New England IPA "Northeast" style IPA

[murphyslaw]

Scott Janish at Sapwood and the author of The New IPA say they drop hop most of their beers at 40-45F. It's in the Push the Limit of hops article in Beer and Brewing magazine.

Well, in that case, I can say I don't really notice any off flavors in the Sapwood IPAs in my fridge.

Given his popularity here, I wonder whether anyone has had much of his beer? Their brewery is maybe 10 min from my LHBS. I don't go as often as I should. Their selection has exploded. Lots of fruit puree.

 

[wepeeler]

Well, in that case, I can say I don't really notice any off flavors in the Sapwood IPAs in my fridge.

Given his popularity here, I wonder whether anyone has had much of his beer? Their brewery is maybe 10 min from my LHBS. I don't go as often as I should. Their selection has exploded. Lots of fruit puree.

He said they've leaned heavy into sours and other styles. I haven't had any of their beer, but would love to try some. I'd be down for a swap if you want. I have an excellent brewery near me that does great IPAs and German style lagers. Taproom Pours |

 

[Dgallo]

Well, in that case, I can say I don't really notice any off flavors in the Sapwood IPAs in my fridge.

Given his popularity here, I wonder whether anyone has had much of his beer? Their brewery is maybe 10 min from my LHBS. I don't go as often as I should. Their selection has exploded. Lots of fruit puree.

Their beers are good but definitely not the top of the game in my opinion.

 

[BeerFst]

They had some very limited distro here on Long Island at some point in the last 12 months. It was official distro, but the price was as if it were muled. ~30 bucks a 4 pack and 8 dollars a can for singles. I was excited for it, and got a can but wasn't terribly impressed. I actually wrote them on IG they needed to improve their price point to compete, particularly since I can just order a case of otherhalf (with free shipping) whenever I want. Most of the OH being better than the one Sapwood beer I had. The response (from Mike actually) was something along the lines of "we can't control that due to the three tier system" which is partially true, but maybe they should have done some market research on competitive pricing first. I haven't seen them back here since.

All that said, my brother in law lives one town over from them and I should really convince him to stop before he comes up to LI next. He's into wine, which is why I haven't pushed it before

 

[Dgallo]

They had some very limited distro here on Long Island at some point in the last 12 months. It was official distro, but the price was as if it were muled. ~30 bucks a 4 pack and 8 dollars a can for singles. I was excited for it, and got a can but wasn't terribly impressed. I actually wrote them on IG they needed to improve their price point to compete, particularly since I can just order a case of otherhalf (with free shipping) whenever I want. Most of the OH being better than the one Sapwood beer I had. The response (from Mike actually) was something along the lines of "we can't control that due to the three tier system" which is partially true, but maybe they should have done some market research on competitive pricing first. I haven't seen them back here since.

All that said, my brother in law lives one town over from them and I should really convince him to stop before he comes up to LI next. He's into wine, which is why I haven't pushed it before

I actually think the hop game is over. And it’s honestly probably due to this thread lol everyone that follows this thread and has good o2 practices can probably make a pretty decent NEIPA. (I personally know some pros that learned from this thread). I feel like the gap between the best and the mediocre is closing and no NEIPA “wows” me anymore.

I personally haven’t brewed one since July and I don’t know how often I’ll brew them. I’ve moved on to German ales/lagers and brilliantly clear west coast ipas

 

[murphyslaw]

Their beers are good but definitely not the top of the game in my opinion.

Totally agree. I’d put them top 3 of our local IPA breweries. Behind Other Half DC, and comparable to Astrolab.

I’ve briefly met them both and I’ve learned a ton from their books and websites. They’re a gold mine for us home brewers.

 

[murphyslaw]

I actually think the hop game is over. And it’s honestly probably due to this thread lol everyone that follows this thread and has good o2 practices can probably make a pretty decent NEIPA. (I personally know some pros that learned from this thread). I feel like the gap between the best and the mediocre is closing and no NEIPA “wows” me anymore.

Man, I don’t know. I feel like there’s still not many making GREAT NEIPAs and they’re mainly the same players as they always were.

And I still find a lot of breweries making what they call NEIPAs but, at least in my mind, and to what I’m looking for in a NEIPA, aren’t close.

