This article makes me want to self immolate

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Happening to live and work in the middle of NEIPA HYPE country this is all too real and is certainly not satire. Think of it as a window into the world of the NEIPA crowd. There is a beer club at my office and the discussions and samples are almost always around the juiciest, haziest and dankest NEIPAs in the area. Some of the people I work with will pop out of the office around 10:30am to wait inline at Trillium for an hour or two on release day to get whatever new item they are selling. The bartering over trading beers in their collection is unreal too; it almost reminds me of trading pokemon or magic cards growing up.

My only concern with this fad is that all beer styles are slowly morphing into NEIPAs. I had a Lord Hobo Angelica Wheat a couple days ago at a bar and thought they might have given me one of the IPAs on draft. Even looking at the description of the beer on their website it's basically an IPA with a large percentage of wheat in the malt bill. "A New England take on a classic beer style, Angelica offers the refreshing drinkability of a wheat beer combined with fruit juice characteristics and elegant haze." ugh...

In the end though, it gives me a few more people to talk beer with so I'm content. I get to occasionally toss in some little technical nuggets and get to drink decent beer once a week with them and we do have things besides NEIPAs some weeks.
 
When I first started brewing I didn't like IPAs at all, but over the course of a couple of dozen batches I am getting more and more into hops. The resulting beers are what laypersons default to calling an IPA because of dominant hop flavor, but in reality they are just hop-forward versions of a bunch of different styles. I think its a mistake to label a highly hopped porter a "black IPA", this over simplification encourages ambivalence about the range of historical and regional styles. If I walked into a brewpub and just asked for an IPA they would stare at me with a blank expression. "Which IPA? We have a dozen on tap!" "I'll take the black IPA that is actually a Belgian stout with a bunch of hops tossed in." Call them what they are and note the degree of hoppiness, otherwise you're just dumbing down your audience.
 
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I would argue that the craze is actually bringing in more people and educating them. Yea hop forward is the norm at the moment, but it's working to draw in new people. I know a lot of people who were ambivalent about beer forever, until someone handed them a Tree House, or a Trillium, or some other local NEIPA. They'd always been mainstream beer drinkers, maybe venturing to sam adams levels. the NEIPAs are approchable if nothing else. Now I see these same people branching out and trying a lot of things. They still go crazy over anything NEIPA, but they're exploring classic German styles, belgian, dark beer, etc. Your opinion and observations may vary. That's just what I've seen living in the heart of the NEIPA HYPE! region.

I totally get why it's annoying to people who've enjoyed craft beer for years and years and now are seeing variety shift toward HOP ALL THE THINGS however.
 
I like different and unusual ales and beers; I used to drink a lot of Rogue stouts. Lately I have been downing IPAs of all sorts. I also like brown ale and rye ale. We were at one of our favorite brew places the other night. I usually get either JAWN or coffee JAWN. They had a blueberry gose; I was intrigued, because in Massachusetts I had had a Wachusett blueberry ale (thirty years ago I used to ski at Wachusett; how nostalgic!) that was incredible; a soft, velvety blueberry top note over a very nice hoppy ale. I had never tasted gose; I don't know what it is and I don't want to know; I couldn't drink it! It tasted like blueberries and seaweed. I asked for a nice JAWN, followed by a coffee JAWN, and was happy. They didn't charge us for the gose, which sat like an unhappy orphan on the table until I asked them to get it out of my sight.
 
Scientific hippie said:
I like different and unusual ales and beers; I used to drink a lot of Rogue stouts. Lately I have been downing IPAs of all sorts. I also like brown ale and rye ale. We were at one of our favorite brew places the other night. I usually get either JAWN or coffee JAWN. They had a blueberry gose; I was intrigued, because in Massachusetts I had had a Wachusett blueberry ale (thirty years ago I used to ski at Wachusett; how nostalgic!) that was incredible; a soft, velvety blueberry top note over a very nice hoppy ale. I had never tasted gose; I don't know what it is and I don't want to know; I couldn't drink it! It tasted like blueberries and seaweed. I asked for a nice JAWN, followed by a coffee JAWN, and was happy. They didn't charge us for the gose, which sat like an unhappy orphan on the table until I asked them to get it out of my sight.
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LOL Yeah, I've only had one or two encounters with Gose, both awful. A salty, soured, vomitous cesspool. Randomly adding coldbrew coffee to it as if that could cover the nasty taste only made it worse. It must be an acquired taste like stinky cheeses; my favorite when we lived in Europe was Appenzeller. The first time I smelled it I thought immediately that the milk had been tainted with manure, but the first taste was out of this world; sweet, tangy, musty, earthy and nutty. I started enjoying the younger, more tame 3 month aged silver label Appenzeller, then the cheese monger at the village market turned me on to the older and funkier 6 month old gold label, and eventually I ended up savoring small, rank wedges of my personal favorite, the 9+ month old black label Extra. So I like funky, barnyard flavors in cheese but Gose is a step too far, at least for now. Maybe I need to try it again?
 
