Red IPA

Clear, hoppy and delicious!

 

[wepeeler]

I don’t think this is true at all. Hazy IPAs have a very different flavor (lower bitterness but more steeped hop character) and mouthfeel to me. It sounds like you’re saying they’re just WCIPAs that look funny.

I'm not trying to change anyone's opinion or tell anyone they are wrong. I'm only pointing out the technical aspects of each beer as outlined by the BJCP.

I've been lucky enough to taste well over 100 neipas thanks to living in New England. Slapping a neipa tag on a beer almost guarantees it will sell. At least the first go around. People pick up on the really good stuff. I've had them range from clear, to slightly hazy, to what looks like liquid yeast and every where in between. I've also had them taste like juice, and I've had them taste so bitter it seems like I'm biting into a hop pellet. There's so much variation, and people just taste beer differently. Among my group of friends, I'm the one that prefers less bitter. And there have been times when I think a beer isn't that bitter, and my friends will tell me it's a bitter bomb! So much for perception...

Onto a regular pale ale or ipa or apa. West Coast vs East Coast is dramatically different. West Coast is more bitter up front. Piney, yet citrus, even fruity. Usually clear. Here on the East Coast, pales tend to have much softer bitterness. It's still up front, but the malts tend to come through a bit more and even things out. I was never a WC fan, but I can appreciate the style, especially on a scorching hot day.

As for haze. This is what polarizes people. Old school = no haze. Haze = lazy beer. I've heard it over and over again. That's just opinion. Opinion's can be held on to for too long for whatever reason. Evolution in beer is what made the neipa possible. The last 5 years have been amazing for the New England beer scene. CT, where I'm from, has seen the number of breweries jump from 25 to over 100, with another 20 slated to open in 2019. They ALL have a neipa on tap. It took some of them awhile to jump on the wagon, and each brewery does it differently, but they all have one (or more) on tap. Not saying they are all good (me being a beer snob doesn't help their case) That being said, most other styles tend to have haze! Not sure if it's chill haze, or no filtering, or rushing beer, but I've had pilsners and blonde ales that have haze. Not juicy fruit haze, but they sure aren't clear. And the general consumer has no clue. For us, we know better, but we still drink it. Would you honestly order a blonde ale and push it away it tasted ok but had haze. I would guess no. Neipas are hazy as a byproduct of production. Lots of flaked adjuncts, lots of dry hopping and the use of low flocculating yeasts. I've seen people argue about the use of flaked adjuncts (both for and against), but as home brewers, they are an easy way to increase mouthfeel, and what some people believe to be added hop flavor.

Neipas are absolutely ipas. Having haze as a byproduct of the recipe shouldn't be frowned upon, IMO. I guess if you don't like it, you don't have to. But to flat out say because it's hazy it isn't a neipa isn't true. You technically could let it sit in the keg for 6 months and have it clear out. But then you'd lose the intended hop flavor. At what cost? To have it fit firmly into the ipa category? No thanks.

 

[Nagorg]

Would you honestly order a blonde ale and push it away it tasted ok but had haze.

Uh... Define haze again? A blonde ale should be clear. If I was served a "blonde ale" that I couldn't see through, yes its going back regardless of taste!

Neipas are absolutely ipas. Having haze as a byproduct of the recipe shouldn't be frowned upon, IMO.

Again we need to define haze. The examples that have prompted this thread aren't simply affected from dry-hop induced haze or chill haze... They are excessively turbid and resemble a glass of fruit juice. And I should really be mentioning the lack of bitterness more as another characteristic that moves most of these out of the IPA category.

Call them Juiceweizen, FruitWit or anything but IPA. On that note, why not just call them Hefeweizen? Those beers are "hazy", have a lot of wheat in them and have fruity character...

 

[Blazinlow86]

Uh... Define haze again? A blonde ale should be clear. If I was served a "blonde ale" that I couldn't see through, yes its going back regardless of taste!