Maybe that’s just my experience locally. Other than the three I mentioned above, I don’t think there’s a brewery around here that makes a NEIPA worth buying.

 

[daygobrewer]

I’ve been home brewing off and on for the past 13 years or so. I started with partial mash and quickly moved to all grain, but in the past 5 years the work involved with all grain became unappealing, and I stopped brewing with any frequency. Recently I decided to start brewing again, fermenting and serving out of kegs using floating dip tubes. Having seen a few successful recipes only using extract, I decided to start there with my “grain” bill while working out the process of using kegs.

Below is my most recent batch. I decided to have fun with some modern products I haven’t tried yet, including Citra Incognito, Phantasm, and the thiol-boosting yeast strain Helio Gazer.

Process
I dissolved the DME in 4 gallons of water at 160F, then added the Citra Incognito and Phantasm, and whirlpooled for 20 minutes. That lower temp was a suggestion from a professional brewer who’s worked with Incognito extensively. Obviously, there was no boil for this recipe, and I felt confident the wort was pasteurized. After the whirlpool, I cooled the wort, strained, and transferred to a corny keg with a floating dip tube. The final volume was about 4.4 gallons in the fermenter. I pitched a pack of OYL-405 Helio Gazer at 70F. Once FG was reached and stabilized, I cool crashed to 50F for 48 hours. I prepped a second corny keg with a floating dip tube by filling it with sanitizer, pushing it out with CO2, and added 8 oz of Nelson Sauvin while purging with CO2. I did a closed transfer from the fermenting keg to the serving kegs. I dry hopped at 55F for 48 hours while carbonating at 25 PSI, then crashed to serving temps and PSI.

Evaluation
The intense fragrance of guava and passionfruit during fermentation was a good indicator of what the finished beer would taste like. In the glass I found yellow guava, passionfruit, gooseberry, white grape, white grapefruit, honeydew, white peach, and even cucumber. As expected, the low temp whirlpool and use of Incognito yielded little bitterness or astringency, and the aftertaste came off as “minerally”. This quality played into the white wine-like flavors of the beer. My SO summed it well by describing it as tasting like a “guava mimosa”.

Overall I’m super pleased with this recipe. Fermenting in and serving from kegs is a new process to me, and I was concerned I wouldn’t be able to limit O2 as well as the style requires. Thankfully that isn’t the case.

I also purchased some Mosaic Incognito, and plan to remake this recipe subbing the Citra for Mosaic.

Back With Another One Of Those Phantasmic Beats NEIPA
OG: 1.060
FG: 1.014
ABV: 6.0%

“Grain” Bill
6 lb Pilsen DME

Water
4 gal RO
2 grams CaCl

Whirlpool
20 ml Citra Incognito @160F 20 min
4 oz Phantasm Powder @ 160F 20 min

Yeast
OYL-405 Helio Gazer @ 70F 72 hours, then 73F until FG

Dry Hop
8 oz Nelson Sauvin T90 @ 55F 48 hours

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

I actually think the hop game is over. And it’s honestly probably due to this thread lol everyone that follows this thread and has good o2 practices can probably make a pretty decent NEIPA. (I personally know some pros that learned from this thread). I feel like the gap between the best and the mediocre is closing and no NEIPA “wows” me anymore.

I personally haven’t brewed one since July and I don’t know how often I’ll brew them. I’ve moved on to German ales/lagers and brilliantly clear west coast ipas

Welllll I wouldn't say it's over, it has come to a point where yes the wow factor isn't what it was. Especially when I can pour one out of the tap that is fantastic. That said I still love all the different hop combos and things that can be done with this style. Wcipa didn't die it just took the backseat for a bit and now it's making a push. Personally I brew I lot of different styles, Belgians are fun to brew for me and I've really taken a liking to British ales over the past year or so. My next ipa will be a west coast ipa but this style is still my bread and butter it will just be diluted a little bit with more styles on my brew list.

 

[murphyslaw]

This might be the best I’ve had from sapwood. Really good.