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Partially on account of this thread, I picked up a $22 4 pack of one of these hip hop new bevs on way home. Tasty, 8.8 ABV and listed 130 IBU, mostly late process hops, judging by the taste. It was very good, not sure I'd call it beer though, something else, but still good.
 
Look at it this way, some people eat 20 year old rotten duck eggs and say they are tasty. Sucking down a turpentine flavored hop bomb can't be as bad as that. Ok, i'm kidding. Yes it can.


The younger generation eats tide pods. Probably because they aren't old enough to buy hop bombs and hazy's, and haven't hit puberty so they can't grow a neck beard.
 
ba-brewer said:
you might be right
I seen the latest BYO magazine and they have an article on pastry beers, I immediately thought of Mel.
https://byo.com/article/pastry-beers/
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I, too thought of smelly mell when I saw the article. Except that those recipes approach the jubject with subtlety and a judicious use of specialty grains and spices; not crudely throwing into the mash a buttload of 2nd hand defective cupcakes. The BYO recipes can rightly be called pastry beers while @ismellweird brews what could rightly be called "Betty Crocker's Crapper" or "Dolly Madison's Dumper".
 
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Scientific hippie said:
I wouldn't use words like "cesspool" or "vomitous"; I enjoy stinky cheeses. I just though this gose tasted yucky. It didn't nauseate me; it just tasted bad.
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No, I'll stick with vomitous cesspool. We are talking about Gose, an intentionally disgusting style. When, where, and why did salt make it into the recipe?? Wazzup with that?
 
davidabcd said:
To be fair, I don't do Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat or anything (had to ask my wife what else there was besides FB and Twitter). This site is all of those rolled into one for me.
I have only heard of a couple of the terms, "flocc" comes to mind.
I've never had a NEIPA but maybe I'll try one if someone brings that to a gathering. And I've only been aware of NEIPA for about three months, having seen it mentioned here.
Different world.
Edit: Looked when I joined so I've known about NEIPA for two months or so. Same with citra hops. Never heard of them prior. I guess I never noticed.
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Grab some beer from Old Nation!
They make delicious examples of NEIP. Their M-43 should be available at any of your local liquor or grocery stores
 
orionol73 said:
Grab some beer from Old Nation!
They make delicious examples of NEIP. Their M-43 should be available at any of your local liquor or grocery stores
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I really do feel the need to try this style. I'll google. living where I do, there's a ton of beer choices. Thanks.
 
Andrew Hodgson said:
Future juicewolf in the making, hows your neckbeard coming? One of us, one of us.
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I'm not sure about that but I see from the photos on here that the NEIPAs are, or can be, cloudy? I like that. And "juicewolf"? Who doesn't like a nickname that has "wolf" in it?
Edit: So, how many years behind am I with regard to NEIPAs being a thing?
 
davidabcd said:
So, how many years behind am I with regard to NEIPAs being a thing?
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Talking about being slow on the uptake, I lived in southern Germany for 5 years and only after moving back did I really really get into beer which eventually lead me to homebrewing and the point I am at now, wishing I could taste all those beers again and take notes. If only I'd had the knowledge and palate back then that I do now, I could have learned so much! If the opportunity to move back presents itself again, I would plan to stay there for 10 years at least.
 
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ApolloSimcoe said:
VPB (Vermont Pub and Brewery) started rolling them out mid 90's. Alchemist around 2003.
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If carelessly dumping in a bunch of late hops and then mercilessly dry-hopping with bushels full of dank cones counts as brewing a NEIPA, then I suspect a whole mess-o'-potamians did it thousands of years ago.
 
ApolloSimcoe said:
VPB (Vermont Pub and Brewery) started rolling them out mid 90's. Alchemist around 2003.
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When I was there in 2015 VPB didn’t have an IPA on the menu. Not sure if it changed management or brewers beforehand, but there was nothing hop forward about the place. Just a traditional English pub.
 
Wow, I must be a loser. There were only a few on their I have not heard people use and I've used quite a few myself.