Again we need to define haze. The examples that have prompted this thread aren't simply affected from dry-hop induced haze or chill haze... They are excessively turbid and resemble a glass of fruit juice. And I should really be mentioning the lack of bitterness more as another characteristic that moves most of these out of the IPA category.

Call them Juiceweizen, FruitWit or anything but IPA. On that note, why not just call them Hefeweizen? Those beers are "hazy", have a lot of wheat in them and have fruity character...

Man you really don't like hazy beers. Tell the kids to stay off your lawn

 

[Nagorg]

Man you really don't like hazy beers.

I like a good Hefe actually. But those don't pretend to be IPA.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

This beer is glorious....and yes, I brewed it.

 

[lowtones84]

I'm not really sure why everyone is so hung up on the style thing. I know that American IPA is its own thing, but last time I checked we weren't exporting a lot of hoppy beer to India. OG of IPAs before 1900 (after that they tended to take a pretty sharp turn downward) were in the 1060 range. Not to mention it was fairly likely that they had brettanomyces characteristics whether bottled or in a cask, as they were typically stored in a cask extensively before bottling.

Why do we want IPA to be clear again? Personal taste? That's fine, find them, support (i.e. drink ) them. Is it an issue of style? If so, what does that matter outside of the realm of competition? Maybe we should call them hazy IPAs or whatever to know what we're ordering at the bar, but many NEIPAs do exhibit noticeable bitterness.

I suppose I can get on board with the complaint that the market is oversaturated at the time. But people are saying just NOW we have a ton of mediocre IPAs? C'mon, that's been craft beer for like the last decade.

 

[applescrap]

A seriously underexposed photo?

Apparently it was so under exposed that you missed the beer and its relevance to the topic so you had no choice but to reply with a snarky response that offers nothing other than either a back handed insult or a sense of humor similar to my cousins. I suspect the latter and you think you are funny. Good on you gramps!

Actually ot this beer is somewhere in the middle and I remain genuinely curious where those that have drank it see it in this discussion.

 

[day_trippr]

"in the middle" of what?
Looks like it's a slightly cloudy IPA per the reviews on BA. If we take the "It almost smells like a light citrus hardwood floor cleaner" comment as an outlier it seems fairly generic...

Cheers!

 

[passedpawn]

What would everyone who has had it call this? View attachment 619265

How do you get St Pete beers in colo?

 

[grampamark]

Apparently it was so under exposed that you missed the beer and its relevance to the topic so you had no choice but to reply with a snarky response that offers nothing other than either a back handed insult or a sense of humor similar to my cousins. I suspect the latter and you think you are funny. Good on you gramps!

Actually ot this beer is somewhere in the middle and I remain genuinely curious where those that have drank it see it in this discussion.

Lighten up Francis-and say hello to your cousin for me.

 

[applescrap]

How do you get St Pete beers in colo?

We rarely get this one, usually around gabf time. I got this at ABC liquor in stuart [emoji2] . I think these guys are awesome brewers.

 

[applescrap]

Lighten up Francis-and say hello to your cousin for me.

Haha, remember don't call me Francis! Will do.

 

[schematix]

Now THiS is good IPA wort.

 

[Nagorg]

Looking good so far!

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

Now THiS is good IPA wort.

View attachment 619459

Looks bitter and flavorless!

 

[applescrap]

I like almost all ipas.

 

[schematix]

It's not weak at all. Clocked in at 15.3 Plato. Should finish around 2.5-3 Plato and near 7% ABV.

Using 32oz of hops (1lb Azacca and 1lb Amarillo) and 4oz of Idaho-7 hop hash.

4oz Azacca @ 50m
4oz Amarillo @ 15m
4oz 50/50 blend @ 10m
4oz 50/50 blend @ 5m
10oz 50/50 blend @ 170F for 30m
2oz hop hash @ 170F for 30m

And i'm planning to dry hop with another 6oz of 50/50 blend and 2oz of hop hash.

Going to be epic, and only slightly hazy.

 

[balrog]

How to make HazyIPA in a pinch.