 

[wepeeler]

I actually think the hop game is over. And it’s honestly probably due to this thread lol everyone that follows this thread and has good o2 practices can probably make a pretty decent NEIPA. (I personally know some pros that learned from this thread). I feel like the gap between the best and the mediocre is closing and no NEIPA “wows” me anymore.

I personally haven’t brewed one since July and I don’t know how often I’ll brew them. I’ve moved on to German ales/lagers and brilliantly clear west coast ipas

I've followed the same path! I do make a neipa every few batches (like an all Citra one yesterday), but I have too since moved onto Lagers, Kolsches and Alts. I think my palate is tired of hoppy hazies, although I do still enjoy a good one. I haven't made the Tree House run in years. I used to go waaaay more than I should have!

 

[TBryerton]

I've followed the same path! I do make a neipa every few batches (like an all Citra one yesterday), but I have too since moved onto Lagers, Kolsches and Alts. I think my palate is tired of hoppy hazies, although I do still enjoy a good one. I haven't made the Tree House run in years. I used to go waaaay more than I should have!

I feel like the hop game has actually gone backwards. The market seems to be flooded with mediocre beers. TH, Trillium, and OH have all fallen victim to the expansion vs quality demon. I find it extremely difficult to get my hands on great IPAs in the central NY area on a regular basis. I did have a Veil beer last night that was outstanding, but things like that show up once in a blue moon.

 

[secretlevel]

I actually think the hop game is over. And it’s honestly probably due to this thread lol everyone that follows this thread and has good o2 practices can probably make a pretty decent NEIPA. (I personally know some pros that learned from this thread). I feel like the gap between the best and the mediocre is closing and no NEIPA “wows” me anymore.

I personally haven’t brewed one since July and I don’t know how often I’ll brew them. I’ve moved on to German ales/lagers and brilliantly clear west coast ipas

Haha is this the natural evolution of a brewer?! I'm in the same exact boat, making a bunch of West Coast IPAs right now. It's an exciting space to experiment though, I'm not really loading these beers with a bunch of crystal malts and all C-hops (nothing wrong with those). The west coast IPAs are also evolving in many ways and becoming more fruity/hoppy than they ever were, and it's these west coast breweries like North Park, Highland Park, Slice and GC that are making them exciting:

https://beerandbrewing.com/recipe-west-coast-ipa-is-dead/https://beerandbrewing.com/recipe-cellarmaker-mt-nelson-pale-ale/
PS. Sorry for highjacking this thread.

 

[tracer bullet]

They did talk about sulfur notes, which, if I remember right were highest in the day 0 dry hop and lowest in the day 8 dry hop. They viewed the day 4/warm to cold dry hop as the best of both worlds, getting the most of the tropical flavor and avoiding most of the sulfur notes. They also said the cold hopped version had several other negative flavor characteristics but I don’t recall what. I didn’t pay much attention to that as I wasn’t really interested in hopping at 40f.

It’s interesting because it’s Sierra Nevada and because they had a pretty well designed experiment. But I didn’t walk away feeling like I’m going to apply anything they learned. Ymmv.

Finally listened to it today, it was interesting. You could walk away from it telling yourself to dry hop early and long and skip anything cold.

As always, it's a data point, everyone needs to make their own conclusions with their own beers.

 

[user 299976]

I’ve been home brewing off and on for the past 13 years or so. I started with partial mash and quickly moved to all grain, but in the past 5 years the work involved with all grain became unappealing, and I stopped brewing with any frequency. Recently I decided to start brewing again, fermenting and serving out of kegs using floating dip tubes. Having seen a few successful recipes only using extract, I decided to start there with my “grain” bill while working out the process of using kegs.

Below is my most recent batch. I decided to have fun with some modern products I haven’t tried yet, including Citra Incognito, Phantasm, and the thiol-boosting yeast strain Helio Gazer.