Contrary to what seems to be posted here, it's not just the NEIPA crowd that talks like that. Anybody who's deep into craft beer and trying to get the rare beers talks like that. I have a group of friends and we all like to get high-end stouts, sours, etc to drink and share. We typically get together once every 6 weeks or so for a massive share with great food, great friends and excellent beer.

I have friends who fly out east every 8 weeks to stock up on the NEIPAs....I just brew my own. They go all over the country for festivals and releases. They travel to Belgium for beer. In short, they're pretty hard core about the whole thing. I don't have as deep pockets as most of them, but I benefit from their efforts and get what I can locally and regionally.

Frankly, that's what got me back into brewing after a 20 year hiatus.

  • I wait in lines.
  • I've taken Kill Shots
  • I've purchased, shared and brewed pastry stouts.
  • I've received and sent porch bombs (commercial and home brew).
  • I have a cellar with about 100 various imperial stouts and sours (yes, a real cellar), including my own brews.
  • I've shared collabs with friends
  • DDH NEIPAs have graced our shares many times
  • I've had a few drain pours....life's too short to drink bad beer
  • I've referred to an IPA or pastry stout that's "falling off" when the hop flavors or great vanilla notes are fading with age for example.
  • Certainly you've all opened a "gusher" before....
  • I'd never heard "Iceman pour" but I've seen pics...they're ridiculous
  • NEIPAs are frequently juicy
  • Dank is a real thing and it's not just noobs who use the term, contrary to the article
  • Mules are real...we even joke about a dad who brings his young kids to releases...we call his kids "baby mules".


I could go on, but you all are probably laughing hard enough now.

Sure make fun of people, but good beer is good beer. Brewing it is a blast and I'm glad I went through a hardcore chase prior to getting back into brewing. I think I brew better beers for it and my friends agree. When you've got friends who travel the world for good beer and they want to co-own a brewery with you as head brewer, that says a lot about the beer you're brewing (IMO).
 
ApolloSimcoe said:
VPB (Vermont Pub and Brewery) started rolling them out mid 90's. Alchemist around 2003.
Click to expand...

Okay, that's more like it, time-wise, with me being out of the loop on stuff. I would ask but I can easily google (and will) what makes a NEIPA what it is. Just learning about sour beer, too, and have been given some "starter" suggestions.
Funny, I'll mention a famous person's name, now and then, and my wife will say, "Oh, yeah, he/she died _____ years ago!"
I go, "Oh, that's too bad, he/she was a great/good _____. How'd they die?"
So I always catch up eventually.
 
Hwk-I-St8 said:
Wow, I must be a loser. There were only a few on their I have not heard people use and I've used quite a few myself.

Contrary to what seems to be posted here, it's not just the NEIPA crowd that talks like that. Anybody who's deep into craft beer and trying to get the rare beers talks like that. I have a group of friends and we all like to get high-end stouts, sours, etc to drink and share. We typically get together once every 6 weeks or so for a massive share with great food, great friends and excellent beer.

I have friends who fly out east every 8 weeks to stock up on the NEIPAs....I just brew my own. They go all over the country for festivals and releases. They travel to Belgium for beer. In short, they're pretty hard core about the whole thing. I don't have as deep pockets as most of them, but I benefit from their efforts and get what I can locally and regionally.

Frankly, that's what got me back into brewing after a 20 year hiatus.

  • I wait in lines.
  • I've taken Kill Shots
  • I've purchased, shared and brewed pastry stouts.
  • I've received and sent porch bombs (commercial and home brew).
  • I have a cellar with about 100 various imperial stouts and sours (yes, a real cellar), including my own brews.
  • I've shared collabs with friends
  • DDH NEIPAs have graced our shares many times
  • I've had a few drain pours....life's too short to drink bad beer
  • I've referred to an IPA or pastry stout that's "falling off" when the hop flavors or great vanilla notes are fading with age for example.
  • Certainly you've all opened a "gusher" before....
  • I'd never heard "Iceman pour" but I've seen pics...they're ridiculous
  • NEIPAs are frequently juicy
  • Dank is a real thing and it's not just noobs who use the term, contrary to the article
  • Mules are real...we even joke about a dad who brings his young kids to releases...we call his kids "baby mules".


I could go on, but you all are probably laughing hard enough now.

Sure make fun of people, but good beer is good beer. Brewing it is a blast and I'm glad I went through a hardcore chase prior to getting back into brewing. I think I brew better beers for it and my friends agree. When you've got friends who travel the world for good beer and they want to co-own a brewery with you as head brewer, that says a lot about the beer you're brewing (IMO).
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I only speak for myself here, but don't personally know you. If you are only drinking beer and standing in long lines to say that you got the beer first, then you belong with the group.

