Why did I wait so long to try an NEIPA?!

[ChiknNutz]

Originally being a native of the west coast, WA state, I've tried my fair share of IPAs. Although it may be a shock, I personally don't care for the ultra-hoppy and bitter IPAs the place is known for and what so many breweries make. So for many years, I've steered clear of most anything that says IPA. I just started reading up on the differences between Left and Right Coast IPAs and after reading about the NEIPA, I decided I had to try it as it seems to fit right in line with what I do like about IPAs...the citrus flavor and also the hazy nature that I like about Hefs. So just last night I went out and picked up a 6-pack of variety singles to give 'em a go. Well I am glad that I finally did, but kinda mad that I steered clear of them for so long, although I do see they are still kinda picking up momentum still. Now I need to find a good recipe to try!

 

[3 Dawg Night]

I haven't tried one yet, but I bought a case of mixed Sweetwater IPA's from Costco the other day. One of the included beers was a pineapple IPA. I'm normally not a fruity beer kind of guy, but these things are quite tasty and refreshing! It's now got me thinking that I need to find a NEIPA to try.

 

[ChiknNutz]

Ya I don't really like fruity beers either. What I do like are the citrus notes introduced by certain hops. I will say that Blue Moon has been my go too, but I wouldn't call that fruity.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

I haven't tried one yet, but I bought a case of mixed Sweetwater IPA's from Costco the other day. One of the included beers was a pineapple IPA. I'm normally not a fruity beer kind of guy, but these things are quite tasty and refreshing! It's now got me thinking that I need to find a NEIPA to try.

Meh, the pineapple IPA is not representative of a NEIPA, my opinion of course. Sam Adams is pretty good for a brand that is fairly widely available.

 

[beersk]

Sierra Nevada "Hazy Little Thing". Cheap, delicious, widely available, and from an independently owned company.

 

[3 Dawg Night]

Meh, the pineapple IPA is not representative of a NEIPA, my opinion of course.

I don't expect that it is. I wasn't classifying it as an NEIPA, just that the fruity flavor is sort of pushing that direction. At least, based on the NEIPA flavor descriptions I've read.

All I know is that I need to try some! Off to find some "Hazy Little Thing" . . .

 

[myndflyte]

Sierra Nevada "Hazy Little Thing". Cheap, delicious, widely available, and from an independently owned company.

Yeah that's one that I like going back to when I'm looking for NEIPA and don't feel like trying something new.

 

[SmallScaleOperator]

As far as widely available breweries go, New Belgium’s Voodoo Ranger Juicy Haze has my vote for best in the style.

 

[day_trippr]

Kinda surprised with all the brewing activity at least around the "Triad" if not smack in the middle of it one could have avoided a hazy ipas all this time. The style has existed for 15 years or so after all, and you'd think the rage over the last couple of years would have caught everyone at least once

Cheers!

 

[ChiknNutz]

I've only been in the Triad for a year...

 

[day_trippr]

What planet were you on before?

Just playin'

 

[AJinJacksonville]

I picked up a couple of "Hazy Little Thing" six-packs this week from Publix...BOGO. Good stuff.

 

[benoj]

Not sure if it is available in the US but BrewDog O-G Hazy is an amazing NEIPA - I had to open a second one after the first one went down!

 

[3 Dawg Night]

Found some "Hazy Little Thing" at Fresh Market for my first NEIPA.

Dude. DUDE.

Where has this been all my life?

 

[ChiknNutz]

Wife picked up some HLT tonight after getting the recommendation, but it's still cooling so haven't tried it yet.

 

[RePete]

Most of the places around here have gone to NEIPA’s the past few years. Much to my chagrin, as I prefer West Coast IPA’s.

 

[ChiknNutz]

Wife picked up some HLT tonight after getting the recommendation, but it's still cooling so haven't tried it yet.

Had to try one, ya that's some good stuff! Great mouthfeel and not overboard on the bitterness. I am a fan!

 

[VirginiaHops1]

The style blowing up is good and bad. Since it's so popular, it seems like every brewery feels like they need to have one on tap. And of course I always have to try it. A lot of them are crap, but when done well they're really good.

It's not an easy style to brew mainly because you have to be borderline obsessive about your cold side O2 limiting practices. If you can manage that it's not very hard though. There are weeks worth of reading material on this forum about it.