Ok. Seriously. The FUNNIEST thing I've seen on here in months!

And, yes, Tang is freaking awesome.

 

[Landlord]

I am still MAD that you west coast hippies adulturated your "IPAs" with filthy American hops, and characterless "clean" yeasts. I heard you are not even bothering to age them in oak barrels on a hot ship for 6 months? If that was not disgraceful enough, now you east coast hipsters have the cheek to make your IPAs hazy and start using characterful british yeasts again?

Make IPA exclusively barrel aged again!

 

[applescrap]

It's not weak at all. Clocked in at 15.3 Plato. Should finish around 2.5-3 Plato and near 7% ABV.

Using 32oz of hops (1lb Azacca and 1lb Amarillo) and 4oz of Idaho-7 hop hash.

4oz Azacca @ 50m
4oz Amarillo @ 15m
4oz 50/50 blend @ 10m
4oz 50/50 blend @ 5m
10oz 50/50 blend @ 170F for 30m
2oz hop hash @ 170F for 30m

And i'm planning to dry hop with another 6oz of 50/50 blend and 2oz of hop hash.

Going to be epic, and only slightly hazy.

Haha, I figured it was pretty strong. What's the ibus on that? My friend likes to make beers like that. We calculated one at 200 plus ibus. To this day the only beer I have ever dumped. So glad to have tried it though. He used for 5g, 2 oz Columbus at 90, 60 and 45 iirc. Plus others at 30 and the like.

 

[schematix]

Haha, I figured it was pretty strong. What's the ibus on that? My friend likes to make beers like that. We calculated one at 200 plus ibus. To this day the only beer I have ever dumped. So glad to have tried it though. He used for 5g, 2 oz Columbus at 90, 60 and 45 iirc. Plus others at 30 and the like.

I don't calculate IBUs on IPAs anymore. I would guess this calculates over 200 though. Doesn't matter what it calculates too. I have yet to make it too bitter.

I use 4-5oz of bittering hops and then the rest of it is just about adding mass quantities late. Over the years i've experimented with everything from all-bittering, to all-whirlpool and variations in between.

In the last 2 years i've more or less figured out how to make an IPA that i like. It involves spreading 2lbs across 60/15/10/5/Whirlpool/Dry. I usually don't stray from 4oz of bittering hops, 8-12oz of whirlpool hops, and 6-10oz of dry hops. I usually add more hops at 10 and 5 than 15, but that's not a hard rule.

 

[applescrap]

Is that for 10g? Wow, impressive hop usage.

 

[HopsAreGood]

Is that for 10g? Wow, impressive hop usage.

Was thinking the same thing. Has to be 10 gallons, right?

 

[schematix]

I hope I get 10 gallons. Was 15G preboil and I measured 4 gallons of hop sludge going down the drain.

 

[VirginiaHops1]

Like Ricky Bobby said. If you don't drink hazy IPAs then **** you

 

[catdaddy66]

Like Ricky Bobby said. If you don't drink hazy IPAs then **** you

LMFAO!!! I don't care who you are, that's funny as ****!

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

Ok. Seriously. The FUNNIEST thing I've seen on here in months!

And, yes, Tang is freaking awesome.

Yep, hilarious to the narrow minded haters.

 

[Rev2010]

Never got why some people are just so "clear" crazy. I mean, what difference does it really make so long as it doesn't look like a gross soup? I want the beer to be tasty, that is the absolute most important thing. Anyone can clear beer with fining agents like gelatin, cold crashing, filtering through micron pads, etc. It's just another step, it's not some amazing achievement. Personally, I love the appearance of juicy hazy IPA's. I will submit though that yes I will continue clearing my Pilsner's cause it's the defacto standard and I do believe that clarifying also aids the dry bitter crisp taste I go for in a pilsner. But even my Amber I'm not going to bother clearing after doing it one time.


Rev.

 

[ThirstyPawsHB]

How to make HazyIPA in a pinch.

Brilliant!