If you judge a beer's quality on stats like ddh, ibu or however many tons of hops (check out my new deca-dry-hop, now with10x more dry hop than before) then we are making gun of you.

If you have a Neard connecting your mutton-chops to your male-pattern-baldness but are rocking a skullet (bald mans mullet) and still can't grow a goatee because you want to be cool or attain status then yes we are directing this at you.

But if you do any of the above because its really, truly, honestly what you want to do, then sit down here and have a brew. Even if its an Inuit Juicy, Hazy, Cupcake Stout lagered in whale bladder.
 
Mid 90's at VP you had Greg Noonan, John Kimmich both brewing there with Shaun Hill as a regular at the bar. He then opens Hill Farmstead and rolls out Edward and Abner I don't think careless could be used to describe that scene. Try Epic. Its like going to Woodstock now and saying "Oh its just a hill". But yes VPB is a shadow of what it once was.
 
Jayjay1976 said:
No, I'll stick with vomitous cesspool. We are talking about Gose, an intentionally disgusting style. When, where, and why did salt make it into the recipe?? Wazzup with that?
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16th century. Personally i am a fan of the style. That being said I like a straight up Gose, no fruit in mine please. For me they are light, tart and very refreshing. But again not all breweries make a good version
 
ApolloSimcoe said:
16th century. Personally i am a fan of the style. That being said I like a straight up Gose, no fruit in mine please. For me they are light, tart and very refreshing. But again not all breweries make a good version
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That is the root of the problem, with some of the more obscure styles. Mediocre breweries putting out poor examples of styles that are hard to find, a newcomer tries one and doesn't like it, assumes it's representative of the style as a whole and completely discounts it henceforth.
 
Auger said:
That is the root of the problem, with some of the more obscure styles. Mediocre breweries putting out poor examples of styles that are hard to find, a newcomer tries one and doesn't like it, assumes it's representative of the style as a whole and completely discounts it henceforth.
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This is the reason I will try any beer in any style from almost any brewery (some exceptions). To paraphrase something I've said about wine for years:
"There is no such thing as someone who does not like beer, only someone who has yet to have a beer that they like."
 
Auger said:
That is the root of the problem, with some of the more obscure styles. Mediocre breweries putting out poor examples of styles that are hard to find, a newcomer tries one and doesn't like it, assumes it's representative of the style as a whole and completely discounts it henceforth.
Click to expand...

That's encouraging. Maybe I will try gose again some time, especially if it's not flavored.
 
Agreed with Appolo and Auger. Gose is freaking delicious to my palate(to each their own as well) the subtle fruitiness from coriander with the light sourness balanced by the roundness of the salt yummm. But its quite different from all the actual things we can see trending in USA where it is just mixed with fruits or fruit juice(damn you murica you helped us with the craft beer revolution and now its beer diabetes?)

I wonder how long it will take or if it even will happen here in the south of europe for this neipa/juice everything craze and having people waiting in lines for beers...I will just sadly watch the craft scene booming and stealing people money telling them to drink local even if its crap.
 
Auger said:
That is the root of the problem, with some of the more obscure styles. Mediocre breweries putting out poor examples of styles that are hard to find, a newcomer tries one and doesn't like it, assumes it's representative of the style as a whole and completely discounts it henceforth.
Click to expand...
That's a very good point.You remind me of a trip we took to Vermont. We visited a brewery and all their beers tasted watery and dull; I didn't write down the kinds of beers and swear to never try them again; it was just a brewery that catered to people that like watery beer.
 
My husband is very funny; he will drink any wine. He is finishing some bottles that I think have oxidized; I think it tastes like prune juice but he drinks it. He is VERY fussy about beer; he only drinks draft British-style beers (now he likes mead, too) and will actually tell people he doesn't like beer, but if it is made right, he likes it. He can tell the difference between craft beers from different places in town; I can't. I'm more interested in making kombucha, mead, cider (both of which he likes), and wine from my own elderberries. I may try beer after I have made some successful elderberry and/or grape wine.
 
It's fun going into a place and asking for a Northern German Altbier or an English pub ale these days. The response is often amusing, but I feel bad for the poor serving staff eventually. NEIPA is not awful, but what breweries' marketing staff are selling as "balanced pale ale" has really gone pretty far past the malt flavor/hop flavor ratio into hop flavor.
 

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