Make IPA Clear Again

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bwible said:
The word they use is “juicy”. It’s like people want to say they drink IPA but they don’t like hops. When they brew the beer they don’t use any boil hops at all and either put a massive amount of hops in at flameout in one charge or they wait until the beer has cooled some and just whirlpool all the hops at 170 degrees for an hour or something.

If you want juice, they sell Juicy Juice in a little box with a straw you can poke through a hole.
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I think it’s more that some people don’t like ANY bitterness but love the aroma/flavor of the hops.
 
I made a Lemondrop smash a few weeks ago with an IBU of 70. It was the most riduculously light color and clear beer I've ever made. It was pretty dang good too.
 
I will say that I recently participated in a beer swap. @TheDudeLebowski hooked me up with a few of what are generally thought of as the best of the hazy's.
I had the pleasure of trying some from Tree House, Trillium and The Alchemist (Heady Topper and Focal Banger).

I was really happy to try the Alchemist beers. None of these beers are available in my neck of the woods. But of the hazy's I tried, 2 stood out above the rest and I'd buy these if they were available here.

1) Tree House - Very Hazy (Funny that this would be my favorite huh? :p )
2) Trillium - LAX2JFK: in the Cloud's

Both of those beers were very tasty and had aroma, bitterness and non-OJ flavor that put them at the top of my list.

So, just goes to show that I do try to keep an open mind. But still, so many of these things are just murky glasses of OJ and I just dont get it.
 
As me and many others mentioned above, the OGs like trillium and treehouse really nailed these beers, they are so well done. I did not think you can properly discount the style before you have had one of these highly refined NEIPAs. Everyone has preferences, but those should be based on a good example of the style.

If I only tried sickly sweet, under attenuated American attempts at Belgian Beers, I would not drink them. But I’ve had the duvels, saison DuPonts, westmalle, etc and Belgian Beers, specifically those three are some of my all time favorite beers.
 
I love NEIPA’s. Love. But even I’m getting burned out on them. It’s a little disheartening to go into a small brewery and have 8 out of ten tap handles be IPA’s of some kind, most of which are hazy. Forget clear IPA’s, where have all the red and brown ales gone? Make Beer Red Again!

I’ve found myself drinking, and brewing just about anything but NEIPA’s for the last couple of months. Just brewed a Maibock This weekend. First time I actually planned far enough in advance to make that happen In time for a May 1 tapping. But when the weather gets warmer I’ll probably get back in the haze game.
 
I second that... here is my current homebrew rotation:

1. Newkie Broon (newcastle clone, based on Aberdeen brown)
2. porter/dark mild/dry stout
3. ESB/Pale Ale/(WC) IPA - I don't make NEIPAs, plenty of those out and about these days
4. Bohemian/German Pilsner/Vienna Lager

The NEIPAs are currently flush at brewpub taps, so I use that to my advantage and imbibe on hazys when out and about.

For home, I always need to have some sort of brown/dark english ale on tap in the keezer. Fully 30% of the batches I've brewed were brown ales, which says alot to the state of the craft focus these days.

I don't mind tho, a dark mild or a porter you made yourself is really nice.

Many folk have already alluded to the orange juice characteristics of some hazys... Quick story:

At my mothers recently for a visit, noticed some orange juice in the back of the fridge. It was unopened, so thought nothing of it to pour a glass.

First taste I realized immediately that fermentation had been under way for some time, even in the fridge. I kid you not, to me it genuinely tasted like some of the hazys I've tried of late.
 
Ogilthorpe2 said:
I love NEIPA’s. Love. But even I’m getting burned out on them. It’s a little disheartening to go into a small brewery and have 8 out of ten tap handles be IPA’s of some kind, most of which are hazy. Forget clear IPA’s, where have all the red and brown ales gone? Make Beer Red Again!

