Never had a NEIPA

Yakima 728
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McMullan said:
Compared to what real beer is worth, globally, something like a few hundred billion dollars, iirc, the incy-wincy NEIPA market is very 'niche'. More in line with a barly-based hop cocktail, I'd guess.
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Not even sure what you're arguing anymore. Craft beer, very real beer, in general is niche when compared to InBev and the likes. Tree House made $54 million in 2023. That's not too shabby.
 
McMullan said:
I'm merely pointing out it isn't 'beer' according to any definition.
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I keep seeing the words “real beer” throughout this thread. What exactly is “real beer”? NEIPA isn’t real beer, sours aren’t real beer, Bud Light and Coors aren’t real beer…. I’m gathering (according to some), if a beer doesn’t have a certain appearance or flavor profile or it’s a mass produced light lager or flavored drink and sold to college kids, women or sports fans, it’s not “real beer.
As stated earlier, the universally accepted definition of beer in one form or another is “A fermented alcoholic beverage brewed from malt, usually flavored with hops.” And in its simplest form, “though used in varying proportions depending on the style being made, ALL beer is made from grain, hops, yeast, and water.”
A blonde ale is a “beer”, a Russian imperial stout is a “beer”, a Hefeweizen is a “beer”, but a NEIPA isn’t?
My brain hurts.
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camonick said:
I keep seeing the words “real beer” throughout this thread. What exactly is “real beer”? NEIPA isn’t real beer, sours aren’t real beer, Bud Light and Coors aren’t real beer…. I’m gathering (according to some), if a beer doesn’t have a certain appearance or flavor profile or it’s a mass produced light lager or flavored drink and sold to college kids, women or sports fans, it’s not “real beer.
As stated earlier, the universally accepted definition of beer in one form or another is “A fermented alcoholic beverage brewed from malt, usually flavored with hops.” And in its simplest form, “though used in varying proportions depending on the style being made, ALL beer is made from grain, hops, yeast, and water.”
A blonde ale is a “beer”, a Russian imperial stout is a “beer”, a Hefeweizen is a “beer”, but a NEIPA isn’t?
My brain hurts.
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The goal posts constantly move with any conversation with this poster...

This member doesn't deserve your time.
 
camonick said:
I keep seeing the words “real beer” throughout this thread. What exactly is “real beer”? NEIPA isn’t real beer, sours aren’t real beer, Bud Light and Coors aren’t real beer…. I’m gathering (according to some), if a beer doesn’t have a certain appearance or flavor profile or it’s a mass produced light lager or flavored drink and sold to college kids, women or sports fans, it’s not “real beer.
As stated earlier, the universally accepted definition of beer in one form or another is “A fermented alcoholic beverage brewed from malt, usually flavored with hops.” And in its simplest form, “though used in varying proportions depending on the style being made, ALL beer is made from grain, hops, yeast, and water.”
A blonde ale is a “beer”, a Russian imperial stout is a “beer”, a Hefeweizen is a “beer”, but a NEIPA isn’t?
My brain hurts.
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Until several years ago, with very few exceptions, beer, including craft beer, looked and tasted like beer. Some of us were there. Then the haze craze bucked the trend and produced barley-based hop cocktails which didn’t look or taste anything like beer. Some of us were there. Beer doesn’t look anything like orange juice, unless it’s fermenting with yeast in suspension. Packaged beer is typically clear, by default, due to yeast behaviour, not murky like a hazy. This brightness is what gives beer its colloidal stability. Hazies, colloidally, are highly unstable generally, more like some cocktails. ‘Juicy fruit bomb’ is not really consistent with descriptions of beer quality. Again, more like cocktails. So-called NEIPAs or hazies undeniably have more in common with cocktails than beer. I don’t understand why this is so difficult to accept for some people. The incessant drive among competing craft breweries to differentiate their products got taken to an extreme and burped out a barley-based hop cocktail rather than a beer. There’s nothing wrong with cocktails. They can be fun too. I don’t understand the resistance some express against the obvious.
 
I'm new here, but if anybody wants my 2cents, here they are:

Brewing NEIPAs has been the focus of my home brewing for the past three years. Tasting the world's renowned NEIPAs In order to "set my sights" and know what my ultimate goal is, has been a part of that journey.

In addition to a couple hundred lessor known NEIPAs, I've had Heady Topper, Focal Banger, (Extra) Juicy Bits, Julius, Oh-J, a few Root&Branch's, a few Other Half's and about 10 different beers each from Treehouse and Trillium, to name some of the more famous ones I've had.