 

[Dgallo]

as @VirginiaHops1 mentioned, there are so many poor representations of the style out there that it's quite possible people are unfortunately getting those as their first one. Hazy little thing is certainly good, but honestly no where near the quality of the upper echelon of the style. Even Heady Topper, which I love is pretty "old School" to where the style has morphed with the emphasis on pulling every drop of flavor out of hops with a pillow soft mouthfeel. I suggest trying to trade with folks to see if you can get your hands on Treehouse, Trillium, Equilibrium, Other Half, Toppling Goliath, Vitamin Sea, Spyglass, District 96... there are so many great examples

 

[jschein]

I agree with @Dgallo just make sure they are fresh

 

[VirginiaHops1]

You don't need to trade for one of the whales to taste what a fantastic NEIPA tastes like though. While there are a lot of bad ones there are also a lot of really good ones. Unless you live in the middle of nowhere there's probably a brewery in your area crushing it. I see OP is in the Triad, although my in-laws live there I'm not super familiar with the really good breweries but I'm sure there are plenty. Burial in Asheville isn't too far and I know gets some distro in that area too. They're certainly on the same level as Trillium, Eq, Toppling Goliath, etc

 

[Dgallo]

You don't need to trade for one of the whales to taste what a fantastic NEIPA tastes like though. While there are a lot of bad ones there are also a lot of really good ones. Unless you live in the middle of nowhere there's probably a brewery in your area crushing it. I see OP is in the Triad, although my in-laws live there I'm not super familiar with the really good breweries but I'm sure there are plenty. Burial in Asheville isn't too far and I know gets some distro in that area too. They're certainly on the same level as Trillium, Eq, Toppling Goliath, etc

Burial in my opinion is closer to hazy little thing than any of the big ones you mention. Their mouthfeel is not there

 

[VirginiaHops1]

Burial in my opinion is closer to hazy little thing than any of the big ones you mention. Their mouthfeel is not there

Well taste is subjective. I don't think all of TG stuff is top tier either. But I thought King Sue was. The Burial stuff FIL brought me back from the brewery was awesome, mouthfeel was absolutely on the same level as the big boys.

 

[smata67]

Everyone is cranking out hazy DIPAs nowadays. My local beer store is constantly posting new arrivals, like a dozen every week. I'm kind of tried of it myself.

It looks like Old Nation's M-43 and Boss Tweed are available in your area. Track them down. Really doesn't get much better than those.

 

[3 Dawg Night]

As far as widely available breweries go, New Belgium’s Voodoo Ranger Juicy Haze has my vote for best in the style.

I picked up a six-pack at my local Publix the other day. Goodgollymolly, it's good! I like it even better than Hazy Little Thing!

 

[ChiknNutz]

I picked up a six-pack at my local Publix the other day. Goodgollymolly, it's good! I like it even better than Hazy Little Thing!

I have since tried both and I while I haven't done so side by side, I think I prefer HLT as it has a bit more hop flavor. Another one I found local is called Space Pegasus (made in Boone, NC), is quite similar to the Voodoo Ranger Juicy Haze IPA.

 

[DVCNick]

Hazy Little Thing in my opinion would not even really be what I would consider a NEIPA. The biggest similarity is that it looks hazy. It doesn't have the citrus/fruity flavor profile.
In terms of what is WIDELY available, I agree New Belgium Juicy Haze isn't bad. The Sam Adams version isn't bad. I'd also add Oscar Blues Can O Bliss (not sure how widely it is distributed but it is pretty wide around here). River Rat Astronaut sauce. There are just tons of examples now; some much better than others.

Also, the "fruity" flavors come from the hops. Anything like the Sweetwater "pineapple" beer that is clearly artificially flavored is not it.

 

[Rob2010SS]

Hazy Little Thing in my opinion would not even really be what I would consider a NEIPA. The biggest similarity is that it looks hazy. It doesn't have the citrus/fruity flavor profile.
In terms of what is WIDELY available, I agree New Belgium Juicy Haze isn't bad. The Sam Adams version isn't bad. I'd also add Oscar Blues Can O Bliss (not sure how widely it is distributed but it is pretty wide around here). River Rat Astronaut sauce. There are just tons of examples now; some much better than others.

Also, the "fruity" flavors come from the hops. Anything like the Sweetwater "pineapple" beer that is clearly artificially flavored is not it.

Haha, I'm of the opinion opposite of you - Hazy Little Thing is, IMO, a great example of the style. The New Belgium examples, I have given up on. They just aren't good to me. I've tried all of the ones that have been available to me and I won't buy them anymore. To each their own though, not attacking your opinion at all.

Maplewood Juice Pants
Alarmist Le Jus
Maplewood Son of Juice
Brew Dog Full Force Fog Machine

These are good examples that I can find locally.

 

[DVCNick]

Well I just looked it up and sure enough they list Hazy Little Thing as a NEIPA, with an ingredient list that sounds like it should be, but I'll be damned if I can taste anything resembling a NEIPA in it. Maybe it is a problem with the distribution channel and I should try it at the brewery.