I’ve found myself drinking, and brewing just about anything but NEIPA’s for the last couple of months. Just brewed a Maibock This weekend. First time I actually planned far enough in advance to make that happen In time for a May 1 tapping. But when the weather gets warmer I’ll probably get back in the haze game.
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I was where you were like 3-4 years ago.
Eventually they all taste almost the same and you realize "juice" isn't the end all of beer.
I again grew to crave the bitterness of west coast IPAs. Not 160 IBU or anything, but 0-30 IBU NEIPAs just got extremely boring.
I've had tons of trillium, tree house, and alchemist. It's not terrible, it just gets old.
 
Ogilthorpe2 said:
I love NEIPA’s. Love. But even I’m getting burned out on them. It’s a little disheartening to go into a small brewery and have 8 out of ten tap handles be IPA’s of some kind, most of which are hazy. Forget clear IPA’s, where have all the red and brown ales gone? Make Beer Red Again!

I’ve found myself drinking, and brewing just about anything but NEIPA’s for the last couple of months. Just brewed a Maibock This weekend. First time I actually planned far enough in advance to make that happen In time for a May 1 tapping. But when the weather gets warmer I’ll probably get back in the haze game.
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nothing beats a good brown ale (american or english i dont mind which)
 
Been checking this thread for years and biting my tongue. I get the NEIPA thing and brewed a few. Nice juxtaposition on WCIPA. However imho the haze craze is just underwhelming. # Lazy IPA.
 
Group W said:
Been checking this thread for years and biting my tongue. I get the NEIPA thing and brewed a few. Nice juxtaposition on WCIPA. However imho the haze craze is just underwhelming. # Lazy IPA.
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How do you think it's lazy? I brew almost solely IPAs and swing back and forth between hazys, american IPAs, and WCIPA. Really good hazys are hard to brew, same as WCIPA. American IPAs are easier for me, being a bit more malty. Anything extremely hop driven is harder to dial in IMO. Malt is far more predictable how how it will taste in a beer so the maltier the beer, the easier I find it to brew. The laziest IPAs are the ones loaded up with malt to cover up the off flavors or lack or hop flavor. I've had many of those at breweries.
 
VirginiaHops1 said:
How do you think it's lazy? I brew almost solely IPAs and swing back and forth between hazys, american IPAs, and WCIPA. Really good hazys are hard to brew, same as WCIPA. American IPAs are easier for me, being a bit more malty. Anything extremely hop driven is harder to dial in IMO. Malt is far more predictable how how it will taste in a beer so the maltier the beer, the easier I find it to brew. The laziest IPAs are the ones loaded up with malt to cover up the off flavors or lack or hop flavor. I've had many of those at breweries.
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Hazies are actually harder to brew than standard IPAs. Good luck trying to logically argue that in this thread!
 
wepeeler said:
Hazies are actually harder to brew than standard IPAs. Good luck trying to logically argue that in this thread!
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Don't care about how hard they are to brew. The issue is they stole an already established style name, and they dont always say "NE" or " hazy" so you can't distinguish between the styles on a menu. Call them "victory" or whatever instead of "IPA" and have as much of the godforesaken swill as you like. Just stop making ordering a beer more confusing than it needs to be.
 
NTBeer said:
Don't care about how hard they are to brew. The issue is they stole an already established style name, and they dont always say "NE" or " hazy" so you can't distinguish between the styles on a menu. Call them "victory" or whatever instead of "IPA" and have as much of the godforesaken swill as you like. Just stop making ordering a beer more confusing than it needs to be.
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You can always ask the bartender for a sample before you buy a pint if you’re not sure.

That doesn’t do anything for all the beer in cans though. I will never buy an IPA in a can because I can’t see what’s in the can and have no idea what it is.
 
To me it's a perfectly legitimate variation in IPA. And I dislike it when a brewer makes the bitter compete with the hops so much they clash. We have room for new styles, IMO. And I love the adventure when they arrive at the judge's table. But I admit many judges are more traditional.
 