For my money, Trillium makes the best NEIPAs hands down. Every single beer I've had from Trillium has been amazing. Try DDH Melcher Street or DDH Stillings Street, for example. I've been nothing but disappointed by Treehouse and would never buy another of their beers. Also excellent have been Focal Banger (but Heady Topper was disappointing), Juicy Bits and Oh-J. The best European NEIPAs I've had are from Garage Beer Co. in Barcelona, Spain (the 'Soup' NEIPAs and their new "Ziplocked 24").

When I bought the book "best beers of the world" (or something like that) in college with my best bud back in '89 and we started trying to get a hold of and drink the top 100 from that list, Sierra Nevada was pushing the bounderies of craft beer brewing. I think SNPA is a great beer in historical perspective. However, in recent years, with all their attempts to jump on the hazy bandwagen with candystore versions of Hazies for mainstream consumers, they've lost my respect. Fine if you like it, and not wanting to offend anybody, but IMHO Hazy Little Thing is to a NEIPA like Budweiser is to a pilsner.

Just my 2 cents.

🍻
 
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wepeeler said:
Not even sure what you're arguing anymore. Craft beer, very real beer, in general is niche when compared to InBev and the likes. Tree House made $54 million in 2023. That's not too shabby.
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Yes, that’s true, the craft beer market, globally or locally/nationally, is a very small market, relatively speaking. And it risks sealing its fate if it focuses on superfluous hop cocktails instead of more affordable beer. This is quite a serious point, considering the wider craft brewing market might not be doing so well. If it’s only about the money, they’re not as passionate about beer as they pretend.
 
I tend to agree that the more extreme examples are not “real beer”. Especially homebrewed version that come with lists of ingredients that sound like more like an all-inclusive resort’s breakfast fruit spread than any beer recipe I’ve ever known.

When Heady Topper first hit the scene, I drove to Vermont to try it. I loved it. I still enjoy simple versions. But like with everything else in this hobby/industry, people get too extreme trying to build off the basics.
 
camonick said:
As stated earlier, the universally accepted definition of beer in one form or another is “A fermented alcoholic beverage brewed from malt, usually flavored with hops.”
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Quite a few spirits start with fermented malted barley worts. And the alcohol thus produced often ends up in fruity cocktails that sell for double the price of beer. A bit like a hazy?

Beer is usually flavoured with hops, yes, but within reason, not in sufficient quantities to ruin all other qualities of beer to produce what then becomes something that’s better described as a barley-based - juicy fruit bomb - hop cocktail. I’m expecting the next thing to happen is introduction of craft cocktail umbrellas to garnish hazy glasses. With little drawings of things like cute polar bears on tricycles chasing orange blossom falling from trees growing in the Arctic under the northern lights, of course. Anyone working on alcohol-free versions? Barley-based hop bombed mocktails? The cocktail bars will be teeming with hazy cocktail fans. Then the rest of us can have unpretentious clear IPA back and enjoy it down the pub in peace.
 
camonick said:
I keep seeing the words “real beer” throughout this thread. What exactly is “real beer”? NEIPA isn’t real beer, sours aren’t real beer, Bud Light and Coors aren’t real beer…. I’m gathering (according to some), if a beer doesn’t have a certain appearance or flavor profile or it’s a mass produced light lager or flavored drink and sold to college kids, women or sports fans, it’s not “real beer.
As stated earlier, the universally accepted definition of beer in one form or another is “A fermented alcoholic beverage brewed from malt, usually flavored with hops.” And in its simplest form, “though used in varying proportions depending on the style being made, ALL beer is made from grain, hops, yeast, and water.”
A blonde ale is a “beer”, a Russian imperial stout is a “beer”, a Hefeweizen is a “beer”, but a NEIPA isn’t?
My brain hurts.
Click to expand...

I find it endlessly amusing to wonder what the reaction of these “purists” would’ve been to the first American IPAs when the craft beer revolution started kicking off in the 70s and 80s.

I’m pretty sure they would’ve complained that it was too bitter and didn’t taste like “real” beer. If the brewmaster had caught them hopping for a BU/GU of 1.0 they’d have been fired!

Nothing like watching people helplessly railing against a trend.

Personally, if it’s hoppy, I drink it - hazy or not. I’m not sure why there’s even controversy in the first place 😂.
 

"Northeast" style IPA 18,505 posts as of just seconds ago.​

Every brewery around here has multiple NEIPA's on tap probably due to demand. It isn't just millennials and hipsters that go to breweries looking for this beer. Apparently the home brew community is deep into it as well. The people I know that like this style the most are lady's and the same goes for sours and fruited beers in general. I could be happy if I never had another ( I have had some very tasty NEIPA's though) but when selection is up to a decent hazy vs other subpar beers when we are out for supper I will often turn to pseudo sue ( seems like it is on tap everywhere here) because the other selections just aren't worth paying for and maybe pseudo sue isn't either but hey I don't eat supper without a beer so what do you do. LOL.
 

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