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

[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!

 

[ChiknNutz]

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!

I agree! While I cannot say whether or not that is akin to the original style, I have found this to be my preference as well. So far, I've found Hazy Little Thing to be my favorite thus far. I can say that the "Voodoo Ranger Juicy Hazy IPA" lacks the bitter backbone you speak of, at least it does to me. It's still good, but I now prefer a bit more hop bitterness to go along with the higher citrus content of this style. I suppose an NEIPA purist may call this blasphemy. I guess I don't yet know exactly what a true NEIPA is since they all seem to vary a bit between some bitterness and some not.

 

[DVCNick]

Low bitterness is definitely what I would consider a signature element of the style... if you have a bitter backbone as well, then you have a "west coast" IPA.

 

[ChiknNutz]

Low bitterness is definitely what I would consider a signature element of the style... if you have a bitter backbone as well, then you have a "west coast" IPA.

What is considered low for this style? I just looked up Hazy Little Thing and they list that as 35 IBUs. That seems on the lower scale overall. To me, it is just about right or maybe a tad high, but not overly so.

By way of comparison, I just looked up Voodoo Ranger and they list it as 42 IBUs, but I find it significantly lower in bitterness than HLT. Odd. Could be the actual hops used I s'pose.

 

[AzOr]

My favorite hazy (can’t remember name) wasn’t to the level of a west coast ipa, but there was enough of a bitter backbone to help with the finish. I’ve seen a few recipes where they put in a decent 30 min charge and maybe that’s what I tasted.
It’s also possible that since breweries can’t cool wort very fast, that they did this in whirlpool as well.
I just tried Hop Valley’s Mango Stash last night and the bittering level was low. It made the beer have a watery finish. I’m not trying to knock their beers, just wasn’t to my liking.

 

[DVCNick]

What is considered low for this style? I just looked up Hazy Little Thing and they list that as 35 IBUs. That seems on the lower scale overall. To me, it is just about right or maybe a tad high, but not overly so.

By way of comparison, I just looked up Voodoo Ranger and they list it as 42 IBUs, but I find it significantly lower in bitterness than HLT. Odd. Could be the actual hops used I s'pose.

I don't know if there are even any widely accepted style guidelines, but yeah I agree that the calculated IBUs are not always a straight line in what comes across in the flavor, and I also agree that HLT comes across as more bitter than Juicy Haze... like I said, till this thread I didn't even realize they were billing HLT as a NEIPA.

 

[ChiknNutz]

I already posted this elsewhere, but this is my next planned brew. I already bought the goods, just need to find time to make it. The flameout hops will be done below 160 so as to not add any add'l hop bitterness.

 

[3 Dawg Night]

What is considered low for this style? I just looked up Hazy Little Thing and they list that as 35 IBUs. That seems on the lower scale overall. To me, it is just about right or maybe a tad high, but not overly so.

By way of comparison, I just looked up Voodoo Ranger and they list it as 42 IBUs, but I find it significantly lower in bitterness than HLT. Odd. Could be the actual hops used I s'pose.

That's my take as well; VR:JH seems to have a smoother bitterness than HLT. They both have a great citrus flavor.

 

[Rob2010SS]

I already posted this elsewhere, but this is my next planned brew. I already bought the goods, just need to find time to make it. The flameout hops will be done below 160 so as to not add any add'l hop bitterness.

Bet that will be tasty!!!

 

[DVCNick]

I've been meaning to do another batch as well; the problem is it hogs up my temp chamber for quite a while with all the cold crashing and whatnot... heh

 

[beersk]

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.

Ha, whuuuuut. When did you become the authority of NEIPA? Yeah, the style has morphed, but one cannot forget the original - Heady Topper. NEIPA doesn't HAVE to have the citrusy/fruity flavor profile OR it doesn't have to be milkshake hazy to be considered a hazy. Just like nearly all styles, the overall profile has a wide range.
I hope in a couple years, you hazy purists look back on these comments and realize how ridiculous you sound.

 

[DVCNick]

I was appointed by the beer gods themselves.

 

[beersk]

I was appointed by the beer gods themselves.

Well, sh*t, that's lucky.

I will say that citrus/fruit character is a main characteristic of the style. But I would also NOT say that Hazy Little Thing is bereft of it. That beer is a perfectly decent example of the style. Sure, it's no Trillium, but it's still very good. And forget about Toppling Goliath. They're just dicks who have to keep their brewers on a leash so they don't go creating other awesome breweries to be in competition with them. (Namely Pulpit Rock, which brews, in my opinion, FAR better beer. And also Thew in Cedar Rapids).

 

[Dgallo]

Ha, whuuuuut. When did you become the authority of NEIPA? Yeah, the style has morphed, but one cannot forget the original - Heady Topper. NEIPA doesn't HAVE to have the citrusy/fruity flavor profile OR it doesn't have to be milkshake hazy to be considered a hazy. Just like nearly all styles, the overall profile has a wide range.
I hope in a couple years, you hazy purists look back on these comments and realize how ridiculous you sound.

Well, sh*t, that's lucky.

I will say that citrus/fruit character is a main characteristic of the style. But I would also NOT say that Hazy Little Thing is bereft of it. That beer is a perfectly decent example of the style. Sure, it's no Trillium, but it's still very good. And forget about Toppling Goliath. They're just dicks who have to keep their brewers on a leash so they don't go creating other awesome breweries to be in competition with them. (Namely Pulpit Rock, which brews, in my opinion, FAR better beer. And also Thew in Cedar Rapids).

hazy little thing is only a good example of the style if there is no good examples of the style in your area lol. As stated previously I’m in the land of Sloops juice Bomb. That is our mass production NEIPA and it’s $9.99 a six pack of 12s and honestly better than 90% of the market, micro or macro. Hazy little thing has no bright hop character. Not saying it has to be fruit or citrus forward, a small local brewery by me does a chinook Columbus and mosiac NEIPA that is dank and piney with just a touch of berry and I’d drink that every day.

now I do personally think nit picking is valid. Is bells two hearted different than stone’s Ruination? I say absolutely. While two Hearted paved the way to the west coast ipa(and many others helped as well) , it’s the equivalent of heady and sip of sunshine paving the way to the modern NE ipas. Heady is a great beer and I always enjoy it but it is vastly different than the modern

 

[davidabcd]

Haven't had a NEIPA yet. I would probably try one though.

 

[Dgallo]

Haven't had a NEIPA yet. I would probably try one though.

Pm me your adress. I’ll send you my home brew and a care package as long as you return the favors with some beautiful local beers by you

 

[DVCNick]

I have had several of the Sloops beers including Juice Bomb. Definitely in the top echelon of what is available around here. Waaaay more than $10/six pack though.

I just kicked off early and went to the store and picked up a pack of HLT just to make sure I wasn't crazy, and to check and see if the first one I had was suffering from some sort of birth defect.

I'll admit it is a little better than I remember. I'll say it's heading toward the style in my opinion. I'd still take Juicy Haze over it in terms of a truly mass market example, but not by as much as I would have thought this morning. I think it is different than the last time I had it; could just be my imagination, who knows.

 

[AzOr]

I was appointed by the beer gods themselves.

Did you get a medal from Ninkasi? I did.