NTBeer said:
Don't care about how hard they are to brew. The issue is they stole an already established style name, and they dont always say "NE" or " hazy" so you can't distinguish between the styles on a menu. Call them "victory" or whatever instead of "IPA" and have as much of the godforesaken swill as you like. Just stop making ordering a beer more confusing than it needs to be.
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If you're getting it 'on a menu' all you have to do is ask the person serving you what kind of beer it is. If you're buying cans perhaps it takes a bit more effort but you could just spend 30 seconds looking the beer up on an app or the internet and finding a picture in a glass. Seems like you're just looking for reasons to complain about the style.

There's been tons of times I've gotten something labeled WCIPA and it wasn't even close to being bitter enough to consider itself that.

It's just beer though, when I get a beer that isn't exactly the flavor profile I was expecting I almost never mind drinking it anyways
 
VirginiaHops1 said:
If you're getting it 'on a menu' all you have to do is ask the person serving you what kind of beer it is. If you're buying cans perhaps it takes a bit more effort but you could just spend 30 seconds looking the beer up on an app or the internet and finding a picture in a glass. Seems like you're just looking for reasons to complain about the style.

There's been tons of times I've gotten something labeled WCIPA and it wasn't even close to being bitter enough to consider itself that.

It's just beer though, when I get a beer that isn't exactly the flavor profile I was expecting I almost never mind drinking it anyways
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Do you go to a car dealership and order a compact car, then say my bad when you're delivered a pickup?
 
I 2nd the thought on ordering being a pain these days. Even at brewpubs the folks behind the counter do not know the difference between a west coast or east coast IPA. There sure is a difference in the beers. Strangely enough, I have started to see IPA disappearing from taps. Maybe the whole style has worn thin a bit? Surprising as I see APA/IPA as an American classic.
 
My concern is not the brewing process effort but rather outcome and marketing. Now that hazy has a BJCP 21C category it will live on and maybe develop sub categories. Too many breweries crank them out young with somewhat harsh polyphenols. They obviously sell well because pubs I frequent typically have three hazies to one 21A IPA. Maybe I’m just not keeping up with the trends. A server commented that she likes hazies because they are less bitter. But a 21A IPA can be well balanced and dry hopped at 40 IBUs. The nice thing is we have choices on what we brew or order.
 
NTBeer said:
Don't care about how hard they are to brew. The issue is they stole an already established style name, and they dont always say "NE" or " hazy" so you can't distinguish between the styles on a menu. Call them "victory" or whatever instead of "IPA" and have as much of the godforesaken swill as you like. Just stop making ordering a beer more confusing than it needs to be.
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NEIPA or hazies are actually in their own sub category now. That takes care of any "theft" of the IPA name.
NTBeer said:
Do you go to a car dealership and order a compact car, then say my bad when you're delivered a pickup?
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@VirginiaHops1 made a good point about asking a bartender or looking up a beer quick before you order or purchase.

If the dealership gives you a pickup instead of a compact car, that's both your fault and dealership's fault. The beauty of having a computer at our finger tips is we as consumers can do our own research. If I don't recognize a beer on the menu, I look it up. I usually know what style I'm in the mood for, so I cross reference the menu to make sure I'm ordering what I want.

This idea that hazies "stole the ipa name and now it's harder for you to order a beer" is insane. Hence the sub category.
 
VirginiaHops1 said:
If you're getting it 'on a menu' all you have to do is ask the person serving you what kind of beer it is.
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I actually heard a "server" tell a guy that they had no hazy IPA's the other day. I then turned to the guy and guided him to the ~4-5 hazy's the place had on tap, at least the ones that I knew were hazibois...
 
wepeeler said:
@VirginiaHops1
If the dealership gives you a pickup instead of a compact car, that's both your fault and dealership's fault.
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Forget that line of thinking! The consumer should not have any responsibility for the seller's actions. If the car dealership brings out the wrong car or confusing labeling causes the wrong car to be brought out, I will accept no responsibility in that transaction. I won't be rude but that is just lazy on the part of the seller to expect the consumer/customer to do half of their work. :)
 