Process
I dissolved the DME in 4 gallons of water at 160F, then added the Citra Incognito and Phantasm, and whirlpooled for 20 minutes. That lower temp was a suggestion from a professional brewer who’s worked with Incognito extensively. Obviously, there was no boil for this recipe, and I felt confident the wort was pasteurized. After the whirlpool, I cooled the wort, strained, and transferred to a corny keg with a floating dip tube. The final volume was about 4.4 gallons in the fermenter. I pitched a pack of OYL-405 Helio Gazer at 70F. Once FG was reached and stabilized, I cool crashed to 50F for 48 hours. I prepped a second corny keg with a floating dip tube by filling it with sanitizer, pushing it out with CO2, and added 8 oz of Nelson Sauvin while purging with CO2. I did a closed transfer from the fermenting keg to the serving kegs. I dry hopped at 55F for 48 hours while carbonating at 25 PSI, then crashed to serving temps and PSI.

Evaluation
The intense fragrance of guava and passionfruit during fermentation was a good indicator of what the finished beer would taste like. In the glass I found yellow guava, passionfruit, gooseberry, white grape, white grapefruit, honeydew, white peach, and even cucumber. As expected, the low temp whirlpool and use of Incognito yielded little bitterness or astringency, and the aftertaste came off as “minerally”. This quality played into the white wine-like flavors of the beer. My SO summed it well by describing it as tasting like a “guava mimosa”.

Overall I’m super pleased with this recipe. Fermenting in and serving from kegs is a new process to me, and I was concerned I wouldn’t be able to limit O2 as well as the style requires. Thankfully that isn’t the case.

I also purchased some Mosaic Incognito, and plan to remake this recipe subbing the Citra for Mosaic.

Back With Another One Of Those Phantasmic Beats NEIPA
OG: 1.060
FG: 1.014
ABV: 6.0%

“Grain” Bill
6 lb Pilsen DME

Water
4 gal RO
2 grams CaCl

Whirlpool
20 ml Citra Incognito @160F 20 min
4 oz Phantasm Powder @ 160F 20 min

Yeast
OYL-405 Helio Gazer @ 70F 72 hours, then 73F until FG

Dry Hop
8 oz Nelson Sauvin T90 @ 55F 48 hours



View attachment 784851

Ferment and serve from kegs with floating dip tube/filter has been my process this year with great success. Typically 10-12 gallons into 5 gal corney split batches. It’s a great way to use different hop types/schedules. I’m a true believer in this process. Here’s my latest NEIPA.

 

[user 299976]

Cloudy day, no sunlight. Photo is not accurate representation.

 

[NZhomebrew]

Ferment and serve from kegs with floating dip tube/filter has been my process this year with great success. Typically 10-12 gallons into 5 gal corney split batches. It’s a great way to use different hop types/schedules. I’m a true believer in this process. Here’s my latest NEIPA.

Can I ask what your process is for dry hopping in the fermentation keg?

 

[user 299976]

Initially, I opened the lid with gas on and dumped the hops in. From there, moved to closed transfer from fermenting keg to serving keg pre loaded with hops. Similar to process listed above by @daygobrewer.

 

[wepeeler]

So I usually make starters on Tuesdays, harvest, crash for 24 hours, then brew on Thursdays. I made a starter on Wednesday night after getting ingredients delivered on Tuesday this week, but still brewed on Thursday, harvested, but no cold crash. I pitched the entire 2L starter of Coastal Haze, leaving about an inch of headspace in my 7 gal SSBrewtech Brew Bucket. Took off in about 3 hours and is at FG right now. Cleaned up about 7 blowoffs, but the basement smelled great. All Citra hops, all Mecca malt. Lowered my typical IBUs (58) to 48. Going to let it go 12 days, then soft crash, DH, and keg on day 14. If you haven't tried Mecca Grade Malt, I highly recommend. It makes a deeper orange color neipa, but the malt flavor is insane. Just got 2 60lb Vittle Vaults to store it in bulk!

 

[BeerFst]

So I usually make starters on Tuesdays, harvest, crash for 24 hours, then brew on Thursdays. I made a starter on Wednesday night after getting ingredients delivered on Tuesday this week, but still brewed on Thursday, harvested, but no cold crash. I pitched the entire 2L starter of Coastal Haze, leaving about an inch of headspace in my 7 gal SSBrewtech Brew Bucket. Took off in about 3 hours and is at FG right now. Cleaned up about 7 blowoffs, but the basement smelled great. All Citra hops, all Mecca malt. Lowered my typical IBUs (58) to 48. Going to let it go 12 days, then soft crash, DH, and keg on day 14. If you haven't tried Mecca Grade Malt, I highly recommend. It makes a deeper orange color neipa, but the malt flavor is insane. Just got 2 60lb Vittle Vaults to store it in bulk!