 

[Dgallo]

Well I just looked it up and sure enough they list Hazy Little Thing as a NEIPA, with an ingredient list that sounds like it should be, but I'll be damned if I can taste anything resembling a NEIPA in it. Maybe it is a problem with the distribution channel and I should try it at the brewery.

Its not very good. If one of my NE came out like hazy little thing, I’d be extremely disappointed. Living in the north east and the available we have of high quality NEIPAS, just really raises the expectation. For example , the beverage center by my house has Equilibrium, Other Half, Bissel Bro’s, And a growler fills of hill farmstead and Hudson valley right now lol

 

[garzlok]

I’m with ya...I don’t know why I was so hesitant with the NEIPA. (Well...I’ll be honest, it was the oxidation)

Anyway, I just decided to dive into brewing one, Oxygen be damned! I was hooked when I tasted a gravity sample pull.

First tap pull, it was dark. So oxygen got me...but the taste and mouthfeel were what I wanted. Fastest keg to be killed! Had that 5-gallons gone in two weeks. (Knew I had to drink it fast before the aroma and flavor got completely oxidized)

That batch was enough to convince me to control cold side oxygen exposure. Little embarrassed at how much that cost, but the majority of that budget went towards a CO2 canister and regulator. Hope to revisit my NEIPA recipe before the end of the year.

 

[Rob2010SS]

Its not very good. If one of my NE came out like hazy little thing, I’d be extremely disappointed. Living in the north east and the available we have of high quality NEIPAS, just really raises the expectation. For example , the beverage center by my house has Equilibrium, Other Half, Bissel Bro’s, And a growler fills of hill farmstead and Hudson valley right now lol

I wish I had access to these examples you mention. They don't make it out to the Chicago area at all. I've had some Tree House examples that I won in a social media giveaway and those were phenomenal, completely blew me away.

 

[DVCNick]

Its not very good. If one of my NE came out like hazy little thing, I’d be extremely disappointed. Living in the north east and the available we have of high quality NEIPAS, just really raises the expectation. For example , the beverage center by my house has Equilibrium, Other Half, Bissel Bro’s, And a growler fills of hill farmstead and Hudson valley right now lol

Yeah, I wish we had those, but we don't have any of them available that I know of.

I can go to specialty beer stores, and if you want to spend $6/pint, there are MANY choices now, and most of them are much better than any of the widely distributed versions.
But I've never been able to compare them to those that are considered the standard in the northeast.

 

[DVCNick]

Also, every Sierra Nevada beer that I've had at the brewery is way way better than it is bought in the store. I don't know why, but they lose something in packaging/transit/aging, whatever it is. Every one that I've tried.

 

[3 Dawg Night]

Hazy Little Thing in my opinion would not even really be what I would consider a NEIPA. The biggest similarity is that it looks hazy. It doesn't have the citrus/fruity flavor profile.
In terms of what is WIDELY available, I agree New Belgium Juicy Haze isn't bad. The Sam Adams version isn't bad. I'd also add Oscar Blues Can O Bliss (not sure how widely it is distributed but it is pretty wide around here). River Rat Astronaut sauce. There are just tons of examples now; some much better than others.

Also, the "fruity" flavors come from the hops. Anything like the Sweetwater "pineapple" beer that is clearly artificially flavored is not it.

I can get Oscar Blues here in Alabama. I'll have to give Can O Bliss a try!

 

[DVCNick]

I can get Oscar Blues here in Alabama. I'll have to give Can O Bliss a try!

It's my favorite of the four I listed there.

 

[Dgallo]

I wish I had access to these examples you mention. They don't make it out to the Chicago area at all. I've had some Tree House examples that I won in a social media giveaway and those were phenomenal, completely blew me away.

Can you find any toppling Goliath bear you?

 

[ChiknNutz]

Being in NC, I figured I'd be able to get some of these top mentioned offerings, but no. Went to a local specialty bottle shop and the guy said he can't get most of all the ones I mentioned and hadn't even heard of many. He said if I could get any Toppling Goliath, I could trade for whatever I wanted. About the best I could get was one called Space Pegasus.

I've been on the lookout for any of the ones mentioned and have yet to find any of them aside from Hazy Little Thing and Voodoo Ranger.

 

[Rob2010SS]

Can you find any toppling Goliath bear you?

Not many actually. I can get Pseudo Sue regularly and have gotten Fire Skulls and Money once. Maybe I need to find a new store to shop at haha.

 

[AzOr]

I’ve only tried a dozen or so hazy beers but I have noticed that I like some bitter backbone along with the late hop charge.
if the only hops are whirlpool, the finish is a bit weak for my taste.
I haven’t tried Voodoo Ranger but have never been disappointed with New Belgium beers.
Thanks everyone for the recommendations!