Bassman2003 said:
Forget that line of thinking! The consumer should not have any responsibility for the seller's actions. If the car dealership brings out the wrong car or confusing labeling causes the wrong car to be brought out, I will accept no responsibility in that transaction. I won't be rude but that is just lazy on the part of the seller to expect the consumer/customer to do half of their work. :)
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Missed my point completely. I was only saying that part of the transaction is the consumer being able to correctly describe what they want. Obviously if you say you want a compact car and the dealer gives you a truck, that's on the dealer. But if you as a consumer don't know what you want, then how can the seller be held accountable for what he delivers to you?
 
wepeeler said:
NEIPA or hazies are actually in their own sub category now. That takes care of any "theft" of the IPA name.
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No, it actually doesn’t. Breweries and bottlers don’t print BJCP category numbers on their bottles or labels. They all still just say “IPA”. And clear IPA was here first. Thats 99% of the complaints.
 
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bwible said:
No, it actually doesn’t. Breweries and bottlers don’t print BJCP category numbers on their bottles or labels. They all still just say “IPA”.
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If the brewery is selling a hazy or NEIPA, it should be labeled as such. If not, that's the brewery's fault. I would say a majority of breweries near me label them as such, but I'm in New England, so the market for hazies might be larger than where you are from.
Bassman2003 said:
Sure, but I thought the discussion was about the term IPA being confusing for the servers and the orderers? No big deal...
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That's why the server should be educated on the tap list. And if you're a beer drinker in 2022, you should have an idea of what you're ordering.
 
wepeeler said:
If the brewery is selling a hazy or NEIPA, it should be labeled as such. If not, that's the brewery's fault. I would say a majority of breweries near me label them as such, but I'm in New England, so the market for hazies might be larger than where you are from.
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I’m in PA and I’ll tell you for a fact that more than half of the hazies here are NOT labelled correctly. And most of them are in cans.

This is all anybody has been asking for. Put NEIPA or Hazy IPA or a different name somewhere on the label. They came with CIPA for Cold IPA or IPL for India Pale Lager. Come up with HIPA or something different for the hazies just so people understand what they are buying.
 
bwible said:
I’m in PA and I’ll tell you for a fact that more than half of the hazies here are NOT labelled correctly. And most of them are in cans.

This is all anybody has been asking for. Put NEIPA or Hazy IPA or a different name somewhere on the label. They came with CIPA for Cold IPA or IPL for India Pale Lager. Come up with HIPA or something different for the hazies just so people understand what they are buying.
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I'm in agreement. They should absolutely be labeled correctly.
 
I both love and hate hazy ipas. I hate them because I think purposefully making beer hazy is totally pointless, but on the other hand, hoppy hazy ipas are so easy and so forgiving to make that they're getting more people into homebrewing which is a reallygood thing. But then to add to this, it annoys me when loads of homebrewers think they're experts when all the brew is hazy ipas, and they've not experienced the pitfalls of brewing more traditional less forgiving styles.
 
My problem is haze has always been considered a flaw, often the result of poor brewing habits.
Hazy beer is why they used stone mugs for beer drinking two hundred years ago.
When the breweries started making light pilsners, that were clear, and actually pretty to look at, clear drinking glasses became popular for the light lagers.
 
wepeeler said:
That's why the server should be educated on the tap list. And if you're a beer drinker in 2022, you should have an idea of what you're ordering.
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A couple of years ago I won Best of Show at a local comp. Part of the 'win' was the opportunity to brew at a local upscale brewery/restaurant.

On the evening the beer was tapped, the restaurant owner and head brewmaster asked me to brief all the servers and bar staff about my beer, so they could tell patrons what they could expect, just like telling customers about a chef's special offerings on the menu. My beer got a lot of positive reviews from both the patrons and the staff, who were able to give the customers an accurate description of what was on tap.

Knowledge is power in the hands of the consumer, and also results in bigger tips for the wait staff.
 
Here is the question...does hazy, murky beer taste better than crystal clear, brilliant hyper clear beer? Which of these is prettier?

Before you answer, remember that we taste with our eyes first.
 

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