Look up a vitality starter, that’s essentially what you did here. You may not have had the count you desired but the yeasties were primed and ready to CONSUME

 

[wepeeler]

Look up a vitality starter, that’s essentially what you did here. You may not have had the count you desired but the yeasties were primed and ready to CONSUME

I hate to pitch so much spent DME, but it is what it is. The amount of hops in this batch should mask anything off.

These yeasties were on a rampage. Absolutely crushed this fermentation.

 

[murphyslaw]

Look up a vitality starter, that’s essentially what you did here. You may not have had the count you desired but the yeasties were primed and ready to CONSUME

What he described is my normal process. It’s what Jamil describes on mrmalty.com. Pitching 12-18 hours after creating the starter.

 

[wepeeler]

What he described is my normal process. It’s what Jamil describes on mrmalty.com. Pitching 12-18 hours after creating the starter.

I just hate pitching that much dme...

 

[Ulisses4677]

I put my 4 month old hb neipa to the left of juice Jr. Mine has way more body and mouthfeel and hop flavor and aroma way more expressive than juice jr canned 10/17/22. Hyped breweries that’s all.

 

[secretlevel]

Ferment and serve from kegs with floating dip tube/filter has been my process this year with great success. Typically 10-12 gallons into 5 gal corney split batches. It’s a great way to use different hop types/schedules. I’m a true believer in this process. Here’s my latest NEIPA.

Nice, any issues not leaving much room for krausen? I would worry that the blow off would clog your gas post, but I might give it a shot since I can actually fit two cornies into my fermentation fridge rather than 1 fermenter! Great opportunity for split batch experiments.

 

[user 299976]

Don’t want to hijack this thread, so I’ll be short. Yes krausen could be issue with blow off, depending upon certain yeast types. I normally fill 4 gal into 5g kegs, along with a few drops of Fermcap and that works fine. If more than 4g, I remove the gas poppet and add a blow off tube for the first 3-4 days. There is a lot of information on HBT by searching fermenting in kegs.

After trying several different floating dip tubes, Ball and Keg works best with my process. Buy an inexpensive clip on filter and short gas dip tube to replace bev out long dip tube (More Beer and others) and you’ll be set.



https://www.morebeer.com/products/floating-dip-tube-filter-attachment.html
I do just what you are thinking about with fermentation fridge. It’s way easier with 5g kegs vs large dia or volume fermenters. Give this a try, I think you will like. Good brewing!!!

 

[murphyslaw]

I haven't had any problems with blowoff. The NEIPA I have fermenting right now with A24 did have krausen coming out, but it doesn't clog the post.

I've been fermenting in kegs for the past year or two but this'll be the first NEIPA where I serve from the fermenting keg. The simplicity is really hard to beat.

 

[user 299976]

Enjoying NEIPA using ferment and serve from same keg. This one’s a winner with Kveik Voss, citra and mosiac. Have a backup keg in ferm fridge from same batch made with Verdant, citra and strata. All’s good in NEIPA land today.

 

[user 299976]

Yes, I’m 6-12 months behind the leaders of this thread. I’ve learned from the best, so keep your posts coming. I’ll catch up some day.

 

[anteater8]

View attachment 785114
I put my 4 month old hb neipa to the left of juice Jr. Mine has way more body and mouthfeel and hop flavor and aroma way more expressive than juice jr canned 10/17/22. Hyped breweries that’s all.

Just my two cents on Great Notion's NEIPAs...

I started going to their original location in when they opened in 2016. During the first few years I had some of the best NEIPA's I've ever had there. Sometimes a little hit or miss, but for example, Overripe in its prime was a masterpiece. The in the last few years I started to notice more misses, including some absolutely undrinkable NEIPAs. Incredibly bitter, hop burn, basically tasted like they fermented it for a week and served it 3 days later. Now even on their good days, their NEIPAs don't seem to have the same punch that they used to. I'll keep giving them a shot once a year or so, but its a bummer that the quality isn't what it used to be.